Project

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ENGINEERING DESIGN PROJECT
ENGR 4435
MIDTERM REPORT
RECOVERY OF HEAVY MINERALS FROM THE ALBERTA OIL
SANDS TAILINGS
NAMES:
GABASIANE GABASIANE
KEORAPETSE KEALOTSWE
MAANO CARLOS SAMUEL
ONKGOPOTSE BUSANANG
GAOFENNGWE ESHANE
18-January-2013
LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY

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ABSTRACT
This report consists of a possible approach that can be used to extract the heavy minerals from
the Alberta oil sands, mainly based on the past studies. The most recent study on the oil sands
tailings is the SGS report which was produced in 2002. The main objective of this project is to
design a mineral processing plant, which will mainly focus on concentrating zircon and titanium
minerals to grades of 63.8% ZrO2, 90% TiO2 for the rutile concentrate and 65% TiO2 for the rest
of the titanium minerals. The overall feed to the process has a zircon and titanium grade of 3.4%
ZrO2 and 11.5% TiO2 respectively. The process would compose of cyclones followed by bulk
flotation at the first stages to reduce most of the gangue material. This will be followed by de-
oiling and pyrite flotation to remove the oil from the mineral surfaces and to remove pyrite
which inhibits mineral separation. Following these processes, flotation of titanium minerals will
be carried out. The concentrate will be subjected to magnetic separation to further concentrate
the ore and the tailings will be subjected to gravity separation, to remove some gangue mineral
before concentration of zircon by magnetic separation. After carrying out the mass balance it was
also found that hematite would be concentrated in the process with zircon and can be sold as a
by-product.

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Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................................................i
INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................................1
OBJECTIVE.....................................................................................................................................................2
PROCESS REQUIREMENTS.............................................................................................................................2
PLANT CAPACITY .......................................................................................................................................3
ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS AND REQUIREMENTS ..............................................................................5
HEALTH & SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS ...........................................................................................................6
LEGAL ISSUES ................................................................................................................................................7
LAND AND RECLAMATION ........................................................................................................................7
LABOUR CONTRACTS ................................................................................................................................7
CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS....................................................................................................................8
TECHNOLOGY SELECTION .............................................................................................................................9
THE PROCESS FLOWSHEET..........................................................................................................................12
WASTE DISPOSAL, TREATMENT AND RECYCLE OPTION .............................................................................13
CYCLONES TAILINGS................................................................................................................................13
DISPOSAL OF FINES .................................................................................................................................13
DISPOSAL OF PYRITE ...............................................................................................................................13
MAGNETIC SEPARATION TAILINGS .........................................................................................................14
SELECTION OF TECHNOLOGY FOR DETAILED DESIGN.................................................................................14
HYDRO-CYCLONES...................................................................................................................................14
Conventional Narrow Angle Designs .................................................................................................14
Wide angle designs .............................................................................................................................15
FLOTATION..............................................................................................................................................16
Mechanical cells..................................................................................................................................16
GRAVITY SEPARATION.............................................................................................................................20
MAGNETIC SEPARATION.........................................................................................................................21
DETAILED DESIGN .......................................................................................................................................25
BULK FLOTATION.....................................................................................................................................25
DEOLING..................................................................................................................................................26
PYRITE FLOTATION..................................................................................................................................26
TITANIUM FLOTATION ............................................................................................................................27

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MAGNETIC SEPARATION.........................................................................................................................28
CONCLUSION...............................................................................................................................................29
RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................30
APPENDIX : Materials balance ....................................................................................................................35

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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Feed composition............................................................................................................................2
Table 2: Feed properties (ILUKA, 2008)......................................................................................................3
Table 3: showing the selection criteria of separators (DOBBINS, 2007).....................................................23
Table 4: Operation parameters of Drums, (J.Svoboda, 1987).....................................................................25
Table 5 showing specific magnetic susceptibilities of paramagnetic minerals (J.Svoboda, 1987).............28
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Process flow sheet .......................................................................................................................12
Figure 2: Picture of narrow angle hydro cyclone (Bradley, 1965) ........................................................15
Figure 3: Wide angled design Hydro cyclone (Svarovsky, 2000) ..............................................................15
Figure 4: Dorr-Oliver schematic diagram...................................................................................................17
Figure 5: Wemco cell schematic diagram ...................................................................................................18
Figure 6: TankCell......................................................................................................................................19

