HEAP LEACHING & SX
Extractants on the up
A company with chemical interests considering investments into the SX extractant space is Orica , with Adam Hall , Group Executive & President of Asia & Chemicals , highlighting a potential expansion into this area at Orica ’ s recent Investor Day .
Orica ’ s Chemicals business covers the fields of ore processing , chemical stabilisation and recovery & treatment , strengthening Orica ’ s presence across the mining value chain and having a strong alignment with its global footprint and understanding of customer needs , the company says . It also acts as a complementary component of Orica ’ s “ new solutions offerings ”.
Orica ’ s current exposure is to leaching agents and emulsifiers , with cyanide making up its biggest product .
Yet Hall highlighted the potential for Orica to play in both flotation and solvent extraction markets as part of growth opportunities that added up to A $ 23 billion ($ 14.3 billion ).
“ We see all of these as potentially interesting for Orica ,” Hall said . “ These are all big fields … but each of them has something we could potentially partner or bring to our clients , and something we will be looking to do over the next five years or so .”
Partnerships could potentially see Orica team up with big chemical players that have a byproduct or comparatively small value stream coming out of an integrated facility where Orica could bring its “ deep understanding of what the miners need and how we can deliver against that using the products that are produced ”, he explained .
Modular SX success
The success of Metso Outotec ’ s VSF ® solvent extraction technology continues to be highlighted , with the mining OEM having recently been awarded a contract for this solution in South America .
According to the company , over 30 % of the world ’ s copper is extracted using this solvent extraction process , with the modular nature of VSF ( Vertical Smooth Flow ) plants offering lower lifetime costs , significantly shorter lead times and sustainable lifecycle technology built on decades of experience in solvent extraction .
The latest order for VSF technology came with an order value of around ¤ 10 million ($ 10 million ) and will see Metso Outotec deliver engineering , proprietary and key equipment , spare parts , and advisory services for the mechanical installation as well as commissioning and start-up of the solvent extraction plant .
An SX alternative
While SX may be the conventional metal extraction route for leached solutions in copper , alternatives continue to bubble up through the R & D pool .
In the rare earths sector , such an alternative has been tabled under the Innovation Metals Corp ( IMC ) RapidSX™ rare earth element ( REE ) separation technology platform .
Ucore Rare Metals , which counts IMC as a wholly-owned subsidiary , has established a commercial Strategic Metals Complex ( SMC ) technology deployment process for RapidSX , with testing set to take place at a demonstration plant situated at Kingston Process Metallurgy Inc ’ s ( KPM ) facility in Kingston , Ontario , Canada .
A SMC located at the Kingston facility is scheduled to produce 2,000 t of total rare earth oxides by the end of 2024 and 5,000 t by 2026 , but a demonstration plant remains on track for a late-2022 commissioning start up , according to Mike Schrider , Ucore ’ s VP and COO .
“ This process will demonstrate the unprecedented North American separation of tonnes of both heavy and light rare earth elements ,” he said . “ It will then continue with end-user qualification trials throughout 2023 for Western entities seeking diversified and sustainable metallic supply chains as Ucore transitions to full-scale commercial mode with the construction of our first SMC .”
Ucore says it stands alone in its speed of executing the commercial deployment of one of the first modern technology platforms for separating heavy and light rare earth elements – as a replacement for conventional SX .
IMC developed the RapidSX separation technology with the assistance of $ 1.8 million in funding from the United States Department of Defense , resulting in the production of commercial grade , separated rare earth oxides at the pilot scale .
“ The technology combines the time-proven chemistry of conventional SX with a new columnbased platform , which significantly reduces time to completion and plant footprint , as well as potentially lowering capital and operating costs ,” the company said . “ SX is the international REE industry ’ s standard commercial separation technology and is currently used by 100 % of all REE producers worldwide for bulk commercial separation of both heavy rare earth elements and light rare earth elements .” IM
COMMINUTION ‘ 23
April 17-20 , 2023 | Cape Town , South Africa
Sponsored by : King ’ s Ceramics & Chemicals , Russell Mineral Equipment , Keramos , Starkey & Associates , Grinding Solutions , Glencore Technology , ME Elecmetal , Derrick Corp ., ZEISS , Hudbay Minerals , Magotteaux , Metso Outotec , Sino Grinding International , Dakot , Maelgwyn Mineral Services , Bradken , Capstone Copper , Eracles - Ceramiche Tecniche , FLSmidth , Minerals Engineering , ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� Critical Minerals Association
BIOMINING ‘ 23
June 5-6 , 2023 | Falmouth , UK
Sponsored by : International Mining & Minerals Engineering
SUSTAINABLE MINERALS ‘ 23
June 7-9 , 2023 | Falmouth , UK
Sponsored by : International Mining & Minerals Engineering
FLOTATION ‘ 23
November 6-9 , 2023 | Cape Town , South Africa
Sponsored by : Promet101 , Gold Ore , ZEISS , Magotteaux , Eriez Flotation , FLSmidth , Solvay , Hudbay Minerals , Metso Outotec , Maelgwyn Mineral Services , Festo , CiDRA Mineral Processing , Capstone Copper , Metcelerate , Clariant , International Mining , Minerals Engineering , Global Mining Review , and the Critical Minerals Association
According to Metso Outotec , over 30 % of the world ’ s copper is extracted using the VSF solvent extraction process www . min-eng . com / conferences /
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2022 | International Mining 75