CHEMICAL METALLURGY

PART II
Prof. Dr. Onuralp YCEL

 A mineral is a naturally occurring substance with a range

of chemical compositions.
An ore is a mineral deposit concentrated enough to allow
economical recovery of a desired metal.
Metallurgy is the science and technology of separating
metals from their ores and of compounding alloys.
An alloy is a solid solution either of two or more metals, or
of a metal or metals with one or more nonmetals.
Recovery of a metal from its ore:
1. Preparation of the ore
2. Production of the metal
3. Purification of the metal

 Extractive metallurgy as a discipline deals with the

extraction of metals from naturally occurring and

man made resources. Separation is the essence of
metal extraction.
Development of efficient separation schemes calls
for a through understanding of extractive
metallurgy principles in terms of physical
chemistry (thermodynamics & kinetics); materials
and energy flow/balance, transport phenomena,
reactor and reactor engineering, instrumentation
and process control, and environment and waste
management.
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 In general, metallurgical separation processes involves

chemical reactions, and classified as pyrometallurgical,
hydrometallurgical,
and
electrometallurgical.
The
processes are also classified as ferrous [dealing with iron
and steel] and nonferrous [dealing with all other metals,
e.g. base metals (like Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, ...), light metals (Al,
Mg, Ti), precious metals (Au, Ag, Pt, Pd, ...), rare earth
(Ce, Nd, Sm, ...), nuclear metals (U, Th, ...), rare metals
(Os, Ru, ...) etc].

Various pyrometallurgical unit processes are: calcination,

roasting, smelting, converting, refining, distillation etc.
Each of these processes serves a specific purpose from the
point
of
view
of
separation.

They require specialized reactor depending upon the phases

(solid/liquid/ gases) involved, mode of contact, temperature,
environmental
measures
etc
Calcination and roasting are used as pre-treatment prior to
other pyro- and hydro- metallurgical operations.

 Smelting is the most common of pyrometallurgical

operations.
Reduction smelting is carried out for oxides. During the
smelting, metal compound (e.g. oxide of metal) is reduced
to metallic form, and the undesirable impurities (gangue)
combine with flux to form slag.
Immiscibility of metal and slag together with density
difference forms the basis for separation. Ellingham
Diagrams (AG vs. T plots), which are available for oxides,
sulphides, chlorides etc serve as a fundamental guide in
predicting the relative stability of compounds.
Based on these diagrams, selection of reduction, reduction
temperature, equilibrium partial pressures, can be
indicated. Similarly, slag atlases are available for most
common slag systems.
Matte (liquid mixture of sulphides) smelting, which
exploits the immiscibility between slag and matte, is used
for metal extraction from sulphide ores.
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 The word hydro- is derived from a Greek word which

means water. Separation steps involved in hydrometallurgy
are: leaching, purification and/or concentration, and
precipitation/metal production.

Leaching involves preferential dissolution through water

solvation, acid/alkali attack, base-exchange reaction,
complex ion formation and oxidation/reduction reaction.
The variables affecting leaching are pH, Eh, concentration,
temperature, pressure, prcomplexing ion etc. Eh-pH
diagrams are thermodynamic plots that give an idea of the
stability of various solution and solid species in
equilibrium under different acidity (pH) and reduction
potential (Eh) conditions (ex. Cu-H20-S system).
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 Electrometallurgy is the process of obtaining metals

through electrolysis. Starting materials may be: (a) molten
salt, and (b) aqueous solution. The separation is based on
difference in Standard electrode potential and it is used for
Electrowinning or Electrorefining purpose. Aluminium
extraction is based on the fuse salt electrolysis.

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While 'separation is the essence of metal extraction'. The scope extends

beyond separation. Number of issues that require attention includes:
Plant Size - transportation, materials handling
Reactor - Size, Mixing, Materials flow, Heat transfer (engineering
skills), material
selection, energy ...
Alloying - Metals are generally used in the form of alloys
Waste disposal - Huge quantity of waste is generated
Recycling - Resource conservation, Energy saving, Waste
mininimisation
Manufacturing - large scale manufacturing, many techniques.
The overall design of a metallurgical plant may involve optimization from
the point of view of process (energy, recovery, separation efficiency,
productivity etc), cost of production and environmental factors.
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Grade = concentration of valuable mineral element

within a rock mass. e.g. 1g/t Au or 0.5% Cu

Ore = rock which is economically viable to mine,

where the value of the metal exceeds the costs of
mining, processing, (crush, extract and purify) and
marketing the commodity
Waste = rock where the grade is insufficient to cover
the costs of processing and marketing

Cut-off grade (or breakeven grade) = The grade or

concentration of mineral in rock where the value of
the metal equals the costs of mining, processing and
marketing the contained commodity
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Mineral:Dnya kabuunu oluturan, doal olarak belirli bir

kimyasal yapdaki homojen maddelere denir.

