Total technology solutions across the mining value chain

Transcription

1 Processing Copper Ore Total technology solutions across the mining value chain TENOVA is a worldwide supplier of advanced technologies, products and engineering services for the iron & steel and mining industries.

2 PROJECT SERVICES Consulting: ore-body, production and market evaluation to assess project viability. Test work supervision: Tenova Mining & Minerals engineers arrange and oversee laboratory, pilot plant and on-site test work. In-house laboratory for cost-effective and prompt scoping work, as a basis for structuring project definitions. Pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. Technology supply packages: incorporating basic engineering design, process guarantees, proprietary equipment definition and supply, and commissioning support. Process plant design and project management: all phases of the project, from inception through design and construction to commissioning, maximising the success and profitability of the venture. Comprehensive spares and after-sales back-up. Process audits to Best Practice guidelines. PROJECT FINANCE Tenova Mining & Minerals assists clients to structure, negotiate and secure optimal and cost-effective financial packages for projects of all sizes. FLEXIBLE CONTRACT STRUCTURING Reimbursable, fixed price or any combination to suit client needs. Joint ventures on projects. PROCESSING TECHNOLOGIES For beneficiation of copper ore, Tenova Mining & Minerals liaises with suppliers and evaluates equipment to make unbiased selections of the best equipment for the job. For stockpiling, materials handling, environmental protection and waste disposal, Tenova Mining & Minerals draws upon its comprehensive in-house and licensed range of engineered technologies or selects the most appropriate equipment from other suppliers. 2

3 Tenova Mining & Minerals is a total integrated solutions provider to the global mining, bulk materials handling and minerals beneficiation and processing sectors, offering innovative technological solutions and full process and commodity knowledge across the mining industry value chain. Tenova Mining & Minerals provides the full range of capabilities to convert run-of-mine (ROM) copper ore into saleable products, to integrate engineering and process know-how in the development and optimisation of plant designs, and to deliver processing facilities that meet global environmental standards 3

4 PROCESS MODELLING Tenova Mining & Minerals utilises simulation programs for front-end modelling of chemical and physical processes. Steady-State Simulation Limn, Metsim, Aspen and Pyrosim models for a range of unit operations commonly used in base metal comminution, flotation, hydrometallurgy and pyrometallurgy operations. JK-SimMet for examination of comminution circuits. Dynamic Simulation SysCAD models transient operating conditions, providing upset analysis, surge verification and downstream debottlenecking. When interfaced with actual control hardware, it is a timesaving control system for debugging and an excellent training tool. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) FEA and CFD are applied in design of furnace components and for design of a wide range of other process and mechanical equipment. The response of structures to loads and flow characteristics of fluids and gases is determined without the need to build and test costly prototypes and to conduct lengthy field trials. Engineering Design and Drafting Proprietary and in-house developed software to develop cost effective designs. 2D and 3D drafting to provide a balance of cost effectiveness across the design office, fabrication shops, construction site and operator training requirement. 3D-modelling packages. 4

5 ORE HANDLING AND PREPARATION Bulk Materials Handling Tenova Mining & Minerals designs and supplies materials handling systems to transport copper bearing ores and tailings. Conveyor systems to move ore and tailings to, from and within the processing plant. Stockpile systems for efficient, effective and economic stacking, blending and reclaiming of ore and safe disposal of tailings. Plants to process tailings and extract coarse material for use as backfill. Comminution Tenova Mining & Minerals designs comminution systems that take into account ore handling characteristics and specific requirements of downstream metallurgical processes. Crushing All forms of crushing circuits, including in-pit, primary, secondary, tertiary and quaternary crushing systems. Grinding Circuits Large autogenous grinding (AG) and semi-autogenous grinding (SAG) circuits, as well as rod and ball milling. Fine Grinding Tower mills, stirred mills and ISA mills for flotation concentrate re-grinding. Pre-concentration Physical separation processes for use prior to flotation, upgrade flotation feed by making use of differences in the physical properties of ore and gangue minerals. Dense-Media Separation (DMS) Widely used and proven in the diamond and coal industries, Tenova Mining & Minerals DMS plants have also been effectively used for copper processing. Gravity Separation Spirals used in conjunction with DMS for copper recovery and application of jigs to recover metal from slag. 5

6 FLOTATION AND DEWATERING Flotation During flotation, surface chemistry selectively recovers valuable minerals or rejects gangue materials. Flash Flotation In circuits employing multiple stages of milling, flash flotation cells recover liberated mineral species after each stage, in order to prevent overgrinding. Conventional Flotation Design of banks of conventional flotation cells, and supply of proprietary cells, in addition to design and installation services. Tank Cells Tenova Mining & Minerals has completed several installations of large tank cells in recent years. Column Cells Column and Jameson cells, including pumping of high air content froths associated with fine grinding of concentrates. Reagent Plants Packaged reagent plants, either as stand-alone or as part of concentrator plants. Dewatering Tenova Mining & Minerals designs and supplies unit processes to dewater flotation concentrate, recover leach residue and dewater tailings streams, before being transferred to the next process. Thickeners Conventional, high-rate, ultra-high rate and paste thickeners to dewater concentrate, residue and tailings streams. Vacuum Filters Drum, disc and belt filters. Filter Presses Recessed chamber and membrane presses to generate concentrate cake for sale and even dry tailings for storage in arid locations. They are also widely used in base and precious metal refineries. Continuous Pressure Filters Horizontal plate pressure filters for both concentrators and refineries. 6

