Minerals Engineering最新文献

{"title":"Sustainable and efficient barite recovery from low-grade tailings waste: A combined and innovative solution for resource utilization","authors":"Yuanxing Yue ,&nbsp;Yongsheng Sun ,&nbsp;Xiaolong Zhang ,&nbsp;Jianping Jin ,&nbsp;Yanjun Li","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109767","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109767","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Barite-containing tailings represent a secondary barite resource characterized by substantial reserves and high recyclability. In this study, an innovative combined magnetic-gravity-flotation separation process was proposed for efficiently recovering barite from low-grade tailings waste. Low-intensity magnetic separation and high-gradient magnetic separation were sequentially employed to remove magnetic iron-bearing minerals. The non-magnetic fraction was subsequently subjected to shaking table separation to discard low-density gangue minerals, such as quartz. Through pre-enrichment via magnetic and gravity separation, the BaSO₄ grade increased from 7.92% to 74.43%, effectively upgrading the raw material quality. This pre-enrichment significantly reduced reagent consumption and operational costs in downstream flotation. Under optimized flotation conditions, a barite concentrate with 95.23% BaSO₄ purity was achieved, compliant with the first-class superior specifications outlined in China’s chemical industry standards for barite products. The mineral liberation analysis results indicated that the barite content in the concentrate reached 95.59%. The content of barite-poor intergrowth was less than 0.13%. This research provides a sustainable and efficient strategy for valorizing barite resources in industrial tailings.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"234 ","pages":"Article 109767"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145044176","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The efficient removal of dolomite from phosphate ores using a novel collector: Flotation selectivity and collecting mechanism","authors":"Yifan Zhang ,&nbsp;Yudi Yan ,&nbsp;Bingqiao Yang ,&nbsp;Rui Ma ,&nbsp;Yang Xu ,&nbsp;Huihua Luo ,&nbsp;Fang Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109768","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109768","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The removal of magnesium-contained minerals from phosphate ores poses significant challenges because of the resembling surface characteristics and inferior selectivity of conventional fatty acid and its derivatives. However, litter attention has been paid to develop highly selective collector to upgrade magnesium-contained phosphate ores. In this work, an attempt was made to explore a novel and efficient dolomite collector to remove dolomite from phosphate ores by means of reverse flotation, and multiple analytical techniques including Zeta potential, wettability, adsorption amount, microcalorimetry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were employed to elucidate the collecting mechanism of Nonylphenol ether phosphate-10 (TXP-10) in reverse flotation. TXP-10 showed good selective collecting ability toward dolomite at pH of 5–10 without depressant. The addition of sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) prior to TXP-10 further improved the selectivity of TXP-10. Zeta potential and adsorption amount results indicated that TXP-10 preferentially adsorbed on dolomite in contrast to apatite. Microcalorimetry results indicated that the adsorption heat and rate between TXP-10 and dolomite was much bigger and faster compared with apatite. XPS and simulation results revealed that the −OPO₃ groups of TXP-10 chemically bonded with Ca and Mg sites on dolomite, while physically adsorbed on apatite due to scarce Ca distribution density and the steric hindrance effect. In addition, H₂SO₄ barely reacted with Ca and Mg sites on dolomite but strongly interacted Ca sites on apatite, further expanding the adsorption difference of TXP-10 on apatite and dolomite. The study might provide some new insights into the development of novel reverse collector for the efficient beneficiation of magnesium-contained phosphate ores.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"234 ","pages":"Article 109768"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145044177","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Impact of water recycling on spodumene losses during the mica flotation stage in lithium ore beneficiation","authors":"Antonio Di Feo ,&nbsp;Maziar E. Sauber ,&nbsp;Baian Almusned ,&nbsp;Brian Hart ,&nbsp;Tassos Grammatikopoulos","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109773","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109773","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the impact of recycled process water on spodumene losses during the mica flotation stage in lithium ore beneficiation. Flotation experiments, complemented by comprehensive mineralogical characterization and surface chemistry analyses, revealed significant spodumene losses to the mica rougher-scavenger concentrates under recycled water conditions. Surface chemistry analysis indicated enhanced adsorption of the collector (ARMAC-T) onto spodumene surfaces, driven by elevated levels of total organic carbon (TOC), total dissolved solids (TDS), and specific ionic species, particularly aluminum and iron. Mechanistic interpretations suggest that recycled water conditions promote undesired interactions between the collector and spodumene surfaces, negatively affecting mica flotation selectivity and consequently causing substantial lithium losses. Operational recommendations are proposed to reduce spodumene recovery, thereby enhancing overall lithium recovery.