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INTRODUCTION
Heavy minerals are considered important resources since they hold an economic value, some
examples of which include titanium, zircon and uranium. Majority of the titanium minerals
processed are used for TiO2 pigment production and most of the processed zircon is used for the
production of ceramics (Elsner, 2010).
Most of these metals are rare and cannot be substituted which makes them more expensive. The
primary source of zircon and titanium is the beach sands. The tailings from the Alberta’s oil
sands contain a valuable amount of titanium and zircon with a grade of 11.5% TiO2 and 3.4%
ZrO2 respectively (Q. Lui, 2006). These metals have not been recovered due to the challenges
posed by the bitumen content and secondary minerals like pyrite and calcite. According to the
SGS report, the amounts represent roughly 6% and 9% of the world’s titanium and zircon
respectively (Oxenford & Coward, Heavy Minerals from Alberta's Oils sands, 2001). Regardless
of many attempts made by scientists from in the past, none has been successful at producing a
marketable grade of either titanium or zircon minerals. The common problems associated with
difficulties in recovery include the following;
 The presence of garnets and Ferro-silicates, garnets often has a certain amount of
valuable minerals entrapped in it, so when using magnetic separation these will report
with garnet to the non-magnetic side reducing the overall grade of mineral.
 The other challenge is that most of the minerals are covered with bitumen on their
surfaces as they are easily oil wetted, which poses some challenges in the concentration
process. Finally the amount of finer particles in the ore also constitutes to the challenges
faced because it lowers the selectivity of the flotation processes and lowers the efficiency
of the magnetic separation processes.
To take advantage of these resources novel and economic methods of extraction needs to be
developed and implemented. SGS has used some of these methods in their work e.g. the
agglomeration flotation (Oxenford & Coward, Heavy Minerals from Alberta's Oils sands, 2001).
Furthermore the strict environmental regulations require that scientists and engineers do more to
recover these minerals. This is mainly because heavy minerals pose an environmental concern;
they are also scarce and hold an economic value which is why they can’t be left to go to waste.

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OBJECTIVE
The aim of the objective of this project is to produce a marketable concentrate of zircon and
titanium minerals using environmentally friendly processes. The titanium minerals in our feed
include ilmenite, rutile, altered ilmenite and leucoxene. The targeted grade is 63.8 % ZrO2 for
zircon, 90% TiO2 for rutile and 65 % TiO2 for the other titanium minerals.
PROCESS REQUIREMENTS
The plant is expected operate at 48,000 tons/day and to produce marketable grades of Zircon and
Titanium minerals. The target grade for the rutile concentrate is 90% TiO2 and will be produced
for the chloride process which requires a minimum of 85% TiO2 (Kaminsky, 2008). That for
ilmenite, altered ilmenite and leucoxene concentrate is 65% TiO2; this is mainly based on the
requirements of the chloride-ilmenite process since this process can handle ores of 60-70% TiO2.
(Kaminsky, 2008). It is required for the chloride ilmenite process that the concentrate to be
produced should contain, <0.2 % CaO, <2 % SiO2 and <0.2% P2O5 (Elsner, 2010, p. 38). The
target grade for zircon concentrate is 65% (ZrO2 + HfO2) (Elsner, 2010), and should compose of
<2 % kyanite and <0.1 % staurolite for a concentrate prepared for the ceramics industry (Elsner,
2010). The Hf assay in this concentrate is assumed to be 1.2% Hf (SGS Mineral Services, 2001).
The feed to be processed is expected to have the following composition by mass (Table 1) and to
have properties as shown in Table 2.
Table 1: Feed composition
Mineral %Wt Mineral %Wt
Altered-Ilmenite 7.65 Staurolite 1.60
Leucoxene 5.52 Siderite 1.00
Pyrite 1.33 Calcite 0.20
Rutile 1.33 Kyanite 0.20
Ilmenite 0.93 Apatite 0.20
Goethite 0.53 Monazite, feldspar 0.17
Tourmaline 5.56 Haematite 7.59
Zircon 5.06 Silicates 52.80
Garnet 2.00 Bitumen 6.34
These estimates were calculated mainly based on the SGS report (SGS Mineral Services, 2001).

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Table 2: Feed properties (ILUKA, 2008)
Mineral Magnetic property Electrostatic
conductivity
Magnetic
susceptibility
Valuable
Ilmenite Magnetic Conductor High Yes
A-Ilmenite Magnetic Conductor High Yes
Leucoxene Weakly magnetic Conductor High Yes
Rutile Non-magnetic Conductor Low Yes
Zircon Non-magnetic Non- Conductor Low Yes
Pyrite Weakly magnetic Conductor No
Tourmaline Weakly magnetic Non- Conductor No
Garnet Weak-to nonmagnetic Non- Conductor Semi No
Staurolite Weakly magnetic Non- Conductor Semi No
Siderite Magnetic (heated) No
Calcite Non magnetic No
Kyanite Weakly magnetic Low Low No
Monazite: Weakly magnetic Low Semi No
Quartz Non magnetic Low Low No
Apatite Non magnetic No
PLANT CAPACITY
The determined plant capacity is 48,000 tons per day, which correlates to 2,000 tph. This
capacity was determined mainly based on the amount of oil sands tailings being produced in the
Alberta area. When determining the capacity the main aim was to be able to process all of the
centrifuge tailings coming from the bitumen processing plant.
According to the SGS recent study (SGS Mineral Services, 2001) about 27kt of centrifuge
tailings (as dry solids) are produced per million barrel (bbl) of oil produced. Alberta energy
states that in 2010 1.4 million bbl/day of oil were produced from oil sands, which means that
about 37,800 tons per/day of centrifuge tailings were produced. As stated by Alberta energy, this
production is expected to double by the year 2020, producing about 3.5 million bbl/day. With
this estimated increase by the year 2020, the current amount of tailings produced would then be
expected to be about 40,000-60,000 tons/day, which in the year 2020 would be 94,500 tons/day.

