MINERAL DRESSING

METALLURGY , SEM 3

MODULE 1
LECTURE1
Ref: Chapters 1-3 , Mineral processing, S.K.JAIN, CBS PUBLISHERS
& DISTRIBUTORS P Ltd, N.
Delhi, 2012.
Chapter 1, Principles of Mineral Dressing , A. M. GAUDIN,
TATA McGRAW HILL,1993.
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PROPERTIES AND TYPES OF MINERALS

A MINERAL is a naturally occurring substance that is solid
and stable at room temperature , representable by a
chemical formula, usually inorganic,
and has an
ordered atomic structure.
It is different from a ROCK, which can be an aggregate of
minerals or nonminerals, and does not have a specific chemical composition.
There are over 4900 known mineral species.

Amethyst a violet variety of

quartz often used in
jewelry.

An ORE - natural aggregation of minerals from which

a metal or metallic compound can be RECOVERED
PROFITABLY on a LARGE SCALE.
The ores are extracted through mining. These are then
refined to extract the valuable element (s).
Manganese ore.

Ore
bodies
are generally
formed by a oxides,
variety of
geological
processes.
Metal
ores are
sulfides,
silicates,
or
When the "native"
percentage
of
metal
/
valuable
is
very
low
metals (such as native copper) or
that
they
cannot
be extracted
profitably, it
ceases
to
"noble"
metals
(not usually
forming compounds)
such
as gold.
be an ore.

AL HAS A DEFINITE CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND CRYSTAL STRUCTURE

K(Mg,Fe) 3( AlSi 3 O10)(F,OH)2

MINERAL BENEFICIATION - MINERAL PROCESSING

MINERAL DRESSING - ORE DRESSING .
DEFINITION - crushing and separating MINED ORE ( Run of
the mine oreuncrushed ore in its natural state just as it is when blasted )
into MINERAL ( valuable substances ) and GANGUE
( commercially valueless material or waste ) by any of a
variety of techniques .
METHODS
1. The simplest method consists of picking out the individual
crystals of each ( Hand sorting)
This is
i) to choose the valuable lumps of ore from
worthless lumps.
ii) based on the appearance .
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iii)a very tedious process, particularly when the

STEPS IN MINERAL PROCESSING.

Involves four general types of unit operation:
Comminution particle size reduction by crushing
and grinding ( wet) .

( dry )

Sizing separation of materials ( by

screening or
classification) into products
using their differences in size.
( classification- sizing method that depends on the
relationship between the size of mineral particles and their
settling velocity in water or air ).
Concentration- uses the
properties.

physical and surface chemical

Done using washers , sluice boxes, shaking tables, flotation

cells, magnetic
separators, electrostatic separators etc.
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THE FEED ( THE HEADING ) is the material to be separated. This is

the input material to the concentrating machine.
The products from the concentrating machine
1) the concentrate ( valuable part ) ,
2) the tailing ( discarded part).
If more than two products are made, the other is called MIDDLING.
The tailing too may be a concentrate.
Eg:- Concentrating in a shaking table gives Zn concentrate, Zn
middling and tailing.
ROUGHING and
CLEANING OPERATIONSsecondary operations done to upgrade
concentrate.

The primary
a relatively

The most important consideration in Mineral dressing

economics of the processes .
This depends on the grade and recovery of the final product.

and
lean

is the

FROM RUN OF THE MINE ORE TO EXTRACTED

METAL

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

The difference in the physical properties of the valuables and
gangue in the mined ore is used in economic mineral dressing.
The physical properties depend on the crystal structure of the
minerals.
Transparency
Luster
Colour
Specific gravity
Hardness
Cleavage
Fracture properties
Magnetic characteristics
Electrical properties
Radioactive properties
Optical properties

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

1. TRANSPARENCY

The ease with which one can see through a

mineral.
It depends on the arrangement of the atoms.
Transparency is of three types
Opaque minerals
- No light passes through them.
Translucent minerals - Light passes through them partially.
Transparent minerals - Can see through them.
The term transparency is qualitative and not quantitative.
Most of the mined minerals are impure. Different samples of the
same mineral may show different degrees of transparency.