Cevher: Endstride ekonomik ekilde retimde kullanlabilen

minerale cevher denir. Her cevher bir mineraldir, fakat her
mineral cevher zelliine sahip deildir. Cevher bir tek kymetli
metal ierebilecei gibi birden fazla metalin bir arada bulunduu
cevherlerde mevcuttur.

Bir cevher ierisinde eitli minerallerin bir arada bulunabilmesi

iyon yaraplar ve kimyasal benzerlii gibi iki faktre baldr.

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Cevher Tenr: Bir cevher ierisinde mevcut metal miktarna tenr denir ve genellikle
arlk yzdesiyle tarif edilir. rnek: % 0.5 Cu, tonda 5 kg bakr tanmlamaktadr. Bir
cevherin tenr ne kadar yksekse, deeri o kadar fazladr. Yani yukar doru tenr
snrlamas yaplmaz. Ancak aa doru cevherin deeri ekonomik karllk ile snrldr
ve buna minimum ekonomik tenr denir. Minimum ekonomik tenr eitli faktrlere
baldr.
Bunlar;
1- Cevher yatann konumu (ak veya kapal iletme),
2- Cevher yatann rezervi (tenr dk ancak rezerv byk olabilir),
3- Pazara mesafe,
4- Metalin piyasa deeri,
5- Metal retim masraf,
6- Dier masraflar (kredi, vergi, organizasyon).
Bu bilgileri ieren fizibilite etdnn tamamlanmas ile ekonomik alt snr belirleyen
tenrler hakknda karara varlr. Ve buna uluslararas terminolojide CUT OFF GRADE
(Minimum ekonomik tenr) denir.
Bunlara ilave olarak cevherin emprite seviyesinde ierdii dier metallerin,yararl veya
zararl etkilerine gre cevher deer kazanabilir veya kaybedebilir. Gelien ve deien
ekonomik ve teknolojik artlardan minimum ekonomik tenrler byk lde
etkilemektedir

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Size reduction in mining

Explosion with dynamite
Crushing
Grinding

Crushers

- 100 cm
200 cm - 0.5 cm
2.5 cm-1 micron
1. Jaw crushers
2. Gyratory crushers
3. Crushing rolls

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Crushers

The first stage is called coarse or primary crushing or primary breaking.

The crushers used in this stage take up the run-of-mine ore material and reduce it to a size small enough to
be treated by the next crusher, called the secondary crusher.
The secondary crushers consume more power as compared with the primary crushers.
This is because the work essentially on finer material and yield more new surface than would a primary crusher for
an equal reduction ratio.

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Grinders
Less than 25 mm sized minerals are feed into the grinding chamber

Mills
-Rod mills
-Ball mills
-Outogenous mills
An open ciruit rod mill

Rod Mill
The rod mill, a tumbling mill characterized by the use of rods
as grinding media, is used for grinding ores, coal/coke, and
other materials for both wet and dry applications.

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Rod Mill

The rod mill performs best when making products having a top size of 4.8 mm to 1.2 mm operating in open
circuit, or as fine as 0.6 mm operating in closed circuit with a screen or other sizing device. The rod mill
accepts feed ore as coarse as 38 mm top size although better performance is obtained by restricting ore feed
size to 8.3 mm
Materials too wet for fine crushing and dry screening may be wet ground in a rod mill. Practice has
demonstrated the ability of a rod mill to dry grind damp materials that will pack or plug other grinding
equipment. and scrap loss are reduced by correct selection of liners for the specific grinding duty. Additional
benefit results from use of a backing material, such as rubber between the liners and the mill shell.

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Ball Mill
Ball mill is mainly used for grinding materials in such
production industries as cement, silicate product, new
building materials, chemical engineering, nonferrous and
black metal, mineral processing, glass and ceramic, etc.
It is used for grinding various ore and other grindable
materials dry or wet.

