UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL JORGE BADRE GROHMANN AVANCES EN LA HIDROMETALURGIA DEL ORO

EXPOSITOR: MSc. Ing. NATANIEL LINARES GUTIRREZ FACULTAD DE INGENIERA EAP DE INGENIERA METALRGICA nlinaresg6@outlook.com
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CONTENIDO
Evolucin de la industria del oro Tipos y caractersticas de mineral con oro Procesamiento de minerales con oro:
etapas de procesamiento operaciones unitarias

Desarrollo de procesos para menas con oro Un sistema experto para el diseo de procesos de oro Una mina de oro en el Amazonas
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EVOLUCIN DE LA INDUSTRIA EXTRACTIVA DEL ORO

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EVOLUCIN DE LA INDUSTRIA DEL ORO

Pre-cianuracin
Egipto antiguo (3050 a.c) Turqua Monedas de oro(700 a.c.)
Refinacin del oro (560 a.c.)

Imperio Romano Precipitacin del oro

1500-1750 Las colonias de Espaa y Portugal (Sud Amrica) 1800-1900 - California, Nueva Zelanda, Canad, Australia

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EVOLUCIN DE LA INDUSTRIA DEL ORO

"100 aos de cianuracin
1889 Mina Crown - Nueva Zelanda La explotacin de los yacimientos Witswatersrand Sudfrica como principal productor de oro Evolucin de la ruta procesamiento Aplicacin de la tecnologa bsica de procesamiento de minerales Bajo incentivo de los bajos precios del oro
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PRECIO DEL ORO EN LOS LTIMOS 50 AOS

Average annual price (US$/oz)

700 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

year

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Pero como enlaz a un grfico dinmico que se va actualizando con la cotizacin del oro desde el ao 2000 hasta la actualidad (http://www.kitco.com/LFgif/au00-pres.gif), lo que pareca un cambio de tendencia alcista se ha convertido en esto en su mensaje original en el spoiler

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En los ltimos 10 aos el precio del oro ha subido entre 340% y 460%, siendo uno de los activos ms rentables en el mundo

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 Esto ocurri debido a varios factores: En los ltimos diez aos el dficit fiscal de Estados Unidos y de las principales economas de Europa creci de manera significativa acercndose al 10% de su Producto Bruto Interno (PBI). Ello provoc un endeudamiento de estas economas a niveles que, en algunos casos, se acercaban al 100% de su PBI. La crisis del 2008 se dio ante la ruptura de la burbuja del sector inmobiliario en Estados Unidos, y luego Europa, lo que provoc una fractura del mercado de acciones y una cada abrupta en esas economas. Ante la debilidad de la economa mundial, los bancos centrales decidieron aplicar polticas monetarias expansivas llenando al mercado de dlares, euros y ahora yenes. Ello le ha dado un respiro a las economas mundiales, pero han incrementado el temor de inflacin futura. Inversionistas institucionales y la mayora de bancos centrales optaron por incrementar sus posiciones de oro como refugio, vendiendo acciones y monedas, alejndose del riesgo de stas.

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Precio del oro actual

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EL PRECIO DEL ORO DESDE 1344

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Evolution of the gold industry

Accelerated development years (1972-1990)
Driving force: gold price Development of gold processing
CIP process Heap Leaching SAG Milling Refractory ore treatment

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EVOLUCIN DE LA INDUSTRIA EL ORO

Evolucin de la industria del oro
Industria del oro en la decada de 90
Declinacin del oro
necesidad de reduccin de costes propiedades de bajo costo en efectivo

Tendencias para el prximo decenio nueva rampa" de los precios del oro desarrollo de nuevos proyectos "en espera Aumento del control y la automatizacin

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Gold ore types and characteristics

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MENAS CON ORO

Oro: Mineraloga y procesamiento
Most noble metal, native occurrence Also associated with silver, tellurium, bismuth and PGMs typical ore grades: 0.5 to 20 g/t Primary gold source: ores Secondary gold sources
gravity concentrates flotation concentrates plant tailings refinery tailings recycled gold

* PGM means platinum group metals

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Types of gold deposits

Placer ores Oxidized ores Primary ores

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Types of gold mining methods

Placer ores => Placer mining Oxidized ores => Open pit Primary ores => Underground mining

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Gold Ore Types

Main ore types (after Marsden)
placers oxidized free milling silver rich iron sulphide bearing arsenic sulphide bearing carbonaceous copper bearing antimony bearing gold telluride bearing
easy processing

refractory
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Gold ore characterization and testing

Mineralogical characterization Technological tests
exploratory testwork diagnostic leaching optimization testwork pilot plant

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Gold Liberation
Free gold definition and discussion
Classic definition: Gaudin
Physical liberation of the valuable mineral from gangue Limitation: Hydrometallurgical and Pyrometallurgical processes: access of gas or solution to mineral is the issue

Definition adopted: free gold = accessible gold

direct correlation with processes used by hydrometallurgists

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Refractory gold
Refractory gold: cannot be made accessible using only comminution
Ore needs chemical pretreatment prior to gold extraction

Main causes of gold refractoriness

gold encapsulated in quartz/silicates gold encapsulated in sulphides ore containing active carbonaceous matter

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Industrial gold ore processing

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Gold ore processing

Ore Preparation Gold Extraction Gold Purification
Purification of gold bearing solution

Gold Production
Recovery of gold from solution or concentrate to produce a bulliion bar

Gold liberation Extraction Particle size adjustment to next processes Physical concentration and oxidation pretreatment
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of gold from ore into solution and/or concentrate

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Unit operations for each step

Ore Preparation

Gold Extraction

Gold Purification

Gold Production

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Process development for gold ores

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Process development

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Process design
Geology
Industrial processes

Process routes
Feed Primary Crushing Secondary Crushing SAG Milling

Project context
Mineralogy
?

