MINERAL ORES

An ore is a mineral deposit which can be profitably exploited. It may contain three group of
minerals namely:

a.) Valuable minerals of the metal which is being sought

b.) Compounds of associated metals which may be of secondary value
c.) Gangue minerals of minimum value

Almost all metals are derived from mineral ores. There are also ores that contain non-
metals such as sulfur. Generally, the valuable mineral in an ore may be found in the form of
native metals, oxides, sulphides, or arsenides.

During mining, large open pits are excavated by breaking the ore using explosives. Ores as
mined may be in large lumps and therefore, some size reduction is done at the mine. The
ore is shoveled into trucks and transported to the factory. If the mineral ore is found in
waterbeds, mining is carried out by dredging. For example, sand is dredged from river beds.

I. Important Ore Minerals

Most elements need to be concentrated into amounts that can be economically mined from
ore deposit (usually hundreds to thousands of times their crustal abundance). This concentration is
usually accomplished by dissolution of the element by hot water (hydrothermal-gold, silver, lead),
preferential crystallization from magmas, surface weathering and leaching or gravity separation of
minerals during erosion.

Elements

a. Aluminum- the ore is mined from rocks that have been exposed to weathering in a
tropical environment, bauxite.
b. Antimony- the primary ore of antimony is it’s sulfite, stibnite.
c. Arsenic- recovered from other metal processing streams.
d. Barium- the chief source of barium is barite with minor production of whiterite.
e. Beryllium- the major ore mineral for beryllium is betrandite while worldwide the major
source is from pegmatites that contain beryl.
f. Copper- most copper ore bodies are mined from ore mineral chalcopyrite.
g. Gold-the primary mineral of gold is the native metal and electrum.
h. Iron- two major minerals in the production of irons are its oxides.
i. Lead- the primary ore mineral for lead is sulfide-galena.
j. Magnesium-although magnesium is found in many minerals, only dolomite, magnesite,
brucite, carnallite, and olivine are of commercial importance. Magnesium and other
magnesium compound are also produced from seawater, well and lake brines and
bitterns.
k. Mercury- the main ore is the sulfide , cinnabar
l. Platinum group (platinum, osmium, rhodium, ruthenium, palladium)-the primary ore
are the native elements or arsenides such as sperrylite.
 II. ORE DRESSING

The first stage in the extraction of a metal from an ore in which as much gangue as possible is re
moved and the ore isprepared for smelting, refining, etc. Also called: mineral dressing or mineral
processing

1. Size Reduction to such a size as will release or expose all valuable minerals
2. Sorting to separate particles of ore minerals from gangue (non-valuable) minerals or
different ores from one another
3. Agglomeration may be carried out sometimes before a roasting operation

1. Size Reduction
Size reduction may be carried out by first crushing the ore down to 7mm maximum
followed by grinding to smaller sizes. Jaw crushers can be used deep in the mine to prepare the ore
for transportation to the surface e.g. using bucket elevators.

2. Sizing
Screens are used to separate particles according to size and may not affect the
concentrations of the ore minerals. Particles are separated into oversize and undersize.

3. Sorting
The particles may be sorted by classification, flotation or magnetic methods.

Classifiers
These are devices that separate particles according to their different rates of travel
under gravity through a fluid medium such as water. Particles of different densities, sizes and
shapes have different falling velocities. Classifiers include rake classifiers and jigs.

4. Flotation
Flotation uses difference in surface properties of the individual minerals. It is readily
applied to very fine concentrates and can distinguish ore mineral from gangue, and also, one ore
mineral from another.

5. Magnetic Separation
Ferromagnetic magnetite or iron minerals which can be chemically altered to produce
magnetite may be sorted out using a magnetic separator.

6. Electrostatic Separation
Minerals have a wide range of electrical conductivity and can be distinguished by this
property. If several kinds of particles are given an electrostatic charge and are then brought into
contact with an electrical conductor at earth potential, the charge will leak away from good
conductors much more rapidly than from poor conductors. While the charge remains, the particle
will cling to the conductor by electrostatic attraction.

The weakly conducting minerals will therefore remain attached to the conductor longer
than the good conductors, so affording a means of separating minerals whose conductivities differ
appreciably. Electrostatic separators operate on thin layers of material. The principle is illustrated
in Fig. 3.1.

