WO2012034180A1 - Blending mined material - Google Patents
Blending mined material Download PDFInfo
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- WO2012034180A1 WO2012034180A1 PCT/AU2011/001187 AU2011001187W WO2012034180A1 WO 2012034180 A1 WO2012034180 A1 WO 2012034180A1 AU 2011001187 W AU2011001187 W AU 2011001187W WO 2012034180 A1 WO2012034180 A1 WO 2012034180A1
- Authority
- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- dry
- method defined
- mine
- grade
- ore
- Prior art date
Links
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 title claims abstract description 187
- 238000002156 mixing Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 53
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 63
- 239000002245 particle Substances 0.000 claims description 61
- XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N Iron Chemical compound [Fe] XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 60
- 229910052742 iron Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 31
- 238000004458 analytical method Methods 0.000 claims description 19
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 claims description 16
- 238000002441 X-ray diffraction Methods 0.000 claims description 11
- 238000009826 distribution Methods 0.000 claims description 10
- 230000009977 dual effect Effects 0.000 claims description 10
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 claims description 10
- 150000001875 compounds Chemical class 0.000 claims description 7
- 229910000831 Steel Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 6
- 239000010959 steel Substances 0.000 claims description 6
- 230000003247 decreasing effect Effects 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000012544 monitoring process Methods 0.000 claims description 2
- 238000005065 mining Methods 0.000 description 27
- 239000002699 waste material Substances 0.000 description 14
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N Silicium dioxide Chemical compound O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 10
- 239000003245 coal Substances 0.000 description 5
- 239000000377 silicon dioxide Substances 0.000 description 5
- 238000005549 size reduction Methods 0.000 description 5
- 239000000470 constituent Substances 0.000 description 4
- 239000012535 impurity Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000013459 approach Methods 0.000 description 3
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 description 3
- PNEYBMLMFCGWSK-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium oxide Inorganic materials [O-2].[O-2].[O-2].[Al+3].[Al+3] PNEYBMLMFCGWSK-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 230000001419 dependent effect Effects 0.000 description 2
- 239000002360 explosive Substances 0.000 description 2
- BHEPBYXIRTUNPN-UHFFFAOYSA-N hydridophosphorus(.) (triplet) Chemical compound [PH] BHEPBYXIRTUNPN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 2
- 229910052500 inorganic mineral Inorganic materials 0.000 description 2
- 239000011707 mineral Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000011084 recovery Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000012827 research and development Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000012216 screening Methods 0.000 description 2
- RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N Copper Chemical compound [Cu] RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- OAICVXFJPJFONN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Phosphorus Chemical compound [P] OAICVXFJPJFONN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 239000004411 aluminium Substances 0.000 description 1
- XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium Chemical compound [Al] XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 229910052782 aluminium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000003556 assay Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005422 blasting Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000004364 calculation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000010949 copper Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052802 copper Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000005553 drilling Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000000694 effects Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003287 optical effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000010951 particle size reduction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000011574 phosphorus Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052698 phosphorus Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000126 substance Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000004876 x-ray fluorescence Methods 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- E—FIXED CONSTRUCTIONS
- E21—EARTH OR ROCK DRILLING; MINING
- E21C—MINING OR QUARRYING
- E21C41/00—Methods of underground or surface mining; Layouts therefor
- E21C41/26—Methods of surface mining; Layouts therefor
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B07—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS; SORTING
- B07B—SEPARATING SOLIDS FROM SOLIDS BY SIEVING, SCREENING, SIFTING OR BY USING GAS CURRENTS; SEPARATING BY OTHER DRY METHODS APPLICABLE TO BULK MATERIAL, e.g. LOOSE ARTICLES FIT TO BE HANDLED LIKE BULK MATERIAL
- B07B1/00—Sieving, screening, sifting, or sorting solid materials using networks, gratings, grids, or the like
Definitions
- the present invention relates to a method of blending mined material to produce a blended product of a required customer specification.
- the mined material may be a metalliferous or a non-metalliferous material.
- Iron-containing and copper- containing ores are examples of metalliferous materials .
- Coal is an example of a non-metalliferous material.
