MINERAL TECHNOLOGY ASSIGNMENT 1

TAKUNDA CALEB MTWAYO

R2115826J

ai) Mineral dressing is an art of treating crude ores and mineral products
in order to obtain separate products of valuable mineral from waste rock
or gangue.
ii) Concentrate refers to the valuable product from a mineral processing
plant.
iii) Gangue is the waste rock or other material in which the valuable
material ores are found. It is the waste product of the mineral ore
processing.
iv) Tailings refers to the waste stream of a mineral processing operation
or the undesired product collected for disposal after a processing
operation.
v) Middlings refer to a material composed of a mixture of partly
liberated particles. They are materials by which separation of values
from gangue has been achieved partially.

bi). Mineral dressing is a mechanical preparation of a mineral as ore,

either for direct use or for further processing.
ii) Classification is the separation of a mixture containing particles of
different size to achieve distinct streams of coarse material and fine
material.
iii) Concentration is a process operation designed to produce material
consisting predominantly of the valuable mineral.
iv) Middling is a particle of locked mineral and gangue which needs
further comminution for liberation.
v) Comminution is the breaking down of large particles into smaller
particles.
2a) Fire assaying is a quantitative determination process of finding the
metal content in ores or secondary concentrates. The concept is such that
metals are separated from impurities by fusion processes and weighed in
order to determine the amount present in the original sample. The
procedure of the fire assaying methods uses a combination of intense
heat from a furnace, dry reagents called fluxes and ceramic containers
called heating crucibles. The technique uses the solubility properties and
the difference in specific gravity of slag and desired metal. Fire assaying
can be applied in mineral technology for ores, metallic solutions and any
material that contains gold or silver as it uses the scientific methodology
of analytical and inorganic chemistry. Molten lead is one of the reagents
in fire assaying and its use has a negative environmental impact but
however it has advantages over wet analysis methods. The principal
advantage of fire assaying is that large samples can be used which
increases the accuracy in analyzing low yield ores which have little
concentration. The technique has a wider adaptability and can be used in
almost all samples, unlike other alternatives in assaying. It also features
a high enrichment efficiency so it is rendered reliable and accurate.

d) HYDROCYCLONE
Diagram
-is a continuously operating device for classification that utilises the
centrifugal force to accelerate the settling rate of particles
- The feed is introduced under pressure through the tangential entry
which imparts a swirling motion to the pulp.
-this generates a vortex in the cyclone with a lower pressure zone along
the vertical axis.
-The theory of action is that particles within the flow pattern are
subjected to two opposing forces, an outward centrifugal force and an
inward drag, thereby separating the particles according to size and
specific gravity.
-Faster settling particles more to the wall of the cyclone where velocity
is lowest and they find their way to the apex, whereas slow settling
particles move towards the centre and are carried upward through the
vortex finder to the overflow.
-The Stroke’s law is evident in application with the accuracy to
separations in hydrocyclones.