Fig 3.1 Electrostatic separation

7. Dewatering and filtration

After sorting and leaching, it is necessary to separate the solid and liquid phases.
Coarse solids may be freed from most of their moisture by draining. Slurries with particles which
can settle may be separated from the bulk of the liquid by settling and subsequent decantation.
These dewatering methods may reduce moisture content to 50%. The moisture content may be
reduced further by filtration and drying. If the valuable ore is in the filtrate, it can be recovered by
evaporation followed by drying.

8. Agglomeration
When a particle size of an ore or concentrate is too small for use in a later stage of treatment
e.g. in a blast furnace, it must be reformed into lumps of appropriate size and strength. This is done
by any of the following methods:
• pelletizing
• briquetting
• sintering

a. Pelletizing
The process of pelletizing combines mixing of the raw material, forming the pellet and a
thermal treatment baking the soft raw pellet to hard spheres. The raw material is rolled into a
ball, then fired in a kiln to sinter the particles into a hard sphere
 b. Briquetting
This is a mechanical process of agglomeration in which the materials, after mixing with
water and necessary bonding agents are pressed or extruded into brick or block form.
These blocks are then dried and hardened by heating. Use of hydraulic cement allows
hardening to be carried out cold. Briqueting is not popular in mineral ore agglomeration.

c. Sintering
Sintering involves diffusion of material between particles. It is applied to the
consolidation of metallic and ceramic powder compacts which are heated to temperatures
approaching their melting points to allow diffusion to take place at the points of contact of
particles so that they grow together to form a rigid entity. The process can be envisaged as
a net migration of vacancies into the solid at the highly curved energy surfaces near points
of contact and again at low energy areas away from contact points
 Sintering may be accompanied by a chemical reaction.

III. Extraction Processes

So far we have been dealing with unit operations that prepare the ore for chemical reactions
used to extract the valuable metal from the ore. Now we want to look at extraction and refining of
the metal.

A. Calcination
This is the thermal treatment of an ore to effect its decomposition and the elimination of a
volatile product, usually carbon dioxide or water. The following are calcinations reactions:

CaCO3 CaO + CO2 T = 10000C

MgCO3 MgO + CO2 T = 4170C
MnCO3 MnO + CO2 T = 3770C
FeCO3 FeO + CO2 T = 4000C

Calcination may be carried out in rotating kilns using countercurrent flow for efficient heat
transfer.

B. Roasting
Roasting involves chemical changes other than decomposition, usually with furnace
atmosphere. A roast may effect calcinations and drying as shown below.

2CuS + O2  Cu2S + SO2 (calcination)

Cu2S + O2  2Cu + SO2 (roasting)

C. Smelting
This is essentially a smelting process in which the components of the charge in the molten state
separate into two or more layers which may be slag, matte, speiss or metal
• Matte: heavy sulphide material
• Slag: light oxide material
• Speiss: iron oxide, insoluble in matte, slag or metal; it may contain elements

Smelting of metal involves reduction, usually by carbon or coal or coke and may be
performed in a blast furnace or an electric furnace.
 In the blast furnace, coke is burned into CO2 which reacts further with the carbon to form
CO. The ascending gases pre-heat the solid charge descending the stack and reduce metal oxides to
metal. This then is a process of drying followed by calcination and roasting. The metal melts and the
slag forms gangue and flux. Where fusion or reduction temperature is above 15000C, electric
melting is most appropriately applied.

D. Refining

• Is the process in treating a relatively impure metal/ore to improve its purity and better
define its composition
• It is based on the difference between the properties of metals and their impurities
• the final material is usually identical chemically to the original one, only it is purer
• some substances may have to be added to impart some desirable characteristics to the
metal
• It is the last step in metallurgy

Different types of refining

1. Liquation
• Method of purifying metals based on the difference in the melting point of the
metal/ ore and the impurities present in them.
• Process:
The metal/ ore to be purified is placed over the sloping floor of the furnace.
The temperature of the furnace is maintained about the melting point of the
metal. Pure substance that is the concentrated/ refined metal/ore melts and
flows down to a container. The impurities having higher melting point are
left behind which is called “dross”

• This method is used for refining metals having a low melting points like tin(Sn),
lead(Pb), bismuth(Bi)
2. Zone Refining
• It was invented by William G. Plann in 1951 for producing the world’s purest
semiconductor materials like germanium(Ge)
• Is a special method to purify metals to a high degree
• Process:
A circular heater is fitted around the rod of impure germanium at one end,
this is placed on an inert atmosphere. The heated zone of germanium melts along
with its impurities, when the heater gradually shifts to the next zone, pure
germanium cools and crystallize. The molten impurities shift to the next zone along
with the heater. As the heater shifts from one end of the rod to the other, the
impurities are driven to the extreme end from where they are discarded. The
process is repeated several times to obtain ultra-pure germanium.