- the present invention relates particularly although by no means exclusively to a mined material in the form of iron ore (and stockpiled iron ore) and is described hereinafter in this context. However, the present invention also extends to other mined and
- a section of a bench is assayed by chemically analysing samples of ore taken from a series of drilled holes in the section to determine whether the ore is (a) high grade, (b) low grade or (c) waste material on a mass average basis.
- the cutoffs between high and low grades and between low grade and waste material are dependent on a range of factors and may vary from mine to mine and in different sections of mines.
- a blockout plan of the section is prepared. The plan locates the drilled samples on a plan map of the section. Regions of (a) high grade, (b) low grade or (c) waste material are determined by sample analysis (such as chemical assay and/or
- the regions define blocks to be subsequently mined.
- the blocks of ore are blasted using explosives and are picked up from a mine pit and transported from the mine pit.
- the ore is processed inside and outside the mine pit depending on the grade determination for each block .
- waste ore is used as mine fill
- low grade ore is stockpiled or used to blend with high grade ore
- high grade ore is processed further as required to form a marketable product.
- the further processing of high grade ore ranges from simple crushing and screening to a standard size range through to processes that beneficiate or upgrade the iron ore to produce a product of a required customer specification .
- the processing may be wet or dry.
- material such as iron ore , including low grade iron ore , comprising : (a) determining whether a volume of a material to be mined is upgradable and mining the volume of material or determining whether a volume of a material in a stockpile of mined material is upgradable; and (b) after suitable size reduction (for example by crushing and screening) dry sorting the mined or stockpiled material that is determined to be upgradable and producing an upgraded mined material .
- the upgraded mined material may be a product that meets a required customer specification or may be suitable to be processed further, for example by blending with other material , to produce a product of a required
- the International application also describes a dry sorting apparatus for sorting the mined or stockpiled material that is determined to be upgradable .
- the approach of the method of the International application of determining whether material is upgradeable is a quite different approach to conventional mining, as discussed above, which is based on making a mass average assessment of blocks of ore and categorising the ore as high grade, low grade, or waste material.
- the term "upgradable” is understood to mean that the mined or stockpiled material is a material that is capable of being dry sorted to improve the actual or potential economic value of the material .
- the International application describes what is meant by the term “upgradable” in the following terms .
- the criteria for deciding whether, a material (including material to be mined and stockpiled material) is upgradable is not limited to the grade and may include factors relevant to a particular mine, such as the
- the material characteristics of the material may include other factors such as market requirements for the material.
- the material characteristics may include the extent to which valuable constituents of a material can be liberated, for example by particle size reduction, the mineral
- upgradable may be understood herein to mean that there is a range of grades in the individual particles making up the material in a volume of material to be mined, such as a block of the type described above, whereby some particles are higher grades than other particles, and there would be a benefit in separating the volume of material into higher and lower grade components.
- the term “upgradable” may also be understood herein to mean that there is a range of grades of materials in the particles of material in a stockpile of mined material that has been classified as low grade material, whereby some particles are higher grades than other particles, and there would be a benefit in separating the stockpiled material into higher and lower grade components.
- the term “upgradable” may also be understood herein to mean that the material contains particles of "impurities" within a volume of material to be mined or in a stockpile.
- the impurities may comprise any one or more of shale and silica and other ash components.
- grade as used herein is understood to mean an average of the amount of a selected constituent in a given volume of particles of a mined material, such as ore, expressed as a percentage, with the grade calculation being based on amounts by weight.
- grade relates to the percentage by weight of iron and other constituents of the ore that are considered to be important by customers .
- the other constituents include, by way of example, silica, aluminium, and phosphorous.”
- dry sorting is understood to mean any sorting process that does not required added moisture for the purpose of effecting separation.
- dry sorting is understood to have the same meaning in this specification.
- the method and the apparatus described in the International application makes it possible to recover value from mined and stockpiled material such as iron ore that would otherwise be classified as low grade material or waste material as described above on a mass average basis . This is particularly the case where the particles in low grade material or waste material comprise one group of discrete particles that are above a threshold grade and another group of discrete particles that are below the threshold grade.
- the method and the apparatus also makes it possible to recover value from mined and stockpiled material such as coal that contains particles of shale and silica or other "impurities" by separating coal particles and these "impurity" particles. The end result is the production of products to required customer
- the International application describes that dual energy x-ray analysis is one option for use in determining whether a mined material is upgradable .
