CHAPTER 02

COMMUNITION PROCESS

Comminution is the reduction of solid materials from one average particle size to a smaller average
particle size,by crushing,grinding,cutting,vibrating or other process.Within industrial uses,the purpose of
comminution is to reduce the size and to increase the surface are of solids.It also used to free useful
materials from matrix materials in which they embedded,and to concentrate minerals.

The comminution of solid materials consumes energy,which is being used to break up the solid materials
into smaller pieces.The comminution energy can be estimated by;

 Rittinger`s law,which assumes that energy consumedis proportional to the newly generated
surface area.
 Kick`s law,which related the energy to the sizes of feed particles and the product particles.
 Bond`s law, which assumes that the total work useful in breakage is inversely proportional to
the square root of the diameter of the product particles,(implying) theoretically that the work
input varies as the length of thee neww cracks made in breakage.
 Hoimes`s law,which modifies bond`s law by substituting the square root with an oxponent that
depends on the material.

There are three forces which typically are used to effect the comminution of particles;impact,shear and
compression.There are several methods that used of comminution.

Comminution of solid materials requires different types of crushes and mills depending on the feed
properties such as hardness at various size ranges and appilication requirements such as throughput and
maintenance.The common machines used at MSALALA GOLD LIMITED for comminution of coarse feed
material are jaw crushers and hammer crusher.

Jaw crusher is a machine for crushing rocks or ore between two heavy steel jaaws.At the msalala gold
limited the jaw crusher reduce size of the material to (20-60)mm.

Working principle of jaw crusher;

The working principle of jaw crushers is based on reciprocating movement of the movable jaw that
compresses and crushers the rock or ore between itselfs and the fixed jaw as the materials enters the
zone between the jaws.

At the MSALALA GOLD LIMITED the jaw crusher has ;

 Maximum feed size -210mm

 Power -30kw
 Discharge port adjust range-20-60mm

Hammer crusher-is a rock crusher used to reduce the material size.It uses of high speed rotary hammer
to impact the ore,the finished product is adjustable by controlling grate openings,rotor speed,hammer
capacity.

Hammer working principle

Material are fed into the hammer crusher,that is subject to rotation,high speed impact and collision are
broken.Qualified crushed ore is discharged through the gate,the larger size materials continue to be
crushed and shaftered until they reached the required size.

At the MSALALA GOLD LIMITEDthe hammer crusher has;

 Model -1800×600mm
 Maximum feed size-120mm
 Processing capacity-20t/h
 Power -37 kw

GRINDING

Grinding is accomplished by abrasion and impact of the ore by the free motion of unconnected media
such as rods,balls,or pebbles.Is also an abrasive machining process that uses a grinding wheel or grinder
as the cutting tool.

The purpose of grinding are;

 To obtain the correct degree of liberation in mineral processing

 To increase the specific surface area of the valuable minerals for hydrometallurgical
treatment.for example leaching
 Pulping of resources

BALL MILL

Ball mill is a type of grinder used to grind or blend materials for use in mineral dressing processes.It
works on principle of impact and attrition:size reduction is done by impact as the balls drop from near
the top of the shell.

A ball mill consists of hollow cylindrical shell rotating about its axis.The axis of the shell may be either
horizontal or at a small angle to the horizontal.Its partially filled with balls.The grinding media are the
balls,which may be made of the steel.

In case of continuously operated ball mill ,the material to be ground is fed from the left through a 60c
cone and the product is discharged through a 30c cone to the right.As the shell rotates,the balls are
lifted up on the rising side of the shell and then they cascade down from the near the top of the shell.In
doing so,the solid particles in between the balls and ground are reduced in size by impact.

Steel balls diameter it contain varies diameter;

 Diameter -70mm
  Diameter-60mm
 Diameter -100mm

The ball mill is an efficient equipment or machine for grinding materials into finer powder materials.

In Msalala Gold limited the ball mill present is for wet grinding .Actually the ball mill efficiency and
operating principle normally depends on the speed,rotation,grinding materials and feed rate

Msalala Gold limited the Ball mill has following description as shown below:

 Speed-730r/min
 Frequency-50HZ
 Output-155kw
 Capacity-(10-17)t/h
 Stator current-293A
 Stator voltage-380v
 Rotor voltage-392v
 Rotor current-280 A

GRINDABILITY

Grindability is the ability of a material to be made small by grinding.

A grindability test is a procedure that evaluates the resistance of a material to ball milling.This test is an
effective way to calculate and compare the bond work index (BW i) of different ores.The formulas that
were used to calculate grindability:

Grindability=(1−density 2 ×%dry solid 1 ÷ density 1×%dry solid 2¿

Grindability determination at the Msalalais mostly done by the ball mill it determines the leaching
process and they direct proportional.

First used to taken 1 liytres of the ball mill discharge and then determined its density and the percentage
dry solid

Performed sieve analysis with a 75 microns and the solid retained mixed with water to be 1litre and the
density and pecentage dry solid are determined.Marcy scale is used to measure density and percentage
dry solid.