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"234 ","pages":"Article 109773"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145044178","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Defect structures of mineral surface and its influence on flotation: a critical review","authors":"Chenyang Zhang ,&nbsp;Minsheng Fu ,&nbsp;Xin Rao ,&nbsp;Rong Wang ,&nbsp;Zhipeng Tang ,&nbsp;Sun Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109763","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109763","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mineral surfaces typically exhibit abundant defects arising from geological processes, crushing and grinding operations, pulp solution environments, and anthropogenic factors. Serving as reactive centers, these surface defects endow mineral surfaces with distinct physical and chemical properties that directly influence the interfacial behavior of minerals in flotation systems. This article emphasizes the pivotal role of surface defect structures in mineral flotation interfacial phenomena, systematically reviewing their effects on mineral surface structure, properties, and flotation performance, as well as the underlying regulatory mechanisms. Additionally, it outlines potential future research directions in surface defect chemistry relevant to mineral flotation, offering theoretical insights and novel perspectives for the precise control of flotation processes and the design of targeted reagent molecules.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"234 ","pages":"Article 109763"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145044174","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Machine learning prediction of screening efficiency of new drum screen based on Harris Eagle algorithm optimization","authors":"Jinshuo Yang ,&nbsp;Mengyao Sun ,&nbsp;Wei Wang ,&nbsp;Jinpeng Qiao ,&nbsp;Yanze Wang ,&nbsp;Chenlong Duan","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109772","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109772","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As a core screening device in mineral processing and construction industries, the efficiency of a drum screen is governed by multiple nonlinearly coupled parameters, rendering traditional empirical models inadequate for high-precision prediction. This study presents an integrated machine learning framework combining the Discrete Element Method (DEM) with the Harris Hawks Optimization (HHO) algorithm to dynamically model the trommel sieving rate of a novel screen. Initially, a high-dimensional dataset comprising 810 samples—including particle size distribution, rotational speed, and drum inclination—was generated via DEM simulations. Subsequently, the HHO algorithm was employed to optimize the hyperparameters of a deep multilayer perceptron (MLP), achieving coefficients of determination (R²) of 0.9864 and 0.9760 on the training and test sets, respectively. To generalize the model across varying drum lengths, a variable-screen-length iterative prediction algorithm was developed; results demonstrate that for drum lengths exceeding 300 mm, the prediction error remains below 3 % and decays exponentially with increasing length. Global sensitivity analysis identified drum inclination (26.01 %) and fine-particle feed rate (24.73 %) as the predominant factors influencing screening efficiency. Moreover, interpretability analysis indicated that fine-particle feed rates (“d &lt; 3 mm”, “3 mm &lt; d &lt; 4.5 mm”) and drum inclination consistently serve as the primary drivers of model predictions, although the model exhibits context-dependence with notable variations across output regimes. The proposed approach offers robust theoretical and technical support for the intelligent design and parameter optimization of drum screening equipment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"234 ","pages":"Article 109772"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145026691","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mechanisms of gangue transport and recovery in Reflux flotation cells under varying bias flux and salinity conditions","authors":"Brady Wright,&nbsp;Pouria Amani,&nbsp;Kevin Galvin,&nbsp;Mahshid Firouzi","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109765","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109765","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the transport mechanisms by which hydrophilic gangue particles report to the product stream in the Reflux Flotation Cell (RFC) under a range of bias fluxes and salinity conditions. Bias flux defined as the difference between the wash water flux and the product water flux was