- the International application also describes that dual energy x-ray analysis is one option for use in dry sorting particles of material that has been determined to be upgradeable material.
- International application PCT/AU2009/001179 International publication WO 2010/025528 in the name of the applicant describes a method and an apparatus for dual energy x-ray analysis of a mined material .
- the term "dual energy x-ray analysis” is understood herein to mean analysis that is based on processing data of detected transmitted x-rays through the full thickness of each particle obtained at different photon energies . Such processing makes it possible to minimise the effects of non-compositional factors on the detected data so that the data provides clearer information on the composition, type , or form of the material .
- the disclosure in the specification of the International application is
- the applicant has carried out further research and development work on the method and the apparatus for sorting mined or stockpiled material and the method and the apparatus for dual energy x-ray analysis of a mined or stockpiled material described in the above International applications.
- the applicant has carried out further research and development work on a dry sorter for mined or stockpiled material that uses dual energy x- ray analysis to assist in determining whether particles of a mined or stockpiled material are above or below a threshold grade and then dry sorting the particles of the material on the basis of the grade determination.
- the dry sorting method and apparatus described in the above International applications can be used in a wide range of situations in a mining operation to facilitate the production of a range of products to required customer specifications .
- the use of the dry sorting method and apparatus is not limited to sorting mined and stockpiled material that has been determined to be upgradable and extends to any mined material and stockpiled material.
- the applicant has realised that there are considerable benefits in terms of production of products to required specifications that can be achieved in selectively using the dry sorting method and apparatus in a mining operation for processing some but not necessarily all of the mined material at a mine and/or at a shipping facility of the mining operation.
- the selective use of the dry sorting method and apparatus can provide considerable flexibility to mine operators in scheduling production to meet customer requirements and to maximise recovery of value from mines , including stockpiled material that has been classified as being low grade or waste material.
- the selective use of the dry sorting method and apparatus can provide considerable flexibility to a mining operation and make it possible to maintain shipped tonnages of material to customers in situations where there are unscheduled disruptions to mining operations at one or more mines .
- the dry sorting method and apparatus provides an opportunity for considerable flexibility for blending mined and/or stockpiled material from different sections of one mine and/or from multiple mines to produce a range of different blended products that meet customer requirements .
- this opportunity for flexibility extends to dry sorting and blending mined and/or stockpiled material at locations ranging from the mines through to customer operations and any locations between these locations .
- a method of blending mined and/or stockpiled material from different sections of one mine and/or from more than one mine that includes dry sorting mined and/or stockpiled material and producing an upgraded material , and blending the upgraded material with other material from the mine and/or with material from one or more than one other mine and producing the product of the required customer specification.
- a method of blending mined and/or stockpiled material from different sections of one mine and/or from more than one mine to produce a blended product of a required customer specification comprising the steps of:
- the dry sorting step and the blending step may be carried out at any suitable location or locations.
- the dry sorting step and the blending step may be carried out at a mine or mines , a shipping facility such as a sea port, or a customer operation.
- the dry sorting step and the blending step may be carried out at the steel works.
- the upgraded material may be blended with other material from the mine or one or more than one other mine, including mines of other suppliers to the steelmaker . Dry sorting and blending the iron ore at the steel works makes it possible to take into account the parameters of the other material at the steel works and to operate the dry sorting step to ensure that the blended product meets the required customer specification .
- the blending step may comprise blending (a) upgraded material from the dry sorter or sorters and (b) mined and/or stockpiled material that is not dry sorted material .
- the blending step may comprise blending upgraded material from a plurality of dry sorters only.
- the term "upgraded" material as used herein is understood to mean that the material from the dry sorter has a higher measure of a selected parameter that is relevant to the required customer specification than the average measure of that parameter in the feed material to the sorter .
- the required customer product specification may be based on any one or more than one suitable parameter for the product.
- the required customer product specification may be based on any one of more than one of grade, particle size, particle size distribution, density, and particle shape .
- Grade may be based on one element in the material or on other elements and/or compounds in the material .
- one element may be iron, another element may be phosphorus, one compound may be alumina, and another compound may be silica.
