Canadian Mineral Processors Conference, Ottawa, January 2020

CMP 2020

Flowsheets attended the 52nd national meeting of the CMP in Ottawa in January 2020.  Delegates from most segments of the profession were present – operations, academics, researchers and laboratories.  What stood out from the technical sessions was the section on ore sorting.  Due to the lower metal grades of the future ores, mines and mills will have to treat more tonnage to produce the same amount of metal, unless a waste portion of the mined ore can be identified in the Run-of-Mine and rejected ahead of the grinding circuit.  Our industry has been aware of this problem for a while, but despite pursuing the idea of ore sorting for approximately twenty years, it is only in 2020 that we now see practical proofs of concept at a pilot scale.

The session saw the following papers presented:

McCarthy, R.J. et al., The Bulk Sorting Potential of the Cumo Deposit in Idaho, USA.

Plugatyr, A., et al., Application of Bulk Ore Sensing and Sorting for Optimal Allocation of Mined Material: a Techno-Economic Case Study.

Bobicki, E., et al., Canmicro: Scaling up Microwave Technology for the Mining Industry.

Xu, M., et al., Value Recovery from Waste Ore Stockpiles.

McGrath, T.D.T., et al., Application of the Gangue Rejection Amenability Test (GRAT) for Gold Ores.

Campbell, M., et al., Preliminary Evaluation of Neutron Activation for Gold and Silver Analysis using a Medical Cyclotron.

NRCan is leading a research competition called “Crush It!”, with a $5 million prize for the winning technology.  Of course this has spurred much activity and development.

Of great interest was Erin Bobicki’s paper, which showed the practical use of microwaves to heat the ore, causing micro-fracturing along grain boundaries, thus reducing ore hardness.  At the same time, a thermal signature is generated that allows the physical sorting of the ore into waste and payable ore grades.  The potential energy saving in grinding was estimated at up to two-thirds of present untreated ore hardness.  This project is sponsored by the Canada Mining Innovation Council, and enjoys the support of industry professionals.

Asst. Prof. Erin Bobicki, University of Toronto

From an equivalent angle, Tracey Holmes, of Jenike and Johannson, is making progress with her Selective Heat Ore Treatment (SHOT).  Together with Richard Wagner of SGS, this project was also updated at the conference.  They have set a target of 20% energy savings with this technology.  Their application also uses microwave treatment of the broken ore, and have so far demonstrated the development of micro-fractures in the ore that soften the material in excess of the NRCan competition requirement of 0.3 to 3.0 Kwh/t.  So far this has only been proven on copper porphyry ore, with project plans to test other ore types in the near future.

Tracey Holmes and Richard Wagner

Dr. Manqui Xu, of Vale’s Sheridan Park research laboratory, presented some good practical work on the use of differential breakage in the retreatment of a Sudbury waste stockpile, to provide make-up tonnage for the Clarabelle Mill.  There are many such stockpiles in the Sudbury area, and apart from the economic benefit of viable reprocessing in the Clarabelle mill, such a solution would also offer an environmentally cleaner outcome. The process involved the bulk sizing and crushing of the waste material, allowing the differential breakage characteristics of the ore to concentrate the higher grades into the smaller size classes. 

A pilot trial using 300 tonnes of the waste stockpile was performed, using screens and crushers to produce -0.5”, -3+1.5”, -1.5+0.5” size classes.  The -0.5” fines bypassed the XRT sorting unit process.  Both the -3+1.5 and -1.5+0.5” size classes were separated into “Accept” and “Reject” Streams.  The Rejects graded lower in Ni and Cu (0.06 and 0.09% respectively) than Clarabelle’s flotation tailings.  The upgraded “Accept” product carried 86 and 85% of the original Ni and Cu respectively.

Although differential breakage has been known about for a long time, this was a practical demonstration of the principle that has turned out to be sustainable.  Clarabelle Mill has been retreating this stockpile as part of its daily duty since early 2019.

On a separate note, two remarkable papers on other topics were presented:

Fleming, C., et al., Development of Process Options to Treat Oxiudised Mineralisation Containing a Very High Concentration of Cyanide-Soluble Copper.

Van Wyk, A., et al., Pilot Testing Pressurised Flotation Systems for Froth-Free Concentrators.

Chris Fleming’s paper discussed the flowsheet development for the Emipa deposit in Bolivia, which contains 6-8 kg/t of cyanide-soluble copper, thwarting conventional cyanidation for the gold present.  The conventional process consumes 16-18 kg/t of cyanide, making the treatment cost and associated cyanide destruction uneconomic.  This was solved by introducing the SART process that converts the copper cyanide to saleable copper sulphide, releasing free cyanide for the gold leach, mking treatment of this ore viable.

The Woodgrove paper, presented by Gerard Rowe, announced the development of the Direct Flotation Reactor (DFR), to take over from the earlier Staged Flotation Reactor (SFR), so that a froth-free flotation system could operate under pressure to provide higher recoveries than are seen in the SFR and the conventional flotation cell with a froth bed, wherein fall-back by the hydrophobic particles in the froth causes recovery losses.  As a result, the cell footprint is smaller and cheaper than the conventional cells, and produces better metallurgical performance.  This cell design is challenging old conventions, and presents an interesting future for the industry.