Ball Mills are generally used to grind material 6.35 mm and

finer, down to the particle size of 20 to 75 microns.
To achieve a reasonable efficiency with ball mills, they must
be operated in a closed system, with oversize material
continuously being recirculated back into the mill to be
reduced. Various classifiers, such as screens, spiral
classifiers, cyclones and air classifiers are used for
classifying the discharge from ball mills.

The point where the mill becomes a centrifuge is called

the "Critical Speed", and ball mills usually operate at
65% to 75% of the critical speed.
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Image of cut away ball mill,

showing material flow through
typical ball mill.

A Ball Mill grinds material by

rotating a cylinder with steel
grinding balls, causing the balls
to fall back into the cylinder and
onto the material to be ground.
The rotation is usually
between 4 to 20 revolutions
per minute, depending upon the
diameter of the mill. The larger
the diameter, the slower the
rotation. If the peripheral speed
of the mill is too great, it begins
to act like a centrifuge and the
balls do not fall back, but stay on
the perimeter of the mill.

Photo of a series of ball mills in a

Copper Plant, grinding the ore for
flotation.

Photo of a 3 m
diameter by 10 m long
ball mill in a Cement
Plant.
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Autogenous Mills,

Photo of Autogenous Mill at a copper mine.

Autogenous Mills operate, mechanically, similar to the ball mill. They differ in the media they use to break
or grind the ore. Autogenous Mills use large particles of ore instead of steel or other balls for grinding
media. Autogenous mills use large pieces of ore as grinding media. The grinding is facilitated in autogenous
mills by attrition with limited grinding by impact.
Autogenous grinding has two advantages, (1) it reduces metal wear and (2) eliminates secondary and
tertiary crushing stages.
Thus it offers a savings in capital and operating costs.
Autogenous mills are available for both wet and dry grinding.

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Some ore
preperation
circuits

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Separation processes.
Screening
Screening (continuous, commercial) and sieving (batch, laboratory test generally confined for size determination)
are essentially mechanical separations of particles based on size, accomplished by using a perforated surface that
serves as a gono-go gauge.

The undersize, or fines, pass through the screen openings while the oversize, or
tails, do not.
A single screen can make only a single separation into two fractions.
These are called unsized fractions, because although either the upper or the lower limit of
the sizes of the particles they contain is known; the other limit is unknown.
Those materials passed through a series of screens of different sizes are separated into sized
fractions, i.e., fractions for which both the maximum and the minimum particle sizes are
known.

Although wet screening is

carried out sometimes, dry
screening is much more
commonly used.
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Mesh Sizes and Microns

What does mesh size mean? Figuring out mesh sizes is simple. All you do is count
the number of openings in one inch of screen (in the United States, anyway.) The
number of openings is the mesh size. So a 4 mesh screen means there are four little
squares across one linear inch of screen. A 100 mesh screen has 100 openings, and
so on. Note, therefore that as the number describing the mesh size increases, the size
of the particles decreases. Higher numbers = finer powder. Mesh size is not a
precise measurement of particle size. Screens can be made with different thicknesses
of wire. The thicker the wires, the smaller the particle passing through that screen, and
vice versa.
What do the minus ( - ) and plus ( + ) plus signs mean when describing mesh
sizes?
Heres a simple example of how they work. 200 mesh aluminum would mean that all
particles will pass through a 200 mesh screen. A +200 mesh aluminum means that all
the particles are retained on a 200 mesh screen 2

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Basic Screen Types

Wire Cloth

Grizzly (Bar) Screen

Grizzly Screen

Harp Screen

Punch Plate

Finger Screen

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Vibrating Screen
It is used for grading and screening materials in the following fields:
minerals, quarry, building materials, water conservancy and
hydropower, transportation, chemical industry, smelting and so on.
Vibrating Screen Features and Benefits:
It features long flowing line, many screening specifications, strong
violent vibration force, high screening efficiency, small vibrating noises,
firm and durable construction, convenient maintenance and safe
operation.

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Revolving (Cylinder) Screens

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Classifiers
Classification, generally, is a practice in which a material aggregate of mixed sizes and different specific
gravities is allowed to settle through a medium, which may be either in motion or at rest, with the result that the
material is separated into two or more products.
Differential settling causes the separation. The medium ordinarily used is water, though other liquids, and air or
other gases may also be used.