- the required customer product specification is a combination of at least two parameters .
- the blending step may be based on grade to achieve a required customer specification for product grade .
- the blending step may be based on particle size to achieve a required customer specification for particle size .
- the blending step may be based on particle size distribution to achieve a required customer specification for particle size distribution.
- the blending step may be based on density to achieve a required customer specification for density .
- the blending step may be based on particle shape to achieve a required customer specification for particle shape .
- the blending step may be based on two or more than two of the above parameters to achieve required customer specifications for these parameters .
- the method may comprise monitoring the operation the dry sorter or sorters for grade and/or another
- the method may comprise controlling the operation of the dry sorter or sorters to produce upgraded material having parameters as required for use in the blending step to produce the blended product of the required customer product specification.
- the method may include controlling the operation of the dry sorter or sorters using a control system that monitors all of the material being processed at the mine or mines that is used in the blending step, including material that is not being processed in the dry sorter or sorters , whereby production operators are able to take into account the parameters of any non-dry sorter feed to the blending step that are relevant to the blended product when determining operational settings for the dry sorter or sorters so that the upgraded material from the dry sorter or sorters has the required parameters to
- the mine or mines may be part of a mining operation that further comprises a shipping facility for shipping the product of the required customer
- the transportation link may transport to the shipping facility any one or more of mined material, stockpiled material , upgraded material produced in the dry sorter or sorters, and the product of the required
- the shipping facility may be a sea port facility, with capacity for loading one or more than one product carrier ships .
- the shipping facility may be a rail facility, with capacity for loading one or more than one product rail trains .
- the transportation link may be a railway line and/or a roadway system.
- the blending facility may be at any suitable location.
- the upgraded material from the dry sorter or sorters may be any appropriate percentage by weight of the total production from the mine or mines having regard to relevant factors including capital and operating costs of equipment and the required customer specifications and the properties of the mined material at the mine or mines .
- the upgraded material from the dry sorter or sorters may be less than 25% by weight of the total production from the mine or mines .
- the upgraded material from the dry sorter or sorters may be less than 20% by weight of the total production from the mine or mines.
- the upgraded material from the dry sorter or sorters may be less than 15% by weight of the total production from the mine or mines .
- the basis of operation of a dry sorter may be changed as required from time to time .
- the dry sorter may be operated for a period of time having regard to a particular element in the material that is relevant for one customer
- a threshold grade for a given element may be increased or decreased over time depending on the grade of that element in other mined or stockpiled material from the same mine and/or from other mines that is used in the blending step .
- the upgraded material from the dry sorter or sorters may be processed further to facilitate production of the blended product to the required customer
- the upgraded material may be subjected to size reduction, for example in a crusher, to a required particle size range.
- the upgraded material may be subjected to further sorting operations .
- the further sorting operations may be wet or dry sorting operations .
- the material supplied to the dry sorter or sorters may be mined or stockpiled material that has been assessed as being upgradable material , as described herein .
- the mining operation may include analysis of material to be mined or of material in existing stockpiles of mined material to determine whether the material is upgradable material .
- the analysis may comprise taking a plurality of samples , such as drilled samples , from a volume of material to be mined, such as a block of ore of the type described above , prior to mining the material and
- the analysis may also comprise taking a plurality of samples from a stockpiled material and analysing the samples , for example by determining the grade of each of the samples, and making an assessment of whether the material in the stockpiled material is upgradable .
- the dry sorter or sorters may use any suitable analytical technique to determine the basis for sorting particles of material being processed in the sorter .
- One suitable analytical technique for the analysis step and the dry sorter or sorters is dual energy x-ray analysis.
- Other analytical techniques include, by way of example, x-ray fluorescence, radiometric,
- the dry sorter may be adapted to dry sort on the basis of analysis of a parameter, such as grade, of individual particles of the material .
- the material may be mined by any suitable mining method and equipment .
- the material may be mined by drilling and blasting blocks of ore from a pit and transporting the mined ore from the pit by trucks and/or conveyors.
- the material may be mined by surface miners moving over a pit floor and transported from the pit by trucks and/or conveyors .
