MINING CHEMICALS
Complexity of the ores have changed and mines
are looking towards tailor-made solutions that
hold up not only to shareholders financial
expectations but also to environmental scrutiny
Chinese manufacturers as the smaller or
regional players. So they are just as vulnerable
as the anyone. Plus the major companies are
more dependent on maintaining their margins
but they will have problems with the price
increases necessary to maintain these margins.”
He adds on what has happened in China
itself: “The regulators in China were local and
state officials which allowed for a lot of leeway
in following federal standards. Now, the federal
government has stepped in to enforce the
regulations and have placed taxes on polluters.
This has resulted in shutdowns of producers
and large increases in raw material prices. Also,
the new Chinese policy of not supporting any
companies that do not have a minimum
capitalisation has shut down many small
producers who were key to keeping the Chinese
costs down. This will bring back the
competitiveness of other countries’ mining
chemical industries. The problem is that it will
take a long time to sort through this change in
the producing industry. This includes the
transportation industry as well. Many more
products are now being labelled as dangerous
goods and with the shortage of ships and trucks
and the full ports, many of these products are
not being shipped as they get bumped off ships
for less dangerous goods. Several ports are now
closed to dangerous goods as well only
increasing the problem for the manufacturers.
So there is much more scrutiny and regulation
but this does not mean that there is a
reasonable alternative to these dangerous
goods as of yet.”
The market leader in China with its AoTong
brand is QiXia TongDa Flotation Reagent Co Ltd,
which claims to produce 50,000 t of xanthates
per annum, 10,000 t of dithiophopsphates and
26 International Mining | MAY 2018
5,000 t of thionocarbamates. The market
changes are a double edged sword for larger
players like this – their costs are going up but as
all the smaller players struggle they can tap into
rising global demand.
Liu Fei Long at QiXia TongDa told IM: “We are
the largest manufacturer in China and have
operated for nearly 30 years. We have all
necessary approvals for our procedures already
so there has been no effect on us from the new
regulations and there is normal production in
our factory.”
Axis House highlights tailor made
While they are still very much part of the
industry, as stated there has been a conscious
move away from commodity type reagents, such
as xanthates over the last few years, where
possible. South Africa-based mining chemicals
major Axis House told IM: “Complexity of the
ores have changed and mines are looking
towards tailor-made solutions that hold up not
only to shareholders financial expectations but
also to environmental scrutiny. Companies
proactively look for environmentally safe
reagents which reduce fire risk as well as
pollution of tailing dams and the environment.
This itself is a huge driver for moving away from
the hazardous nature of xanthates, sensitive
reagents and processing methods. Axis House
offers a broad range of reagents that fall in this
criteria with the focus of improving process
efficiencies, ultimately improving the
profitability. Through ongoing R&D and site
support we are able to monitor changes in ore
feed and maximise the recovery of metals by
selectively targeting the minerals presented.
Moving away from commodity type reagents
also allows for a more holistic reagent suite
solution when dealing with difficult to recover
minerals, meaning that specific reagents can be
developed and applied that work well together.”
On the ongoing role of bulk chemicals, the
company added: “Sulphur and lime still play a
predominant role in mineral processing and will
continue to do so as new operators are starting
up at increasing pace. Certain bulk chemicals
are reasonably efficient at the current grades
being mined, although, environmentally safer,
more efficient reagents are constantly being
investigated as alternatives to these reagents. It
is unlikely for a cheaper chemical to replace
these at this stage, however in the future as ore
grades decrease even further, extraction
efficiency will be the primary driver for the
economic viability and we might see a shift
then.”
The increased demand for new commodities
is also a focus for Axis House, which has
developed effective collectors for copper and
cobalt over a long time period and is now
looking at applying these technologies in
different applications. The research now extends
to developing performance reagents for
different markets, not only in flotation but for
hydromet and dewatering stages in the process
as well.
In the thickener/flocculant space, Axis House
says that not only has there been a huge
increase in o