Bioflocculants for Mineral Processing

Chemiqa是一家面向选矿和选矿行业的特种化学品和浮选技术的开发商、制造商和营销商。该项目的目标是开发用于选矿的生物试剂，重点是絮凝剂。生物絮凝剂将用于从油砂、煤炭、铜、镍和磷酸盐加工作业中提取的流体细尾矿(FFT)。快速傅立叶变换是一种废品的混合物，其中主要含有难以分离的细微矿物固体和水。目前，加拿大尾矿库中储存着大量的FFT，这对矿业公司来说是一个巨大的负债。强化FFT脱水的一种策略是通过絮凝。絮凝使用分子在颗粒之间形成桥梁，导致颗粒聚集体或絮体的形成，后者比单个细小颗粒沉淀得更快。最常用的絮凝剂是合成有机聚合物。虽然这些试剂本身可能没有毒性，但人们担心用于制造这些类型的絮凝剂的石油基前驱体的毒性和不可再生来源。此外，已知的合成有机聚合物在快速傅立叶变换应用中并不总是有效的，而且试剂成本可能非常高。众所周知，微生物产生天然聚合物，包括多糖和蛋白质，有助于有机物质和细胞的聚集。生物絮凝剂是环境友好、可生物降解和可再生的。开发一种有效、廉价和环境友好的生物试剂来脱水FFT将为Chemiqa带来利润，并有助于解决当今采矿业面临的最大挑战之一。

Chemiqa is a developer, manufacturer and marketer of specialty chemicals and flotation technology to themining and mineral processing industries. The objective of this project is to develop bioreagents for mineralprocessing with a focus on flocculants. The bioflocculants will be targeted for use on fluid fine tailings (FFT)derived from oil-sands, coal, copper, nickel and phosphate processing operations. FFT is a mixture of wasteproducts containing mostly fine mineral solids and water which are difficult to separate. At present, there is alarge volume of FFT stored in tailings ponds in Canada, which represents a huge liability for miningcompanies. One strategy to enhance FFT dewatering is by flocculation. Flocculation uses molecules to formbridges between particles, leading to the formation of particle aggregates, or flocs, which settle more quicklythan individual fine particles. The most commonly used flocculants are synthetic organic polymers. Whilethese reagents may not be inherently toxic, there are concerns about the toxicity and non-renewable origins ofthe petroleum-based precursors used to make these types of flocculants. Further, known synthetic organicpolymers are not always effective in FFT applications and the reagent cost can be very high. It is known thatmicroorganisms produce natural polymers, including polysaccharides and proteins, that aid in the aggregationof organic material and cells. Bioflocculants are environmentally-friendly, biodegradable and renewable. Thedevelopment of an effective, inexpensive and environmentally-benign bioreagent to dewater FFT will beprofitable for Chemiqa, and help solve one of the greatest challenges facing the mining industry today.