- the present invention also provides a method of producing a product of a required customer specification in the above-described mining operation, which method includes mining material from at least one mine,
- Figure 1 is an example of a blockout plan for a section of a mine bench in a conventional mining
- Figure 2 is one embodiment of a mining operation in accordance with the present invention.
- Figure 3 is a flowsheet illustrating one, although not the only, embodiment of the method and an apparatus for sorting ore in accordance with the present invention , with the Figure being Figure 2 of the specification of International application
- the description of the invention is in the context of a mined material in the form of iron ore. It is noted that the invention is not confined to iron ore and extends to other mined materials containing valuable components .
- the invention relates generally to mined metalliferous and non-metalliferous materials .
- copper is an example of a
- Coal is an example of a non- metalliferous material .
- Figure 1 is a blockout plan for a section 51 of a bench in an open pit iron ore mine operating as a
- the plan shows the locations of a series of drilled holes 53 (indicated by crosses) that have been drilled to obtain samples. The samples are analysed to determine the grade of ore in the samples .
- the plan also shows assayed and is marked with a series of boundaries 55 that divide the section into a series of blocks 57 on the basis of whether the ore in the blocks is determined by the sample analysis to be (a) high grade, (b) low grade or (c) waste material based on ore grade.
- low grade blocks are referred to as "LG”
- waste blocks are referred to as "W” in the Figure .
- the cut-offs between high and low grades and between low grade and waste material are dependent on a range of factors and may vary from mine to mine and in different sections of mines .
- Each block 57 of ore is blasted using explosives and is picked up from a mine pit and transported from the mine pit.
- the ore is processed inside and outside the mine pit depending on the grade determination for each block. For example, waste ore is used as mine fill , low grade ore is stockpiled or used to blend with high grade ore, and high grade ore is processed further as required to form a marketable product.
- the processing may be wet or dry.
- the low grade ore blocks are not usually blended with other ore and are stockpiled and not sold and hence represent significant lost economic value.
- some or all of these blocks and existing stockpiles of previously mined ore that has been classified as low grade material may be suitable for upgrading in accordance with the present invention and are processed, including dry sorted, by way of example with reference to the flowsheet of Figure 3.
- the present invention is based on a
- Each of the mines produces crushed iron ore of a required particle size range for customer product requirements that is transported by trains to a shipping facility in the form of a sea port.
- the ore is unloaded from the trains into stockpiles .
- the stockpiled material is subsequently loaded onto ships and transported to customers in
- Each of the mines is operated to load trains with iron ore of a selected grade, which may be different for different mines .
- the basis of the selection is that the ore on the trains can be blended to produce blended ore of the required customer
- mine 1 produces trains of ore of grade "A”
- mine 2 produces trains of ore of grade "B”
- mine 3 produces trains of ore of grade "C” .
- the unloading sequence of the trains is controlled to blend the ore so that the stockpiles comprise ore of the required customer specification in terms of ore grade .
- the operation of the mines is monitored and controlled to produce ore of selected grades that can be blended at the port to produce a product of the required customer specification.
- Each of the mines includes one or more than one dry sorter, such as a dry sorter operating on the basis of dual energy x- ray analysis , such as described in International
- each of the mines also mines and processes mined and stockpiled ore in accordance with conventional mining practice of categorising blocks of ores as high grade , low grade , and waste material based on mass average assessment of the blocks .
- the dry sorter (s) at the mine processes 10% of the mined material in the sorter.
- the dry sorter (s) at the mine processes 15% of the stockpiled ore in the sorter.
- the dry sorter (s) at the mine processes 10% of the total mined production from mined and stockpiled ore in the sorter.
- the mining operation also includes a control system that monitors the production from the mines in terms of the parameters for a given required customer product specification. These parameters may include grade, particle size, particle size distribution, density, and particle shape.
- grade is the key parameter.
- the grade may be the iron content.
- the grade may be the content of other elements and compounds in iron ore .
- One such element is phosphorous.
- One such compound is silica.
- the parameters also include the required tonnage of the product for the customer.
- the control system assesses the output in terms of grade from the dry sorters that is required to produce upgraded ore from the sorters that, when blended with other ore produced from the mines, produces the blended product of the required customer specification.
- the control system adjusts the operation of the dry sorters as required to produce the upgraded material of the required grade (or other selected parameter or parameters) .