3. Electrolytic Refining
• It was first used in year 1869.
• A process with the use of electrolysis industrially to refine metals or compounds at a
high purity
• Process:
The purest metal obtained by this process, undertaken using a slab of
impure metal as the anode and a thin sheet of pure metal as the cathode. The
electrolyte is an acidic solution like sulphate with Sulfuric acid (H2SO4). By passing
electricity through the cell, metal is dissolved from the anode and deposited on the
cathode. However impurities either remain in solution or collect as an insoluble
sludge.
 • This method is use to refine Cu, Zn, Sn, Ni, Ag, Au

4. Distillation
• Based on difference in the boiling point of the impurities and the metal.
• The impure metal is heated in a retort.
• Volatile metals form the vapour first and separated by condensing in a receiver.
• The Pure metal distils over and is condensed in a receiver.
• The impurities are left behind in the retort
• Metals refined are mercury(Hg) ,zinc(Zn)
•
 5. Chromatographic Method
• Based on the difference in the adsorbability of the metal and the impurities.
• Specifically useful for the separation of the elements available in very small
amounts.
• Process:
In this method glass column is packed with an adsorbent like alumina (Al2O3).
The mixture of metal and the impurity is poured over this adsorbent followed by an
eluent. The component which is weakly adsorbed comes out first followed by the
next strongly adsorbed component.

IV. Manufacture Of Portland Cement

Historically, cement can be traced back to the early Roman Empire.

Portland cement is a fine powder, generally gray in colour. It is composed primarily of calcium
silicates, calcium aluminates, and calcium ferrites.

When mixed with water (hydrated), cement solidifies to an artificial rock, similar to Portland
stone. A Portland stone is a yellow limestone from the Isle of Portland, in Great Britain. Hence the
name Portland cement. By varying the amounts and types of the same basic ingredients, cement
with various properties may be obtained. Concrete is a mixture of gravel, sand and cement.
 A. Raw materials
The major components of cement uses minerals containing four essential elements, calcium, silicon,
aluminum and iron, in terms of metal oxides are CaO, SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3.

Typically, Ca is provided from limestone, Si from sand or fly ash, Al from fly ash or clay, and Fe from
iron ore.

B. Manufacturing process

a. Grinding
-Typically, it consists of 80% limestone, 9% silica, 9% fly ash, and 2% iron ore.

1. These materials are ground into baseball size and then further crushed in a ball mill.
2. The “raw meal” from milling is stored in a homogenizing silo in which the chemical
variation is reduced.
*silo- is a structure for storing bulk materials

b. Pyroprocessing
Preheater Tower supports a series of vertical cyclone chambers through which the
raw materials pass on their way to kiln.

1. In the preheater, the raw meal from the mill is heated with the hot exhaust gas from
the kiln
2. The mixture is then fed into the rotary kiln to form a semi-product known as clinker.
The particle size range for clinker is from about 2 inches.
 • *Clinker- red hot particles from the raw materials emerged at the lower end of the kiln.

c. Reactions in the kiln

Kiln- heart of the cement making process where most of the pyroprocessing occurs.
Basic chemical reactions are:
• evaporating all moisture,
• calcining the limestone to produce free calcium oxide, and
• reacting the calcium oxide with the minor materials (sand, shale, clay, and
iron)

This results in a final black, nodular product known as “clinker” which has the desired
hydraulic properties. A summary of the physical and chemical reactions that take place in
the kiln are shown in Table 4.1.

Expressed at its simplest, the series of chemical reactions converts the calcium and silicon oxides
into calcium silicates, the main constituent of cement.
 d. Clinker Cooling
The clinker tumbles onto a grate cooled by forced air. The heat recovered from this
cooling process is recirculated back to the kiln or preheater tower.

e. Finish Grinding
The final process of cement making is called finish grinding.

1. The clinker is ground in a ball mill, a horizontal steel tube filled with steel balls.

2. The clinker is dosed with a controlled amount of gypsum (controls the rate of
hardening of the cement) and fed into a finish mill.

Other additives may be added during the finish grinding process to produce formulated
cements such as waterproofing and corrosion resistant cements.
The cement is stored in a bulk silo for packaging and/or bulk distribution.

Dispatch!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_processing

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupellation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Refining_(metallurgy)

http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Refining+of+Metals

http://chem-guide.blogspot.com/2010/04/refining-of-metals-poling-electro.html

Industrial Chemistry Prepared by Helen Njeri NJENGA