systematically varied to establish negative, zero, and positive net liquid flow relative to rising bubbles. Fine silica (D₉₀ = 68 μ m) was used as a model hydrophilic gangue material, with experiments conducted in both 0 and 1  M NaCl to represent freshwater and saline process water conditions. Under negative bias (no wash water), silica recovery was dominated by bulk entrainment, reaching ∼14 wt% in freshwater and slightly higher in saline conditions. At zero bias, where net liquid flow was neutral, bulk entrainment was significantly minimised and bubble surface entrainment became the dominant mechanism. Silica recovery in this regime increased from ∼6 % (no salt) to ∼8 % (1  M NaCl), attributed to salt-induced aggregation promoting surface entrainment. Under positive bias, the downward liquid flow effectively washed gangue particles from bubble surfaces, reducing recovery to below 1 wt% in both salt and no-salt systems. Quantitative decomposition of recovery data showed that salt enhanced both bulk entrainment under negative bias and washability under positive bias, due to the formation of loosely bound aggregates. Single-bubble experiments confirmed that salt promotes surface loading via aggregation, and that such aggregates can be detached by downward liquid flow. To further characterise RFC hydrodynamics, bubbly zone length and bubble size distributions were analysed in both the vertical and inclined sections. Results demonstrated the role of inclined channels in promoting bubble segregation, with implications for improved gangue rejection.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"234 ","pages":"Article 109765"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145026690","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reduction of saprolite nickel ore using methane-argon gas mixture with laboratory-scale simulated rotary kiln-electric furnace (RKEF) technology","authors":"Amalia Jihan Nabilah ,&nbsp;Bima Satritama ,&nbsp;Taufiq Hidayat ,&nbsp;Pekka Taskinen ,&nbsp;Imam Santoso ,&nbsp;Hamzah Kurniadani ,&nbsp;Zulfiadi Zulhan","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109776","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109776","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Saprolite nickel ore is typically processed using a pyrometallurgical route called Rotary Kiln-Electric Furnace (RKEF), which contributes to about 75 % of nickel production from laterite nickel ores. In RKEF technology, coal plays multiple roles as a reductant, fuel, and electricity source. Methane is a viable option as reductant and fuel for reducing CO₂ emissions in the nickel industry, particularly as a stopgap measure until hydrogen production can be scaled up. However, there has been limited research on using methane as a reductant in nickel production. This study aims to produce ferronickel from saprolite nickel ore through a laboratory-scale RKEF using methane gas. Initially, FactSage 8.2 was used to investigate the thermodynamics of the process. A series of laboratory experiments were carried out in two stages to simulate the RKEF process. It involved varying the reduction temperature (500–900 °C), reduction time (15–120 min), and gas composition (25 and 75 vol% CH₄/Ar) before each calcine was melted at 1550 °C for 2 h. The average composition of metals obtained was 71.3 % Fe and 14.3 % Ni. The results showed that methane can be used to produce ferronickel with a similar composition as commercial ferronickel.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"234 ","pages":"Article 109776"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145044175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advances in iron and manganese removal technologies for sustainable copper-cobalt hydrometallurgy","authors":"Zhengyong Yang ,&nbsp;Yuchen Shi ,&nbsp;Jingyuan Xu ,&nbsp;Yiquan Yang ,&nbsp;Zhenyin Wang ,&nbsp;Hongfei Ba ,&nbsp;Yansheng Zhang ,&nbsp;Baojun Yang ,&nbsp;Yan Cai ,&nbsp;Jun Wang ,&nbsp;Jianyu Zhu ,&nbsp;Guanzhou Qiu ,&nbsp;Min Gan","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109771","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109771","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The global adoption of new energy vehicles has expanded rapidly in recent years, driving intensified use of cobalt in lithium battery technologies. This trend has triggered a substantial rise in worldwide demand for both cobalt resources. Therefore, cobalt recycling is crucial for sustainable resource management and environmental protection. The presence of impurities, such as iron and manganese, adversely affects the subsequent recovery and application of cobalt. This paper examines technologies and methods for removing these impurities prior to cobalt recovery. It systematically analyzes various iron removal techniques and discusses recent developments, and evaluates their economic feasibility in terms of capital investment, operating costs, and environmental risks. Among iron removal methods, the jarosite process demonstrates higher cost-effectiveness for industrial-scale applications, while the hematite process requires stringent operational conditions. Additionally, it compares and evaluates manganese removal technologies, such as precipitation, ion