The organising committee, contributing authors are to be congratulated on a great conference.

41 thoughts on “Canadian Mineral Processors Conference, Ottawa, January 2020

    1. northontariobusiness16 says:

      Hi there

      Many thanks for your kind words. I had to learn the basics of SEO optimisation from scratch so that the website performed, so I don’t mind sharing what I learnt. All the best, Norm

  1. Crave Freebies says:

    Thank you for another excellent post. Where else could anyone get that type of info in such an ideal way of writing? I have a presentation next week, and I’m on the look for such information.

  2. Crave Freebies says:

    Hi there, just became aware of your blog through Google, and found that it’s truly informative. I am going to watch out for brussels. I will appreciate if you continue this in future. Numerous people will be benefited from your writing. Cheers!

  3. Black Hairstyles says:

    I’m really enjoying the theme/design of your web site. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility problems? A small number of my blog readers have complained about my website not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Safari. Do you have any advice to help fix this problem?

    1. northontariobusiness16 says:

      Hi there

      Browser compatibility problems are associated with the web platform that you are using. I use WordPress and have no problems.

      Regards

      Norm

  4. 4k film izle says:

    What’s Taking place i’m new to this, I stumbled upon this I have found It absolutely helpful and it has helped me out loads. I hope to contribute & help different customers like its aided me. Great job. Jody Guggemos

  5. CBD for sale says:

    Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wished to say
    that I have really enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
    In any case I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

  6. free album download websites says:

    Unquestionably consider that that you stated. Your favourite justification seemed to be on the
    net the simplest factor to have in mind of. I say to you, I
    definitely get irked whilst other people consider issues that they just don’t recognize about.
    You controlled to hit the nail upon the top and also outlined out the whole
    thing without having side-effects , other folks could take
    a signal. Will probably be back to get more.
    Thank you

  7. cbd oil for dogs says:

    Do you have a spam problem on this website; I also am a blogger, and I
    was curious about your situation; we have created some nice practices and we are
    looking to trade techniques with other folks, please shoot me an email if interested.

  8. best cbd gummies for pain says:

    Unquestionably believe that which you said.
    Your favorite justification appeared to be on the net the easiest thing to be aware of.

    I say to you, I definitely get annoyed while people consider worries that they just don’t know
    about. You managed to hit the nail upon the top and also defined out
    the whole thing without having side-effects , people can take a signal.
    Will likely be back to get more. Thanks

  9. CBD for dogs says:

    Great blog here! Also your website loads up very fast!
    What web host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link
    to your host? I wish my site loaded up as fast as yours
    lol

  10. Gus says:

    Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a entertainment account it.
    Glance complex to more delivered agreeable from you!
    However, how could we communicate?

  11. security company wigan says:

    Thanks , I have just been looking for info approximately this topic
    for ages and yours is the best I have came upon till now.
    However, what concerning the conclusion? Are you positive about the source?

  12. cbd gummies for sleep and anxiety says:

    Woah! I’m really digging the template/theme of this blog.

    It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s hard to get that “perfect balance” between usability and visual appeal.
    I must say you’ve done a fantastic job with this. Additionally,
    the blog loads extremely quick for me on Safari.
    Excellent Blog!

  13. CBD near me says:

    Pretty great post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to
    say that I have really loved browsing your weblog posts.
    In any case I will be subscribing on your rss feed and I hope you write once more very soon!

  14. Timed multiplication tests says:

    Greetings from Idaho! I’m bored at work so I decided
    to browse your website on my iphone during lunch break.
    I really like the knowledge you provide here and
    can’t wait to take a look when I get home. I’m amazed at how quick your blog loaded on my mobile ..
    I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. Anyways, fantastic blog!

  15. Funny running meme says:

    Thanks on your marvelous posting! I seriously enjoyed reading it,
    you are a great author. I will remember to bookmark
    your blog and will eventually come back someday. I want to encourage you to definitely continue your great work, have a nice weekend!

  16. his comment is here says:

    Good day! This is my first comment here so I just wanted to give a quick shout
    out and tell you I genuinely enjoy reading through your blog posts.
    Can you suggest any other blogs/websites/forums that deal with the same topics?
    Many thanks!

  17. Bathroom Fitters Rochdale says:

    Hey! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any trouble with
    hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no data backup.
    Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?

    1. northontariobusiness16 says:

      Hi,

      Rearrange your website with GoDaddy so that it changes from http/www.xxxxxx.com to https/www.xxxxxx.com.

      Regards

      Norm

  18. shynxl reviews says:

    Great website you have here but I was curious if you knew of any discussion boards that cover the same topics discussed here?

    I’d really love to be a part of community where
    I can get comments from other experienced people that share the same interest.

    If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
    Bless you!

Comments are closed.