- the control system may adjust a threshold grade for ore, with ore above the threshold grade being upgraded material and ore below the threshold grade being waste material.
- the dry sorters operate to tune the mine production to smooth out perturbations in the grade of the other material supplied to the blending facility to make it possible to produce on-specification product.
- the dry sorters operate to tune the mine production to smooth out perturbations in the grade of the other material supplied to the blending facility to make it possible to produce on-specification product.
- the dry sorters operate to tune the mine production to smooth out perturbations in the grade of the other material supplied to the
- sorter (s) at mine 1 and/or the other mines may be operated to provide upgraded ore that is above the required customer grade to blend with the ore that is below the required customer grade and produce on-specification product. This is a particularly useful outcome where the upgraded ore comes from stockpiles that are categorised as low grade . Such use of low grade ore optimises recovery of value from the mining operation .
- the flowsheet shown in Figure 3 is one embodiment of a dry sorting operation that includes the use of a dry sorter as described above .
- the crushed ore from the primary crusher 3 is supplied to a scalping screen 5, for example in the form of a vibrating screen, that separates the ore on the basis of particle size into an oversize fraction of +75 mm and an undersize fraction of - 75 mm.
- the oversize fraction from the scalping screen 5 is transferred to a secondary crusher 7 and, after size reduction in the crusher , is transferred back to the stream from the primary crusher 3.
- the undersize fraction from the scalping screen 5 3 is transferred to a downstream scalping screen 9 , for example in the form of a vibrating screen, that separates the ore on the basis of particle size into an oversize fraction of 8-75 mm and an undersize fraction of -8mm.
- the undersize fraction from the scalping screen 9 is a fines stream that is transferred for further wet or dry processing.
- the oversize fraction from the scalping screen 9 is transferred to a product screen 11, for example in the form of a vibrating screen.
- the product screen 11 is a product screen 11, for example in the form of a vibrating screen.
- the oversize fraction from the product screen 11 is transferred to the secondary crusher 7 and, after size reduction in the crusher , is transferred back to the stream from the primary crusher 3.
- the undersize fraction from the product screen 11 is transferred to downstream product screen 13 that separates the ore on the basis of particle size into an oversize fraction of 8-32 mm and an undersize fraction of -8 mm.
- the undersize fraction from the product screen 13 is a fines stream that is transferred for further
- the oversize fraction from the product screen 13 is a product stream, at least in terms of particle size distribution .
- the oversize fraction from the product screen 13 is transferred to an ore sorter 15 and the particles are sorted on the basis of ore grade , i.e. average
- the sorter 15 may be a sorter that uses dual x-ray analysis or any other suitable analytical technique to determine ore grade of particles processed in the sorter.
- One stream, referred to as "lump" in the Figure, from the ore sorter 15 comprises ore that has an iron concentration above a threshold ore grade, for example 63 wt. % Fe.
- This stream is a required product stream, in terms of particle size distribution and composition, and forms a marketable product or a product that can be blended with other ore streams to produce a marketable product.
- the other stream, referred to as "rejects" in the Figure, from the ore sorter 15 comprises ore that has an iron concentration below a threshold ore grade, for example 63 wt.% Fe. This stream is transferred to a stockpile to be used, for example, as land fill.
- a key feature of the above-described flowsheet is of Figure 3 that the grade sorting step is carried out only on the ore that is in the required product particle size distribution, i.e. the 8-32 mm size fraction. This fraction is an oversize fraction from the product screen and there is no ore sorting of fines .
- the present invention is not so limited and extends to separating ore into any suitable size fractions for a particular mine and mining operation and downstream market requirements. Specifically, it is noted that the present invention is not confined to the specific product size fractions described in relation to the embodiment.