exchange, electrolysis, and extraction methods. Moreover, this paper presents other treatment methods that can remove and separate iron and manganese simultaneously: neutralization precipitation and SO₂/O₂ oxidative precipitation. The SO₂/O₂ oxidative precipitation method offers a simplified and eco-friendly alternative to conventional techniques. The paper also addresses cobalt precipitation techniques, including primary cobalt deposit and secondary cobalt deposit, pressurized ammonia distillation, and liquid-phase reduction precipitation. In general, this paper summarizes the various methods of iron and manganese removal, and analyzes the limitations and future trends, this provides new insights for advancing iron and manganese removal technologies in cobalt hydrometallurgy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"234 ","pages":"Article 109771"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145026689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A spatio-temporal graph neural network with masked self-supervision for precise anomaly severity measurement of vibrating screens in mineral processing","authors":"Yuxin Wu ,&nbsp;Ziqi Lv ,&nbsp;Xuan Zhao ,&nbsp;Yao Cui ,&nbsp;Qiqi Zou ,&nbsp;Yanbo Liu ,&nbsp;Zhen Bao ,&nbsp;Weidong Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109764","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109764","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurately quantifying the anomaly severity of vibrating screens is crucial for ensuring the stable operation of mining production systems such as coal preparation plants. However, this task faces three major challenges: (1) Traditional methods struggle to learn robust health state baselines from normal operating data; (2) Vibration signals exhibit multi-scale temporal patterns and dynamic coupling relationships between sensors, posing difficulties for spatiotemporal feature modelling; (3) There is a lack of effective anomaly severity quantification mechanisms. To address these issues, this paper proposes a Spatio-Temporal Graph Neural Network with Masked Self-Supervision (STGNN-MSS). The method tackles the aforementioned challenges through three modules: First, the self-supervised pre-training module employs a Transformer-based masked autoencoder to learn deep temporal representations from normal data through a regression-classification dual-task framework; Second, the spatio-temporal feature learning module combines multi-scale hypergraph networks and dynamic graph convolutional networks to capture high-order dependencies at different temporal scales and dynamic spatial coupling between sensors, respectively; Finally, the anomaly severity detection module adopts a prediction-reconstruction dual-task framework and introduces a KL divergence-based distribution deviation metric to achieve precise quantification of anomaly severity. Experimental results demonstrate that STGNN-MSS achieves an F1 score of 0.9798 and an AUC value of 0.94 on the vibrating screen dataset, representing improvements of 11.2 % and 5.6 % over the best baseline methods, respectively, validating the effectiveness of the proposed method.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"234 ","pages":"Article 109764"},"PeriodicalIF":5.0,"publicationDate":"2025-09-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145019142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Advancements and applications of numerical simulation in enhancing the efficiency of low-intensity magnetic separators","authors":"Liwei Wu, Dongdong Tang, Jinlei Wen, Minghui Gong, Feiwang Wang, Huixin Dai","doi":"10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109750","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2025.109750","url":null,"abstract":"Magnetite is the core of the steel industry and a pillar of economic development in resource-based regions. Low-intensity magnetic separation (LIMS) is a highly effective method for separating magnetite. However, studies on LIMS mechanism and the optimization and development of equipment have progressed slowly due to high complexity of the magnetization mechanism of magnetic ore particles during the separation process, the ambiguity of the interaction mechanism between multi-physical fields and mineral particles, and the lack of characterization and observation methods in the dynamic separation process. Recently, advancements in numerical simulation have significantly contributed to studies on prediction of separation results in dry and wet low-intensity magnetic separation, equipment optimization and development, interaction mechanisms between multi-physical fields and mineral particles in the dynamic separation process, and the interaction mechanisms between mineral particles. These studies outline the problems that constrain the application of numerical simulations in LIMS, and proposes the future research directions of numerical simulation technology in the field of weak magnetic separation.","PeriodicalId":18594,"journal":{"name":"Minerals Engineering","volume":"38 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.8,"publicationDate":"2025-09-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145009086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}