The grindability at Msalala gold mine range from 50% to 70% and tha can be attended by number and
sizes of balls in the ball mills directly proportionally although the needed grindability for gold leaching is
above 85% only.

CLASSIFICATION
Classification is define as a method of separating mixtures of mineral particles into two or more
products according to their setting velocities in water or air.Classification is performed on the basis of
velocity with which the material particles fall through a fluid medium.The velocity of particles in a fluid
medium is dependent not only in the size but also in specific and the shape of the particles.

Principles of the classification :

When a solid particle falls freely in a vacuum,it is subject to constant acceleration and its velocity
increases indefinitely,being independent of size and density.Thus lump of lead and a feather may fall at
exactly the same rate.

In a viscous medium,such as air or water,there resistance to this movement and the value increases
with velocity.When equilibrium is attained between the gravitational and fluid resistances forces,the
body reaches its terminal velocity and thereafter falls at uniform rate.The nature of the resistance
depends on the velocity of the descent.

Effectively all resistance to motio is due to the shear forces or viscosity of the fliud.This is calleda viscous
resistance.At high velocities the main resistance is due to the displacement of fluid by the body and
viscous resistance is relatively small;this known as turbulent resistance.

Classification methods which usd at Msalala gold types –based on their separition principles;

Wet classification with hydrocyclones using separation by centrifugal force typically covers the size
range from 10 micrometers to 100 micrometers.

Hydrocyclones

Hydrocyclones have become one of the most important and widely used classifiers in the mineral
processing industry.They are also used for de-sliming,de –watering,de –gritting and thickening
processes.They are most commonly employed in closed circuit within grinding circuits and used to
return coarse material back to the ball mill for futher grinding.The main advantages of the
hydrocyclones is that they have large capacities relative to their size and can separate at finer sizes than
most other screening and classification equipment.

A hydrocyclone will normally have a cylindrical section at the top where liquid is being fed
tangentially,and a conical base.The angle ,and hence lengthof the conical section,playsa role in
determining operating characteristics.

A hydrocyclone is a classfier that has two exits on the axis :one on the bottom (underflow or reject) and
one at the top (overflow or accept).

The separation mechanism:

The separation mechanism in hydrocyclones relies on centrifugal force to accelerate the settling of
particles.The slurry enters the cylindrical section above a conical section .The velocity of the slurry
increases as it follows a downward helical path from the inlet area to the smaller diameter underflow
end.
As the slurry flows along this path,centrifugal forces cause the larger and denser particles to migrate to
the fluid layer nearest the wall of the cone.Meanwhile ,the finer or lower specific gravity particles
remain ,migrate to, or displaced toward the center axis of the cone .

As the swirling slurry approaches the underflow tip,smaller and lighter material closer to reverses its
axial direction and follows a smaller diameter rotating path back toward the top overflow discharge
pipe.

Hydrocylones also find application in the separition of the liquids of different densities.

The geometry of the cyclone involves –inlet shape and area,cyclone dimensions (cone angle,length of
the cylindrical section and total length of the cyclone) and inlet,vortex and apex diameters.A
hydrocyclone is most often used to separate “heavies” from a liquid mixture originating at a centrifugal
pump or some other continues source of pressurized liquid.

A hydrocyclone is most likely to be the right choice for the processeswhere “ligths” are the greater part
of the mixture and where the “heavies” settle fairly easily.

A trommel screen ,also known as the rotary screen,is a mechanical screening machine used to separate
materials ,mainly in the mineral and solid-waste processing industries.It consists of perforated cylindrical
drum that is normally elevated at an angle at the feed end.Physical size separation is achieved as the
feed material spirals down the rotating drum,where the undersized material smaller than the screen
apertures passes through the screen ,while the oversized material exists at the other end of the drum.

CHAPTER 03

LEACHING PROCESS

The leaching of gold is known as the dissolution of gold by cyanide.

Gold cyanidation(also known as the cyanide process) is a hydrometallurgical technique for extracting
gold from low-grade ore by converting the gold to a water –soluble coordination complex.It is the most
commonly used leaching process for gold extraction.

Production of reagents for mineral processing to recover gold,zinc and silver represents approximately
13% of cyanide consumption globally .

Chemical reactions for the dissolution of gold,the “Elsner Equation”,follows

4Au(s)+8NaCN(aq)+02(g)+2H20(l)→ 4 Na[ Au(CN )2](aq)+4NaOH(aq)

In this redox process,oxygen removes ,via a two-step reaction,one electron from each gold atom to
form the cvomplex Au(CN)2- ion.

The ore is comminuted using grinding machinery.Water is added to produce slurry or pulp.To prevent
the reaction of toxic hydrogen cyanide durinng processing,slaked lime (calcium hydroxide) is addded to
extracting solution to ensure that the acidity during cyanidation is ,maintained over PH 10.5 -12 strongly
basic.Lead nitrate can improve gold leaching speed and quantity recoverd,particularly in processing parti
ally oxidized ores.