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Abstract
Description
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Priority Applications (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
BR112013006374-2A BR112013006374B1 (en) | 2010-09-17 | 2011-09-16 | METHOD OF MIXING MATERIAL EXTRACTED AND/OR STOCKED FROM DIFFERENT SECTIONS OF A MINE AND/OR FROM MORE THAN ONE MINE |
AU2011301780A AU2011301780B2 (en) | 2010-09-17 | 2011-09-16 | Blending mined material |
CA2811519A CA2811519A1 (en) | 2010-09-17 | 2011-09-16 | Blending mined material |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
AU2010904196 | 2010-09-17 | ||
AU2010904196A AU2010904196A0 (en) | 2010-09-17 | Blending Mined Material |
Publications (1)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
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WO2012034180A1 true WO2012034180A1 (en) | 2012-03-22 |
Family
ID=45830871
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/AU2011/001187 WO2012034180A1 (en) | 2010-09-17 | 2011-09-16 | Blending mined material |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
AU (2) | AU2011301780B2 (en) |
BR (1) | BR112013006374B1 (en) |
CA (1) | CA2811519A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO2012034180A1 (en) |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US9481824B2 (en) | 2012-06-29 | 2016-11-01 | Rebecca Ayers | Process for producing a proppant |
CN114870741A (en) * | 2022-05-31 | 2022-08-09 | 广东省大宝山矿业有限公司 | Ore blending device and ore blending method for concentrate with large grade difference |
Citations (5)
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US4409096A (en) * | 1980-07-15 | 1983-10-11 | Coal Industry (Patents) Ltd. | Control systems for material treatment plant |
EP0319070A1 (en) * | 1987-11-19 | 1989-06-07 | B.V. Grint- en Zandexploitatiemaatschappij v/h Gebrs. Smals | An installation for extracting granular material in a predetermined composition and method for using that installation |
DE19937164A1 (en) * | 1999-08-06 | 2001-02-08 | Heribert Broicher | Process to enhance the quality of a bulk solid dispenses with mixer bed, mobile bulk discharge chute and bulk pick-up unit |
US7380669B2 (en) * | 2004-06-22 | 2008-06-03 | Hacking Jr Earl L | Apparatus and method for sorting and recombining minerals into a desired mixture |
WO2008065632A1 (en) * | 2006-11-30 | 2008-06-05 | Adp Projects (Proprietary) Limited | Method and apparatus for optimising the utilization of the processing capacity of a material processing plant |
-
2011
- 2011-09-16 AU AU2011301780A patent/AU2011301780B2/en active Active
- 2011-09-16 CA CA2811519A patent/CA2811519A1/en not_active Abandoned
- 2011-09-16 BR BR112013006374-2A patent/BR112013006374B1/en active IP Right Grant
- 2011-09-16 WO PCT/AU2011/001187 patent/WO2012034180A1/en active Application Filing
-
2016
- 2016-07-22 AU AU2016206388A patent/AU2016206388A1/en not_active Abandoned
Patent Citations (5)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4409096A (en) * | 1980-07-15 | 1983-10-11 | Coal Industry (Patents) Ltd. | Control systems for material treatment plant |
EP0319070A1 (en) * | 1987-11-19 | 1989-06-07 | B.V. Grint- en Zandexploitatiemaatschappij v/h Gebrs. Smals | An installation for extracting granular material in a predetermined composition and method for using that installation |
DE19937164A1 (en) * | 1999-08-06 | 2001-02-08 | Heribert Broicher | Process to enhance the quality of a bulk solid dispenses with mixer bed, mobile bulk discharge chute and bulk pick-up unit |
US7380669B2 (en) * | 2004-06-22 | 2008-06-03 | Hacking Jr Earl L | Apparatus and method for sorting and recombining minerals into a desired mixture |
WO2008065632A1 (en) * | 2006-11-30 | 2008-06-05 | Adp Projects (Proprietary) Limited | Method and apparatus for optimising the utilization of the processing capacity of a material processing plant |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US9481824B2 (en) | 2012-06-29 | 2016-11-01 | Rebecca Ayers | Process for producing a proppant |
CN114870741A (en) * | 2022-05-31 | 2022-08-09 | 广东省大宝山矿业有限公司 | Ore blending device and ore blending method for concentrate with large grade difference |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
AU2011301780B2 (en) | 2016-05-12 |
BR112013006374A2 (en) | 2020-10-20 |
AU2016206388A1 (en) | 2016-08-11 |
BR112013006374B1 (en) | 2021-06-01 |
AU2011301780A1 (en) | 2013-05-02 |
CA2811519A1 (en) | 2012-03-22 |
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