The Pyrrhotite Problem

加拿大是世界上最重要的矿业国家之一，生产60多种矿物和金属。长期以来，采矿和矿物加工一直是中国的主要财富来源之一。2014年，该部门雇用了约375,000人，为加拿大国内生产总值(GDP)贡献了570亿美元，占加拿大商品出口额的18.2%。由于浮选是采矿部门采用的主要分选技术，这项研究的结果将对改善运营至关重要。2017年，加拿大矿山占全球锌总产量的2%；对于镍，这是全球产量的10%。 矿物是一种不可再生资源，因此用于回收它们的过程必须尽可能经济和环保。加拿大矿藏的主要问题之一是磁黄铁矿。磁黄铁矿是自然界中仅次于黄铁矿的第二种最常见的硫化铁矿物，存在两个问题： 它通常作为不需要的稀释剂报告给精矿，降低了产品流的等级和价值 由于它的化学性质，它有很强的放热反应倾向，部分原因是电偶相互作用经历了一个被称为自加热的过程。 这两个问题都会在含有高浓度磁黄铁矿的矿体的加工过程中造成重大问题。这项研究计划将： 加深我们对磁黄铁矿表面性质的了解，以便在使用环保药剂的浮选过程中更好地拒绝这种矿物 评估磁黄铁矿发生自热的原因，并提供不损害环境或对下游加工不利的缓解方法

Canada is one of the most important mining nations in the world, producing more than 60 minerals and metals. Mining and mineral processing has long been one of the country's key wealth generators. In 2014 the sector employed approximately 375,000 people and contributed $57 billion to Canada's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and accounted for 18.2% of the value of Canadian goods exports. With flotation being the main separation technique employed in the mining sector, the results of this research will be vital to improved operations. In 2017, Canadian mines accounted for 2 % of the total global zinc production; for nickel, this was 10 % of global production. Minerals are a non-renewable resource, so the processes used to recover them must be as economical and environmentally friendly as possible. One of the major issues in Canadian mineral deposits is the mineral pyrrhotite. Pyrrhotite is the second most common iron sulphide mineral in nature after pyrite, and presents a two-fold problem: It commonly reports to the concentrate as an unwanted diluent, reducing the grade and value of the product stream Due to its chemical nature, it has a strong tendency to undergo an exothermic reaction due in part to galvanic interactions undergoing a process that is termed self-heating'. Both of these issues cause significant problems in the processing of ore bodies that contain a high concentration of pyrrhotite. This research program will: Enhance our understanding of the surface properties of pyrrhotite to be able to better reject this mineral in processes such as flotation using environmentally friendly reagents Evaluate why pyrrhotite undergoes self-heating and provide methods of mitigation which do not harm the environment or are detrimental to downstream processing