BO ARVIDSON CONSULTING, LLC

Transcription

1 BO ARVIDSON S IRON ORE AND DRY MINERAL PROCESSING EXPERIENCE Iron Ore Experience Summary Sweden: Idkerberget (1963). Magnetite ore underground mining, processing. Blötberget (1966 MS thesis on reverse flotation of iron ore concentrate, 1979 HGMS piloting of full size HGMS, developed by me as project manager). LKAB Kiruna Koskullskulle (flotation tests), Malmberget (1997 dry process pilot plant on fine particle hematite raw ore), recently Gruvberget & more included in seminar lecture on request by LKAB. Northland s Kaunisvaara magnetite ores (Tapuli, Sahavaara, Pellivuoma). Developed unique, robust process for Sahavaara & Pellivuoma ores, which made the project viable testified by CEO. Also developed dry (natural moisture) preconcentration (cobbing) alternate process and successfully tested in a pilot plant. Jokkmokk Iron Mines: Test mining & successful met. test work magnetite ore with hematite 2013 & Developed super high-grade magnetite concentrate (71.5% Fe) option. Brazil: CVRD (now Vale), Ferteco, Samarco, MBA. Testing in 1970 s. Australia: Hamersley and several other: Tests improving fine particle size product grade through dry processing. Plant audit at a major Australian iron ore plant. Proposed a conceptual change to substantially improve plant performance (Dec. 2015). Angola: Hematite/limonite/goethite iron ore HGMS tests. South Africa: Kumba (mainly hematite). Gravity (spiral) pilot plant and WHIMS testing.

2 China: Meishan, Jiuquan (magnetite, hematite, goethite), Tongua: Dry/low-moisture plant proprietary separator installations. USA: Cleveland Cliffs Tilden (1976), a few other in 1970 s. Trouble shooting effort of one magnetite process recently (2014). Canada: IOC, Cliff Natural Resources Wabush/Scully (1987), several other targets. Mainly hematite, some magnetite/hematite. The Wabush development was for a dry magnetic separation process to replace existing electrostatic separation. Due diligence on a hematite/magnetite process upgrade plan (2015). Several due diligence studies on Labrador Trough ore prospects (2014). Slovakia: Siderite ore dry high-intensity magnetic separation with natural relatively low moisture size fractions. Replaced magnetizing roasting and conventional dry LIMS process, which caused toxic components entering into the environment. Ukraine: Krivoj Rog (1978 review and seminar lecture). Ferrexpo ( ). Poltava, Yeristovo, Belanovo process developments & reviews, complete process plant modeling. India: Kudremukh, GOA iron ores, several other, testing Mainly hematite, some limonite and goethite. Flotation issues at Kudremukh. Turkey: Siderite ore tests. Austria: Siderite ore tests. Bulgaria: Kremikovtski siderite ore HGMS tests.

3 Finland: Northland s Hannukainen (magnetite, chalcopyrite, gold). Modified process to work with all ore types, reported in a DFS, and not only on 1/3 of the resource, which the published PFS process scheme would have been limited to. Test work on many other. Related experience: Worked at VOEST Steelworks, Austria. Dry Processing Experience Summary Over 80 new or improved dry processing applications. A summary of examples is seen below. New Processes No. 1 Ultra-high purity quartz: 90+% of all silicon supply from quartz for the electronics and fiber-optics industry is processed through my separators, which enabled production from pegmatite ores and other natural quartz sources. Usual grade specification is all metal values to <5 ppm, some to ppb level. 2 Reprocessing of tailings from existing prior art magnetic separation process of feldspar, achieving additional product yield and high-grade, often used as a "sweetener" when combined with main product stream. Several plant installations. 3 Borate ore tailings reprocessing. EPA dictated that 7 big tailing ponds at the US Borax plant in the Mojave desert had to be dug up and stockpiled in dry form. By spreading the sludge in a relatively thin layer and letting the dry, hot climate evaporate sufficient moisture, the resulting cake was crushed to fine size and successfully processed through my separators in a process I developed. Major installation made profitable by recovery of Boron values from the tailings, which a has a raw feed grade about 10% by weight of the mineral. The concentrate had a higher Boron content than the mined ore, so it was added to the existing solution process as a sweetener. 4 Several new low-grade borate ore processing plants in Argentina in the desert climate in the high Andes. Deposits were uneconomic to develop prior to my process development. 5 Magnesite raw ore processing in Greece, Turkey and former Yugoslavia. Largest capacity installation in the world at one location at 460+ tph using Rare- Earth alloy magnetic roll separators. One large particle size fraction (40-60