7 COPPER EXTRACTION PYROMETALLURGY Pyrometallurgical plants still process a high percentage of non-ferrous metal flotation concentrates, despite the advent of new hydrometallurgical treatment routes. Roasting Through technology marketing agreements with Noram and SNEI, Tenova Mining & Minerals has access to the full range of proprietary equipment for sulphuric acid plants, including fluid bed roasters for sulphide processing. Smelting AC electric-arc furnace plant and, increasingly, DC furnace technology, as well as other technologies, such as flash smelting and top submerged lance furnaces. Converting Conventional Peirce-Smith converters, top-blown rotary converters and top submerged lance furnaces. Furnace Design Technologies and services for furnace vessels and components offer extended campaign lives, reduced maintenance requirements, more flexible operational envelopes and safer operation. They cover shells and binding systems, refractories, specialised hearth systems, furnace roofs, cooling systems, tapholes and launders. Peripherals Tenova Mining & Minerals offers proprietary engineered systems. Belt, chain and pneumatic conveyors for furnace feed, sluices, etc. Metal, matte and slag tapping and granulation. Off-gas scrubbing. Baghouses. Electrostatic precipitators. Acid plants. 7

8 COPPER EXTRACTION HYDROMETALLURGY Hydrometallurgical processes are often more favoured than smelting for treatment of copper ore and concentrate. Leaching Tenova Mining & Minerals has wide experience of base metal leaching processes and designs to process ore, concentrate and smelter mattes. Heap Leach Projects in varying environments, from low to high elevation and arid to tropical climates; from interpretation and management of column testwork programmes through to scale-up and construction. Tank Leach Acid leach processes carried out in trains of agitated tanks. Pressure Leach Strong autoclave design skills to develop high-grade sulphide ore, concentrate and converter matte process routes. Circuits include utilising brick-lined and titanium-clad autoclaves operating up to 240 C and 47 bar pressure. Emerging Leach Technologies Include the N-Chlo process, thiosulphate leaching, the Albion process, Activox, Galvanox, Intec, Platsol and CESL. Bio-Leach Bacterial heap leach and tank leach plants, as well as bio-leaching technologies that include processes from BRGM, Mintek, Bactech and Goldfields. 8

9 COPPER EXTRACTION HYDROMETALLURGY Residue and Impurity Removal Removal of leach residues and dissolved impurities with minimum loss of copper is a critical step in hydrometallurgical processes. Neutralisation and Iron Removal Neutralisation of the slurry or solution between leaching and downstream purification, which can be coupled with iron removal. Residue Separation and Washing Counter-current decantation (CCD), counter-current vacuum belt filtration and filter presses. Solution Clarifying Pinned-bed clarifiers or conventional thickenerclarifiers to clarify leach solutions before downstream copper recovery. Precipitation and Cementation Precipitation processes that minimise operating cost and maximise metal recovery. 9

10 COPPER SOLVENT EXTRACTION, ION EXCHANGE AND ELECTROWINNING Copper produced by Solvent Extraction (SX), Ion Exchange (IX) and Electrowinning (EW) meets LME grade A standard. Solvent Extraction (SX) Reverse-Flow Settlers Substantial operational benefits over traditional mixersettlers, enabling side-by-side orientation of pump mixers, reduced capital cost and improved operator and maintenance access. A coalescence enhancement channel and other design aspects provide higher process efficiencies and reduced organic loss. Ion Exchange (IX) IX technology is often used to remove problem elements from copper ER circuits, for example bismuth and antimony from electrolyte. Through an exclusive agreement with Mintek, Tenova Mining & Minerals has access to fixed bed, fluidised-bed and novel resin-in-pulp (RIP) technologies. RIP systems are used for environmental clean-up. Electrowinning (EW) and Electrorefining (ER) Tankhouses of all sizes, from small heap leach manual operations to large-scale, automated systems for copper EW and ER. Electrolytic Cells Tenova Mining & Minerals cells provide improved flow patterns around cathodes, resulting in improved cathode quality. The design can also accommodate a closecapture ventilation system for a safe working environment. Tankhouse Layout Low-cost operating facilities for manual and automated plants. EW Technologies Tenova Mining & Minerals has a close relationship with copper technology suppliers, having worked, for example, with a major mining house on the application of the MIM Isa Process on several projects and studies. 10

11 ACID PLANTS Tenova Mining & Minerals provides comprehensive process design and project management skills for drying installations and sulphuric acid plants. Tenova Mining & Minerals has technology marketing agreements and proven working experience with Noram Engineering and Constructors, The Sinopec Nanjing Engineering and Construction Incorporation (SNEI) and Sulphurnet. BY-PRODUCT RECOVERY Design of processes and plants to recover valuable byproduct metals. Cobalt from copper SX/ EW circuits. Uranium from leach circuits. Gold, silver and PGMs from copper ER circuits. 11

12 Tenova Mining & Minerals Emerald Boulevard Greenstone Hill 1609 PO Box 7737 Johannesburg 2000 South Africa Phone Fax TECHINT GROUP