Mining Ore Minerals and Mineral Processing

1. Mining Ore Minerals,
Mineral Processing
Earth Materials & Resorces

2. A mineral is a naturally occurring,
homogeneous inorganic substance that has a
definite chemical composition. In this case,
some important elements including metals can
be economically extracted from specialized
rocks called ore deposits.
There are two methods of mining: surface mining
and underground mining.

3. • Surface mining is used to extract ore minerals
near the surface of the earth. The soil and
rocks that covered the ores are removed
through blasting.
Blasting is a controlled use of explosives and
gas exposure to break rocks. Some examples of
surface mining are open-pit mining, quarrying,
and strip mining.

4. • Underground mining is used to extract the
rocks, minerals, and other precious stones
that can be found beneath the earth’s
surface. In underground mining, miners need
to create a tunnel so they can reach the ore
minerals.
This kind of mining is more expensive and
dangerous as compared to surface mining
because miners need to use explosive devices to
remove the minerals from the rocks that cover
them.

5. Mineral processing is the process of extracting
minerals from the ores, refining them, and
preparing these minerals for use. The primary
steps involved in processing minerals include
sampling and analysis, comminution,
concentration, and dewatering.
1. Sampling is the removal of a portion which
represents a whole needed for the analysis of
this material. One or more samples are needed.

6. 2. Analysis is important to evaluate the valuable
components in an ore. This includes chemical,
mineralogical, and particle size analysis.
- Chemical analysis uses electric discharge
which excites the elements in the sample to emit
a certain spectrum which will reveal the identity
of the elements as well as its concentration.
- Mineralogical analysis uses heavy liquid-
testing that aims to separate the less dense,
same density, and denser materials.

7. - Coarsely grounded minerals are classified
according to particle size (particle size analysis)
through sieving.
3. Comminution is the process where the
valuable components of the ore are separated
through crushing and grinding. This process
begins by crushing the ores to a particular size
and finishes it by grinding the ores into a powder
form

8. 4. Concentration involves the separation of the
valuable minerals from the raw materials.
Kinds of Separation:
Optical separation is a process used in the
concentration of minerals with distinct
contrasting colors (black and white) seen with
the naked eye.
Gravity separation is a process that uses the
density of minerals as the concentrating agent
and performs a sink and float separation of
water and the grounded minerals.

9. Flotation separation is the most widely used
method that makes use of the mineral’s
wettability to water or chemicals.
Magnetic separation is a process that
involves different degrees of attraction of
minerals to magnets.
Electrostatic separation is a process that
separate the mineral particles based on their
electric charges.

10. 5. Dewatering uses the concentrates to convert
it to usable minerals. This involves filtration and
sedimentation of the suspension, and drying of
the solid material harvested from this
suspension.