4 mm) processed at the same performance as the KHD DESCOS superconducting magnetic separator at 1% of the cost of the latter. In addition, calcined and fused magnesite products are upgraded in several plants. 6 Iron ores: Wabush-Scully plant. Developed dry high-capacity process using proprietary drum Rare-Earth alloy magnetic separators to replace existing costly electrostatic separation process. Eriez Magnetics informed that the process equipment was finally beinbg planned to be installed three years ago. Plant is shut down. All my iron ore processing installations in China were for sufficiently low moisture raw feed. One large installation processes 0-65 mm ore in three size fractions at high capacity. Siderite process in Slovakia - see iron ore list. Processing 0-35 mm in three size fractions at natural moisture conditions from underground mine. Hematite fine particle (<1 mm) pilot plant cobbing was successful at moisture up to 1.6%. Magnetite pilot plant cobbing with particle size < 3 mm was successful up 2.8% moisture and with < 11 mm, (P80) 7.8 mm, up to 3.3% moisture. 7 Andalusite: Reprocessing of tailings from existing process. First commercial process (1982) using Rare-Earth alloy magnetic roll separator developed by me. This led to installations in all andalusite plants in South Africa. 8 Dry fine particle feeder system replacing vibratory feeders. Three model sizes for size fractions up to 25 mm. Proven more uniform and far better controlled and stable flow rate than vibratory feeders. 9 Zircon concentrate upgrade. Proprietary magnetic separator to remove "metamict" (radioactive) components. Became single-source supplier as no other separator achieved desired performance. 10 Roasted ilmenite processing. Applied my patented Rare-Earth drum magnetic separator to achieve un-matched performance. Became single source supplier. 11 Cobalt slag reprocessing. Again, patented R-E drum separator achieved unmatched performance. 12 Developed new version of R-E roll separator for extremely fine size particles. (Patent issued 2004 owned by Outotec).

5 13 Sillimanite process in China, replacing a highly toxic leaching process. 14 Chalcopyrite removal from molybdenite concentrate. 15 Graphite concentrate upgrading. 17 Cadmium removal from phosphate ore. 18 Uranium ore sorting equipment installation in Arizona desert location. Customer (Energy Fuels) claimed it to be the most profitable investment ever in the company history. 19 Garnet pilot plant operation at desert location. 20 Alluvial Kimberlite (diamond ore) - converted the wet portion of the conventional beneficiation process after the gravity stage to a completely dry. Larger dryer and plant conversion investment paid off in 3 days due to 50% greater carat recovery! Comparative trials with two other separators using a third party umpire declared my solution to be superior. Improved Processes No. 1 Wollastonite - based on much improved product yield and quality replaced existing electro-magnetic conventional separators during many years in a row. Both roll and drum separators installed, the latter outperforming another drum separator supplied by other vendor. 2 Andalusite - major producer replaced electro-magnetic separators during several years, Yield and quality increased so much that only 2/3 of the ore needed to be mined to achieve the same production level as before separator replacements. 3 Nepheline syenite - two major producers installed my separators to produce specialty quality products. Replaced prior art separators. 4 Andalusite - major producer replaced electro-magnetic separators during several years, Yield and quality increased so much that only 2/3 of the ore needed to be mined to achieve the same production level as the one before separator replacements.

6 5 Numerous heavy mineral sands installations, some largest in the world processing ilmenite. Greatly improved yield and quality over prior art separator performance. High capacity machines, dust-free space contrary to prior art separators. Important as monazite is present in the ores and considered a radioactive health hazard. 6 Kimberlite (diamond ore). Customer replaced competitor's R-E magnetic roll separator with mine due to far lower maintenance requirement, better availability (and better performance) 7 Numerous feldspar, silica sands and garnet processes installed to replace prior art electro-magnetic and some competitors' Rare-Earth magnetic roll separators using my separators based on improved yield, higher quality product at lower overall cost. Sold and commissioned more than 1000 units.