Reagent used in leaching process

 Sodium cyanide (NaCN)-at msalala gold ltd added NaCN about 100kg per twelve hours
 Lime –added of the 25 kg after one hour
 Hydrogen peroxide-2.5 litres added on the dosing tank number one of the leaching tank
 Caustic soda -5kg of the caustic soda added in cyanide dosing tank.

Effect of dissolved oxygen

Oxygen is one of the reagents consumed during cyanidation,accepting the electrons from the gold,and
a deficiency in dissolved oxygen slows leaching rate.Air or pure oxygen gas can be purged through the
pulp to maximaze the dissolved oxygen concentration.Intimate oxygen –pulp contactors are used to
increase the partial pressure of the oxygen in contact with the solution,thus raising the dissolved oxygen
concentration much higher thanthe saturation level at atmospheric pressure .Oxygen can also ba added
by dosing the pulp with hydrogen peroxide solution.

Recovery of gold from cyanide solutions ;

In order of decreasing economic efficiency,the common processes for recovery of the solubilized
gold from solution are ;
 Carbon in pulp
 Electrowinning
 Merrill-crowe process

CARBON IN PULP

Carbon in pulp (cip) is an extraction technique for recovery of gold which has been liberated into a
cyanide solution as part of the gold cyanidation process.

Activated carbon acts like sponge to aurocyanide and the other complex ions in solution.Hard carbon
particles (much larger than the ore particle sizes) can be mixed with the ore and cyanide solution
mixture.The gold cyanide complex is adsorbed onto the carbon until it comes to an equilibrium with the
gold in solution .Because the carbon particles are much larger than the ore particles,the coarse carbon
can then be separated from the slurry by screening using wire mesh.
Loading gold into carbon

Leached pulp and carbon are transferred in a counter current flow arrangement between a series of
tanks ,fresh or barren carbon is put in contact with low grade or tailings solution.At this tank the fresh
carbon has high activity and can remove trace amounts of gold(to levels below 0.01mg/l Au in solution).

As it moves up the train ,the carbon loads to higher concentrations of gold,as it comes in contact with
higher grade solutions .Typically concentrations as high as 4000 to 800grams of gold per tonne of carbon
(g/t AU) can be achieved on the final loaded carbon,as it comes in contact with freshly leached ore and
pregnant leach solution (PLS).This can be measured by comparing the amount of gold extracted from
the carbon to the amount of the carbon used.

LABORATORY EXPRINMENT

Laboratory is a room or building equipped for scientific experiments,research or teaching .Is a place
equipped for experimental study in a science or testing and analysis .

A laboratory is a work place where scientific research,experiments opr measurement are done.

At the Msalala Gold ltd has laboratory which were used to test,measure if the material in the plant has
contain presence of the gold.In which experiment performed was:

1. Sample taken on the leaching tank number 1-8,Cip tank and tailing storage facility
2. Sampe pourin to a plate
3. Sample dried in the furnaces until is dried
4. Grind the sample in to the finer powder
5. Sample measured from the electrical baalance about 30gram
6. Mixed the sample with aqua regia;
 30mls-Nitric acid (HN0)3
 80mls-hydrochloric acid (HCL)

7. Heat the sample solution up to remain 100mls.

8. 5mls of the fluocculants added and distilled water up to 250mls
9. Stir the solution to mixed completely
10. Solution left to settled completely
11. Take 50 mls of the solution pour on the measuring cylinder
12. Solution poured in to the conical flask
13. 4mls of the DBIK(ortho phosohoric acid)
14. Distilled water added and mixture shaked completely
15. Distilled water added until DIBK precipitate flow /floating on the top of the flask
16. 5 drops of ortho phosphoric acid added to remove the waste.sample measured to AAS(atomic
absorption spectral)

Also in Msalala Gold ltd recives sample of the bulk material from the mining area which they :
  Smple labelled it
 Crush the sample to minimize its size
 Grind the sample to about 75 microns to fine powder
 Divided the sample to aboiut four equal parts by cone and quartering
 30 grams of the sample measured and the put on the beaker.Same process repeated to
above number 6-16.

Atomic Absorption photometry called “Atomic Absorption spectral analysis” :

The concentration of element to be determined is obtained by determining ground state free atomic
vapor of the test sample to absorb characteristic spectral radiation of the element to be determined.

Principle

Radiation of the light wavelength of element be determined by light source characteristic is absorbed
by ground state atom of element be determined in sample vapour produced by atomizer of flame or
graphite furnace.Determine change of radiation of light energy of characteristic wavelength,so content
of element to be determined with the light energy change which the characteristic wavelength
radiation is absorbed by the ground state atom of the element to be determined before and after (Beer
laws)

Characteristic of AAS analysis

 High characteristic concentration method shown in µg/ml
 Less interference
 Accuracy,fast and energy operation
 Up to 73 metals elements can be determined
Flame construction ;
 Pre –heating zone- dry zone
 First reaction zone –evaporation zone which analyze alkali metals
 Middle thin layer zone –atomization zone –high temperature
 Second reaction zone –ionization zone