A method for treating process water of a flotation arrangement, the flotation arrangement including a flotation arrangement including a mineral flotation line and a process water treatment arrangement for treating underflow of the of the mineral flotation line. The method includes the steps of a) dewatering underflow from the flotation in a gravitational solid-liquid separator; b) subjecting supernatant from step a) to cleaning flotation for collecting at least fine particles and residual flotation chemicals, for separating at least fine particles and residual flotation chemicals from the supernatant into cleaning flotation overflow, and for forming purified process water as cleaning flotation underflow; c) removing cleaning flotation overflow as tailings, and d) recirculating purified process water into the mineral flotation line.

An apparatus to determine the concentration of a target component in a mixture, the apparatus including at least one acoustic transducer located within the mixture, a controller generating a signal for the at least one acoustic transducer that's generating an acoustic signal in the mixture and transmitting same toward the target component within the mixture, wherein the acoustic signal is generated with a known power level, and a processor for measuring change in the power level of the at least one acoustic transducer as the acoustic signal is transmitted through the mixture, wherein the magnitude of the change in signal power determines the concentration of the target component in the mixture.

A process for treating and dewatering tailings comprising fine clay minerals, fine rock-forming minerals and water is provided, comprising treating the tailings with a sufficient amount of a collector to modify the surface properties of both the fine clays and rock-forming minerals; subjecting the treated tailings to froth flotation to form a fine clays and rock-forming minerals froth layer; and recovering the froth layer and subjecting it to dewatering.

A composite medium for collecting mineral particles in an aqueous slurry has a polymer substrate deposited or penetrated with an inorganic material and further coated with a hydrophobic material. The hydrophobic material can be a hydrophobic silane or a hydrophobic polymer such as polysiloxane. Alternatively, the inorganic material deposited substrate is first reacted with a reactive silane and then coated with a hydrophobic polymer. The polymer substrate can be in the form of a spherical bead, a small cube, a filter or a conveyor.

A composite medium for collecting mineral particles in an aqueous slurry has a polymer substrate deposited or penetrated with an inorganic material and further coated with a hydrophobic material. The hydrophobic material can be a hydrophobic silane or a hydrophobic polymer such as polysiloxane. Alternatively, the inorganic material deposited substrate is first reacted with a reactive silane and then coated with a hydrophobic polymer. The polymer substrate can be in the form of a spherical bead, a small cube, a filter or a conveyor.

Provided is a mineral processing method that can efficiently separate a copper mineral and a molybdenum mineral. A mineral processing method includes a conditioning step of adding a disulfite to a mineral slurry containing a copper mineral and a molybdenum mineral and a flotation step of performing flotation using the mineral slurry after the conditioning step. By selectively enhancing hydrophilicity of the copper mineral with the disulfite, the hydrophilicity between the copper mineral and the molybdenum mineral can be differentiated. Thus, the molybdenum mineral can be selectively floated, and the copper mineral and the molybdenum mineral can be efficiently separated.

Provided is a mineral processing method that can efficiently separate a copper mineral and a molybdenum mineral. A mineral processing method includes a conditioning step of adding a disulfite to a mineral slurry containing a copper mineral and a molybdenum mineral and a flotation step of performing flotation using the mineral slurry after the conditioning step. By selectively enhancing hydrophilicity of the copper mineral with the disulfite, the hydrophilicity between the copper mineral and the molybdenum mineral can be differentiated. Thus, the molybdenum mineral can be selectively floated, and the copper mineral and the molybdenum mineral can be efficiently separated.

Disclosed herein are systems and methods from processing flue gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum feedstock and ash feedstocks, either separately or together. FGD gypsum conversion comprises reacting FGD gypsum (calcium sulfate) feedstock or phosphogypsum, in either batch or continuous mode, with ammonium carbonate reagent to produce commercial products comprising ammonium sulfate and calcium carbonate. A process to separate the impurities and convert the calcium carbonate to a pure precipitated calcium carbonate is disclosed. These impurities include a concentrate of valuable Rare Earth Elements, and radioactive thorium and uranium. A process to convert calcium sulfite to calcium sulfate using oxygen and a catalyst is also disclosed. Ash conversion comprises a leach process followed by a sequential precipitation process to selectively precipitate products at predetermined pHs resulting in metal hydroxides which may be converted to oxides or carbonates. The processes may be controlled by use of one or more processors.

A separation unit for separating contaminants, such as oil, from water comprises at least one inlet section and a separation tank having an outlet for effluent, an outlet for liquid reject, and an outlet for gas. The inlet section comprises an inlet for influent, a gas injector for injecting gas into the influent, a turbulent mixing assembly for mixing the influent and the gas, and a diffuser for reducing a flow velocity of the mixed influent and gas. The separation unit is adapted to control a level of a gas-liquid interface in the tank by regulating leakage of gas using a liquid reject valve in the outlet for liquid reject and/or a gas reject valve in the outlet for gas. The separation unit maintains the level of the liquid interface below an entrance of the outlet for liquid reject during a normal mode of operation, and, during a fluid reject mode of operation, opens the liquid reject valve and raises the level of the liquid interface to be equal to or above the entrance of the outlet for liquid reject.

The present disclosure provides a method for redistributing a flake material, in particular a two-dimensional nano flake material, into at least two flake size fractions, each of which having smaller flake size variance than the flake material. The method comprises providing a dispersion of the flake material in a liquid, wherein the flake material is not atomized in the liquid, arranging the dispersion in a container, percolating gas bubbles upwardly through the dispersion, for a time sufficient to allow the flake material to redistribute itself in the liquid with larger sized flakes higher up in the liquid and smaller sized flakes lower down in the liquid, and extracting at least one of the flake fractions from a limited vertical level of the container.