Ball Milling

Thickening

Gravity Concentration

To smelting

Technological tests

Pre-aeration

Carbon-inleach

Elution

Electrowinning

Smelting

GOLD

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Feed

Primary Crushing Secondary Crushing

SAG Milling

Rod Milling

Ball Milling
(or pebble mill)

Agglomeration

Thickening

Gravity Concentration

To smelting

Heap Oxidation Heap Neutralization

Flotation
c

Roasting

Pressure Oxidation

Bio-oxidation

Heap Cyanidation
Carbon-inleach Carbon-incolumn

Pre-aeration

Pre-aeration

Cyanidation

Carbon-inleach

Cyanidation

CCD

Carbon-inpulp

CCD

Carbon-inpulp

Elution

Elution

Elution

Electrowinning

Zinc Precipitation

Electrowinning

Zinc Precipitation

Electrowinning

Smelting

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GOLD

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Feed

Primary Crushing Secondary Crushing

Feed

SAG Milling

Primary Crushing Secondary Crushing To smelting

Rod Milling

Ball Milling
(or pebble mill)

SAG Milling

Agglomeration

Thickening

Gravity Concentration

Ball Milling

Heap Oxidation Heap Neutralization

Flotation
c

Roasting

Pressure Oxidation

Bio-oxidation Pre-aeration

Heap Cyanidation
Carbon-inleach Carbon-incolumn

Pre-aeration

Pre-aeration

Carbon-inleach

Cyanidation

Carbon-inleach

Cyanidation Elution Carbon-inpulp

CCD

Carbon-inpulp

CCD

Electrowinning

Elution

Elution

Elution Smelting

Electrowinning

Zinc Precipitation

Electrowinning

Zinc Precipitation

Electrowinning

GOLD Smelting

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GOLD

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Fazenda Brasileiro ore

Main ore characteristics
deposit type: greenstone belt mineralogy: fine gold (d95=37 microns), free or in borders/fractures, associations with sulphides and quartz laboratory tests: high recoveries for both direct cyanidation and flotation, good recovery in gravity concentration

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Feed

Primary Crushing

Secondary Crushing

SAG Milling

Fazenda Brasileiro ore

Conventional process route

Ball Milling

Thickening

Gravity Concentration

To smelting

Pre-aeration

Carbon-inleach

Elution

Electrowinning

Smelting

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GOLD

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Refractory sulphide ore

Main ore characteristics
deposit type: greenstone belt
mineralogy: very fine gold(d95=3 microns), encapsulated and in borders/fractures, association with sulphides laboratory tests: low recoveries in direct cyanidation and gravity concentration tests, high recoveries in flotation tests, high recoveries by cyanidation after biooxidation or pressure oxidation

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Feed

Primary Crushing Secondary Crushing

SAG Milling

Ball Milling

Refractory sulphide ore

Processing route with pretreatment
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Flotation Tailings Bio-oxidation

Cyanidation

Carbon-inpulp

Elution

Electrowinning

Smelting

GOLD

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Placer ore
Main ore characteristics
deposit type: placer mineralogy: medium size gold(d95=100 microns), some physically liberated, some associated with sulphides

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Feed

Primary Crushing

Secondary Crushing

Placer ore
Thickening

Ball Milling

Gravity Concentration

To smelting

Physical only processing route

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Flotation

Smelting

GOLD

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Expert system for gold process design

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Intelligold - expert system for process design

Objective:
Integration of gold process design knowledge into artificial intelligence software

Principles
Use of logical variables and fuzzy sets to represent information Organization of information into a knowledge building stepladder

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Project start
Decision rules, fuzzy sets Ore/deposit information

Process routes indication Continue investigation . Do research . Gather more data

Flowsheet alternatives

Hypertext with literature review and case studies Mining method user input

Cost and revenues calculation

DECISION MAKING

Abandon or hold
Implement project

Ranking of alternatives Alternative NPV/IRR Risk factors

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Knowledge building
combined
W1=1

Process routes

combined
W1=1 W2= f ( sampling, demonstration testwork)

inferred

measured

Process options
W2= f ( sampling, preliminary testwork)

inferred

measured Contradictions management and feedback

Behavior
combined
W1=1 W2= f ( sampling, equipment, precision)

inferred

measured

Mineralogy Geology
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1300 variables 600 rules

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A gold mine in the Amazon

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A gold mine in the Amazon

Igarap Bahia Mine
Largest Brazilian gold mine
10-12 tons of gold/year

Very low cash cost Located in the Carajas Reserve

Forest reserve area owned by a mining company CVRD Only 0.4% of area occupied by mine activities Preservation of area and native cultures
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Aerial view of mine site

Mine

Mill

Infrastructure facilities
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Mine

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Processing installations

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Grinding mills

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Gold smelting furnace

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Waste disposal

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Summary
Gold is an important resource to economy Gold ores are found in different types Processing is highly dependent on mineralogical characteristics Process design is a challenging activity Intelligent systems can be used to design and operate gold plants
Advanced use of information technology in mineral industry is a key issue in the 21st century
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MUCHAS GRACIAS

ESPERO NO HABERLOS ABURRIDO

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