Classification is applied to the particles between

3-800 microns.
-Wet (Water)
-Dry (Air/gas)
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Thickeners
The sedimentation process is carried out on a large scale in
equipment called thickeners.
The thickening process is defined as the removal of a portion
of the liquid from a slurry or a suspension, thereby
concentrating the solid particles in the remainder.
Thickeners exploit the gravitational forces for the separation
of solids from liquids and are widely used in the industry.
Their operating cost is low, maintenance problems are
minimal, and performance quite reliable.

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Water treatment plant including thickener tank,

clean water tank, automatic flocculant unit,
clean water return pump and mud pump.

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JIGS
Jigs are mechanical devices used for accomplishing
separation between materials differing in their specific
gravities. In order to understand the principle of separation
by jigging, reference may be drawn to the motion of a
particle settling in a viscous fluid.

25 mm-1mm feed
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Concentrating tables
Essentially, gravity tables are Flowing Film Concentrators.
Flowing film concentrators have a thin "blanket" of water
flowing across them, into which particles of differing density
are subjected. The primary physical interactions are when the
particles initially penetrate the flowing film of water. Smaller
particles of the same specific gravity (SG) will travel further
than large particles.
The film of water has various velocities based on the
distance from the water's surface. The highest velocity is the
layer of water just below the surface of the water, and the
lowest velocity layer, next to the deck surface, is not moving
at all. In between these layers are differing velocities, based
upon the distance from the water's surface.
On a table, with particles of mixed densities, layers of
material form, a particle in suspension will be subjected to a
greater force the nearer it is to the surface of the water, and
will cause it to tumble over those at greater distances from
the surface. The combination of the particles tumbling and
sliding, the flowing stream with differing velocities, will
cause the bed of solids to dilate, and will allow high SG
particles to find their way down through the bed of light
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The mechanism is attached to the table, and it moves the table along the long
axis a distance adjustable between " and 1" and then back to the starting
position between 200 and 300 times per minute.
The gravity concentrating tables remove the high density material from the low density material,
since the high density material will reside behind the riffles and allow the low density material to flow
over the top of the riffles with the wash water, to the tailings discharge.
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Magnetic separatation
A magnetic separator is a device to separate various material compositions on
the basis of their magnetic properties. Since 19th century magnetic separation
processes have been used to concentrate and separate minerals. Ferro magnetism,
paramagnetism and diamagnetism are the three important properties of the
minerals. Ferro magnetic minerals are themselves magnets hence they stick to the
magnets and can be easily removed later on. Paramagnetic and diamagnetic
minerals interact with a magnetic field in a different way.
Paramagnetic minerals are weakly attracted into a magnetic field and diamagnetic
minerals are weakly repelled by a magnetic field. Therefore if a mixture of
paramagnetic and diamagnetic minerals is passed through a magnetic field, they
will be pulled into the field (paramagnetic) or repelled from the field (diamagnetic)
and may be separated. The electromagnetic separator separating the minerals consist
of electromagnets or rare earth magnets of varying size and strength.

Diamagnetic metals have a very weak and negative susceptibility to

magnetic fields. Most elements in the periodic table, including copper,
silver, and gold, are diamagnetic.
Paramagnetic metals have a small and positive susceptibility to
magnetic fields. Paramagnetic materials include magnesium,
molybdenum, tungsten, lithium, and tantalum.
Ferromagnetic materials have a large and positive susceptibility to an
external magnetic field. Iron, nickel, and cobalt are examples of
ferromagnetic materials.

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Electrostatic Separation

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Heavy Medium Separator

Filtration
Filtration is a process of separating solids from a liquid by means of a porous
medium which holds back the solids and permits the liquid to clear.
Industrial filtrations range from simple straining to highly complex
separations. The fluid may be a liquid or gas; the solid particles may be coarse
or fine, stiffer or pliant, elongated or round, separate individuals or aggregates.

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Rotary Vacuum Filter

The drum rotates slowly partially submerged in a trough

of suspended solids.
Segments in the drum are important because those
collecting filtrate can be separate from those collecting
washings. The segment at the doctor blade that scrapes
off the collected solids can get air pressure to balloon
out to aid contact with the blade. A paddle in the trough
keeps the solids suspended. Adding filter aid increases
strength of the filter cake and minimizes compaction.
When the cake discharges poorly (e.g., slimy or cuts
badly), a string filter shown in the next sketch may
work.

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Rotary Kiln Drier

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Flotation

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