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

1. TRANSPARENCY
Transparent minerals ( when pure).

Quartz SiO2
Beryl Be3Al2(SiO3)6

Opaque minerals

Calcite CaCO3

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Quartz is the second most abundant mineral in the Earths continental crust , after Feldspar.(KAlSi3O

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

2. LUSTRE Refers to the surface appearanceDefined as the amount and quality of light from the
mineral surface.
Luster is not measured.
Depends on atomic arrangement.
Eg Diamond is adamantine*
Graphite
diamond
It can be of two
types - is metallic Graphite
1) Metallic minerals looking like metals.

Bornite:
Bronze
(bright
blue-purple tarnish), darkgray or black streak, ,
Cu5FeS4.

Chalcopyrite:Brassyellow
(multicolored
tarnish),
dark-green
or
black
streak,

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*Adamantine means having the luster of dia

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

2. LUSTRE
2) Non - metallic minerals not looking like metals.

Pearly ( Gypsum CaSO42H2O)

( Asbestose- naturally occurring silicate

Adamantine- brilliant luster of diamond

Greasy ( Nepheline Na3KAl4Si4O16 )

Earthy ( dull) - Kaoline Al2Si2O5(OH)4., clay

Silky

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Waxy

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

2. LUSTRE
Luster is an important parameter when sorting minerals by
Hand ( Hand Picking)
Eg:Brass yellow
- Chalacopyrate
Pale yellow
- Pyrite
White
- Arsenopyrite (iron arsenic sulphide(FeAsS))
Vitreous
- Quartz
Resinous
- Sphalerite (Zn,Fe)S
Adamantine
- Diamond/ Cessurite

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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

3. COLOUR of the mineral is due to

absorption of
certain wavelengths of light by the crystal
atoms.
The remaining wavelengths are not
absorbed.
Hence we feel that the mineral is
coloured( colour of
the wavelength absorbed).
A spectrometer is used to find out the
wavelength of
the absorbed light.

Metallic minerals can be identified by their

characteristic
colours ( if not tarnished).

Molybdenite MoS2
is bluish steel gray always.

Some non metallic minerals( S,

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graphite) show constant

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

4. LUMINISCENCE Luminescenceis emission of light by a

substance not resulting from
Heat. It is a form of cold body radiation.
Luminescence is normally seen in darkness.
Luminescent minerals may show Fluorescence (the emission of light by
a substance that has
absorbed light )when exposed to Ultra violet light ( 400 nm ) or X
Rays ( 0.01 to 10nm) .
Fluorescence is produced when the energy of the short wave
radiation is absorbed by the
minerals and released as longer wavelength radiation.
If the luminescence of the mineral continues after removing the
exciting waves- the mineral is
Phosphorescent.

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PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

4. LUMINISCENCE This property is used to identify and sort

the minerals.

Fluorite(also calledfluorspar) is ahalide mineralCaF2.

The word fluorite is derived from fluorescence of the mineral .
Other fluorescent minerals sheelite CaWO4, Willemite Zn2SiO164,

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

4. SPECIFIC GRAVITY - Relative density - theratioof the
density(mass of a unit
volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference
material.
Specific gravity usually means relative density with respect
to water.
Specific gravity of a mineral is constant.
It varies little with the presence of impurities.
Difference in specific gravity of the minerals is used to
separate them- GRAVITY
CONCENTRATION.
Eg:- Washing in water to separate gold grains from quartz.
Washing with heavy fluids separates lighter coal from
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heavy shale ( ash).

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF MINERALS

4. HARDNESS Ability of a mineral to resist scratching.
It is a characteristic property of a mineral.
It depends on the atomic arrangement in the crystals of the
minerals ( Eg Graphite is
softer compared to and diamond).
Hardness vary slightly in different directions in a mineraldue to slight difference in
atomic arrangement.
THEMOHS of
SCALE
OF MINERAL
HARDNESS(FRIEDRICH MOHS
Hardness
minerals
is evaluated
by SCRATCHING.
1812).
Characterizes the scratch resistance of various minerals through
the ability of a harder material to scratch a softer material.
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Mohs
hardness

Chemical
formula

Mineral

Absolute
hardnessmeasured
by
instrument

Talc

Mg3Si4O10(OH)2

Gypsum

CaSO42H2O

Mohs hardness scale is relative

i.e, hardness of clacite is not
thrice of talc.

Calcite

CaCO3

Fluorite

CaF2

Apatite

Ca5(PO4)3(OH,Cl
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,F)

Orthoclase
Feldspar

KAlSi3O8

72

Quartz

SiO2

100

Topaz

Al2SiO4(OH,F)2

200

Corundum

Al2O3

400

10

Diamond

1600

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