Technological Resources Pty. Limited

Comalco Aluminium Limited

Comalco Aluminum Limited

Other

The University of Melbourne

Metallic Waste Solutions Pty Ltd.

Plasma Technology Scientific and Engineering Centre of E O Paton

Comalco Aluminuim Limited

Steel Dynamics Investments LLC

Raymond Walter Shaw

Drago Dragutin Juric

Geoffrey J Houston

Robin John Batterham

Lucy Esdaile

Leslie C Edwards

Kevin D Watson

Christopher J Heathcock

Kenong Xia

Thomas K Smith

Malcolm J Couper

Paul J Chiron

Barry Lavin

Ian A Coad

David Henry Solomon

Michael John Hollitt

Greg Guanghua Qiao

Neal Barr

Andrea R Gerson

Joan E Thomas

Michael A Fridman

Alexander Ja Taran

Victor J Lakomsky

Sarah L Harmer

Boris Eu Paton

Christopher Robin Cross

Ian G Stedman

Gavan Joseph Stray

Ian Arthur Burston

Kevin Lee Rees

Mark Donald Edward Coghill

Richard Anthony Bearman

Draco D Juric

Sarah Louise Harmer

Joan Elizabeth Thomas

Andrea Ruth Gerson

A process for recovering zinc from a zinc containing material, the process including the steps of: leaching the zinc containing material with an alkaline lixiviant comprising an aqueous mixture of NHand NHCl, or ionic equivalent, having a NHCl concentration of between about 10 g/L and about 150 g/L HO and a NHconcentration of between 20 g/l HO and 250 g/L HO, to produce a zinc containing leachate; stripping ammonia from the leachate to produce a stripped liquor which includes a zinc containing precipitate, the stripped liquor having a NHconcentration of between 7 and 30 g/L HO; and recovering the zinc from the stripped liquor.

Process for recovering zinc and/or zinc oxide II

A method of sorting mined material for subsequent processing to recover valuable material, such as valuable metals, from the mined material is disclosed. The method includes a combination of selective breakage of mined material, for example, by using microwaves and/or high pressure grinding rolls, subsequent size separation, and then particle sorting of a coarse fraction of the separated material based on differential heating and thermal imaging.

Sorting mined material

A method of leaching a metal value from a heap of a metal-containing ore and a heap leaching operation are disclosed. The method includes establishing a downward flow of a leach liquor through a section of the heap by supplying the leach liquor onto a top surface of the section and allowing the leach liquor (containing metal values in solution) to drain from a lower part of the section. The method is characterized by supplying the leach liquor onto the top surface of the section at a flow rate that is sufficient so that the downwardly flowing leach liquor saturates the section of the heap.

Heap leaching

A process for leaching an ore containing sulfidic copper-containing minerals includes carrying out an aerated oxidizing leach of a part of the ore and producing an acidic leach liquor containing ferrous ions, ferric ions, and copper ions in solution. The process also includes carrying out a leach of another part of the ore using the leach liquor under conditions that minimize reactions with a source of iron in the ore and producing a leach liquor containing copper ions in solution. The process further includes recovering copper from the leach liquor.

Leaching ores

A method and an apparatus for crushing material, particularly mined material, are disclosed. In one embodiment two or more pairs of crushing rolls successively crush mined material. The pairs of crushing rolls are arranged and operated so that an upstream pair of rolls produces a feed, preferably a pressurized feed, for a downstream pair of rolls. In another embodiment, at least an upstream pair of rolls is driven intermittently, for example, by means of a stepping motor to provide stepped rotational movement of the rolls.

Crushing material

A Bayer process is disclosed. The Bayer process includes a step of treating any one or more of: (a) Bayer liquor or liquors produced in the process, (b) precipitated aluminium trihydrate particles produced in the process, and (c) other solids added to or produced in the process, with ultrasonic energy and destroying organics in the liquor or liquors, on the precipitated aluminium trihydrate particles, and on the other solids.

Destruction of organics in Bayer process streams

A method and an assembly for treating minerals using microwave energy are disclosed. The method includes exposing a moving bed, preferably a mixed moving bed, of mineral particles to pulsed high energy microwave energy so that at least substantially all particles receive at least some exposure to microwave energy.

Microwave treatment of minerals

A process for recovering copper from chalcopyrite is disclosed. The process includes oxidising sulphur in chalcopyrite with a solution under predetermined contact conditions and thereby releasing at least part of the copper in the chalcopyrite into the solution as copper ions. The process includes a subsequent step of reducing sulphur in a solid product from step (a) to a minus two, ie. sulphide, valence state with a solution under predetermined contact conditions. The process further includes a subsequent step of oxidising sulphur in a solid product from step (b) with a solution under predetermined contact conditions and thereby releasing at least part of the remaining copper in the solid product into the solution as copper ions. The process further includes recovering copper from one or more of the solutions from steps (a) and (c).

Recovery of copper from chalcopyrite

A method of treating ore particles to facilitate subsequent processing of the ore particles to recover valuable components from the ore is disclosed. The method includes exposing the ore particles to microwave energy and causing structural alteration of the ore particles. In one embodiment structural alteration is achieve without significantly altering the mineralogy, i.e., composition, of the ore. In another embodiment structural alteration is achieved with minimal change to the sizes of the ore particles. In another embodiment the method includes exposing the ore particles to short duration, high energy pulses of microwave energy.

Microwave treatment of ores

A floating water surface cover module, comprising a rim (), and a shallow dome-shaped cover ()extending from the top of the rim ()and formed with a vent (), the rim and cover being formed with shaped air-filled air-tight cavities ()spaced around the rim ()to provide buoyancy, the rim ()and the cover ()being configured so that one module will nest within another to form a stable stack.

Water evaporation minimization

The invention relates to a composition suitable for the preparation of a carbon-containing material including: (i) a binder phase containing organic resin component or polymer composite; (ii) mesophase carbon; and (iii) optionally filler particles. The invention further relates to a method for preparing a carbon-containing material including the steps of: (a) mixing a binder phase containing an organic resin component or polymer composite with mesophase carbon and optionally filler particles; (b) curing the mixture; and (c) heating the cured mixture. The invention also provides an article which is wholly or partly manufactured from the carbon-containing material defined above.

Carbon-containing materials

A hydrometallurgical process for extracting copper and any one or more than one of zinc, silver and gold from a sulphide ore or concentrate is disclosed. The process includes a range of mineral species that contain copper and one or more than one of zinc, silver and gold, which process includes two or more than two leach steps using each liquors of different composition, each leach step selectively leaching one or more than one metal from the minerals. The process also includes separating a solid residue and an exit leach liquor after each leach step, leaching the solid residue produced in each leach step in a successive leach step, and recovering metal from the exit leach liquor produced in each leach step.

Hydrometallurgical extraction of copper and other valuable metals

Cathode construction

Growing community of inventors

Carlton North, Australia

Raymond Walter Shaw