A system and method directed to the economical recovery of valuable iron constituents from iron blast furnace and steel-making slag fines wherein the slag is obtained and subjected to a series of classification steps which progressively sort the slag fines by various physical characteristics, including magnetism, size, and density, into relatively iron-rich and relatively iron-poor classifications, resulting in the isolation of iron-rich commercial byproduct at one or more of the classification steps.

A system and method directed to the economical recovery of valuable iron constituents from iron blast furnace and steel-making slag fines wherein the slag is obtained and subjected to a series of classification steps which progressively sort the slag fines by various physical characteristics, including magnetism, size, and density, into relatively iron-rich and relatively iron-poor classifications, resulting in the isolation of iron-rich commercial byproduct at one or more of the classification steps.

PGM converting process and jacketed rotary converter. The process can include low- or no-flux converting; partial pre-oxidation of PGM collector alloy; using a refractory protectant in the converter; magnetic separation of slag; recycling part of the slag to the converter; smelting catalyst material in a primary furnace to produce the collector alloy; and/or smelting the converter slag in a secondary furnace with slag from the primary furnace. The converter can include an inclined converter pot mounted for rotation; a refractory lining; an opening in a top of the pot to introduce converter feed; a lance for injecting oxygen-containing gas into the alloy pool; a heat transfer jacket adjacent the refractory lining; and a coolant system to circulate a heat transfer medium through the jacket to remove heat from the alloy pool in thermal communication with the refractory lining.

A method of recovering gold and copper from a sulfide ore includes (a) removing valuable fines from a product stream from a comminution circuit, such as a crushing and milling circuit, for run of mine ore and producing a valuable fines concentrate stream and (b) processing the remaining comminution product stream after valuable fines removal and producing a valuable coarse concentrate stream.

A system for recovering rare earth elements from coal ash includes a leaching reactor, an ash dryer downstream of the leaching reactor, and a roaster downstream of the ash dryer that is cooperatively connected to both the leaching reactor and the ash dryer. Coal ash is mixed with an acid stream such that rare earth elements present in the coal ash are dissolved in the acid stream, thereby creating (i) a leachate containing the rare earth elements and (ii) leached ash. The leachate is heated to obtain acid vapor and an acid-soluble rare earth concentrate. Mixing of the coal ash with the acid stream can occur in a leaching reactor and heating of the leachate can occur in a roaster. The acid-soluble rare earth concentrate can be fed to a hydrometallurgical process to separate and purify the rare earth elements.

THIS invention relates to a process for the enhanced recovery of chromite and platinum group metals (PGMs) from a mixed chromite/PGM ore. Ore is ground 12, classified 14, to produce a coarse fraction and a fine fraction 36. The coarse fraction is subjected to gravity separation 16 and coarse particle flotation 20 to obtain a chrome concentrate and a PGM concentrate. The fine fraction 36 and PGM concentrate are ground 28, and subjected to conventional flotation 30 to obtain a PGM concentrate product 32. The benefits of this novel configuration of gravity concentration and coarse flotation technologies, as applied to both chromite and PGM recovery, are higher recoveries of chromite in a saleable concentrate, higher recoveries of PGMs and base metals, and lower chromite content in the PGM concentrate.

Systems and methods for the beneficiation of fine and very fine particles of iron ore are disclosed. The system includes a first triboelectric electrostatic belt-type separator (BSS) which receives and processes a stream of particles with a median particle size (d50) less than 75 microns to generate an iron rich concentrate. The system and method is water-free and carried out in a totally dry metallurgical route. The system also includes at least one air classification device that receives and processes a feed stream of particles to provide the stream of particles with a median particle size (d50) that is less than 75 microns. The system may also include a dryer and de- agglomeration system that receives a feed stream of particles and processes the feed stream of particles to provide the particle stream with a moisture of less than 2%.

Systems and methods for sequestering carbon, evolving hydrogen gas, producing iron oxide as magnetite, and producing magnesium carbonate as magnesite through sequential carbonation and serpentinization/hydration reactions involving processed olivine- and/or pyroxene-rich ores, as typically found in mafic and ultramafic igneous rock. Precious or scarce metals, such nickel, cobalt, chromium, rare earth elements, and others, may be concentrated in the remaining ore to facilitate their recovery from any gangue material.

Systems and methods for sequestering carbon, evolving hydrogen gas, producing iron oxide as magnetite, and producing magnesium carbonate as magnesite through sequential carbonation and serpentinization/hydration reactions involving processed olivine- and/or pyroxene-rich ores, as typically found in mafic and ultramafic igneous rock. Precious or scarce metals, such nickel, cobalt, chromium, rare earth elements, and others, may be concentrated in the remaining ore to facilitate their recovery from any gangue material.

Methods for niobium concentration from a carbonatite host rock are presented. A basic process for niobium mineral concentration involves performing niobium mineral flotation, on a sufficiently liberated ore slurry, using at one least aromatic hydroxamate collector; and at least one lead salt as a performance modifier. A more optimized process further includes dispersion. A further optimized process includes: magnetic separation, dispersion, sulphide removal, fine suspended particle removal, and niobium cleaner flotation stages. The use of one of number of tested lead salts during flotation improves the yield, and lowers the cost as a significantly lower amount of the collector is required. The process is useful for recovering a variety of species of niobium minerals such as fersmite, pyrochlore, columbite, fergusonite, niobium-containing rutile, and niobium-containing ilmenite.