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With the plant operating at 48, 000 tons per day, the plant will be able to process most of the oil
sands tailings produced daily. The daily feed to the plant will compose of tailings produced daily
by the oil sands company in the Alberta area and the amount needed to make up to 48, 000
tons/day will be taken from the from the tailings ponds. It will however be necessary in the
future to make an expansion to keep up with the growing oil production from the oil sands.

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ENVIRONMENTAL CONSTRAINTS AND REQUIREMENTS
Tailing ponds management has proven to be among the greatest challenges of the oil sands
mining. The government of Alberta has funded research of tailings management and has set
some strict regulations to control the management of the tailings.
Most of the solids from the tailings have been used to reclaim the land; trees are planted in such
areas. These solids hold an economic amount of heavy minerals, to recover the tailings for
further processing we would need to clear the vegetation. It is a requirement that we reclaim the
land after use per the requirements of the government of Alberta (The goverment of Alberta,
2009). After reclamation the land should go back to the state it was before mining, this means
trees will have to be planted and the landscape should be well maintained.
The Athabasca River is the primary source of process water in many of the oil sands mining
activities in Alberta, the government of Alberta requires that the river should not be
contaminated in any way. It is advised that every operation has a water recycling and cleaning
system. The annual consumption of water from the river is limited to less than 1.3 % of the
annual flow (The goverment of Alberta, 2009).

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HEALTH & SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS
The harmful components found in the oil sands tailings are benzene and mercury. Benzene is
known to be a carcinogen that can cause leukemia. Care should be taken to prevent its exposure
to the employees at the plant. It is a very highly toxic substance and according to the ACGIH its
threshold limit value (TLV) is 0.5ppm and has a short-time exposure limit (STEL) of 2.5ppm
(Sunoco, 2006).
Another component of concern is mercury and its negative effects include chest pains, eye
irritation and vision problems. Some of the long term exposure problems to mercury vapors
include anxiety and loss of appetite. According to ACGIH the recommended threshold limit
value is 25µg/m3
and the minimum risk level (MRL) is 1µg/m3
(Indoor Air Mercury, 2003).
Zircon is slightly radioactive as it contains a little bit of Uranium and Thorium and this have
global limits of less than 100ppm.In our pant it will be important to comply with these criteria so
as not to breach some of the government laws. It is also stated that the lower the amount of
radioactive material in heavy minerals the more marketable it is (Elsner, 2010).

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LEGAL ISSUES
LAND AND RECLAMATION
Reclamation Requirements: Under Alberta’s legislation, companies must remediate and
reclaim Alberta’s land so it can be productive again. Alberta Environment ensures the results of
the company’s remediation and reclamation activities meet the department’s strict standards and
require all reclaimed land be able to support a range of activities similar to its previous use
(Alberta Government, 2009) .
Certification: reclamation certificates are issued when monitoring over time demonstrates the
land is at least as ecologically productive as it was before the area was mined.
Management of tailings ponds: in June 2008, the Alberta government released a set of
guidelines that require oil sands companies to follow a tougher set of rules for managing tailings.
The guidelines lay out specific enforcement actions if the rules are not followed (Alberta
Government, 2009) .
LABOUR CONTRACTS
A clearly written employment agreement should be written to reduce the risk of
misunderstandings between employees and companies. This can be either an individual
agreement or a collective agreement. Collective employment agreements are negotiated in good
faith between an employer and a registered union on behalf of their members (Ministry of
Business, Innovation and Employment, 2012).
Employers are required to retain a signed copy of the employment agreement or the current
signed terms and conditions of employment. The employer must retain the “intended
agreement” even if the employee has not signed it (Ministry of Business, Innovation and
Employment, 2012). Employees are entitled to a copy on request.
Employment standards are minimum standards of employment for employers and employees in
the workplace (Alberta Human Services, 2006). In Alberta, employment standards are contained
in the Employment Standards Code and Regulation.

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Some of the employment terms include payment of earnings which allows certain legal
deductions to be made from an employee’s earnings. These include deductions for Income Tax,
Canada Pension Plan and Employment Insurance as well as deductions resulting from a
judgment or order of a court (Alberta Human Services, 2001). The other employment term is the
safe work provision which binds the employer to guarantee provision of a safe work environment
for all employees, free from hazards and complying with all federal laws.
CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
Before starting the construction of the plant a License to Construct a plant should be applied for
to the Alberta government to demonstrate that the proposed design of the plant conforms to
regulatory requirements, and will provide for the safe operation on the designated site over the
proposed life of the facility (Municipal Government Act, 2006).
The information required in support of the application to construct a plant includes, for example:
• Environmental baseline data, on the site and surrounding area;
• A Preliminary Safety Analysis Report, showing the adequacy of the design;
• Measures to mitigate the effects on the environment and health and safety of persons that may
arise from the construction, operation or decommissioning of the facility;
• Programs and schedules for recruiting and training operations and maintenance staff
(Municipal Government Act, 2006)
After the construction license application has been received, the Alberta government performs a
comprehensive assessment of the design documentation. The assessment focuses on determining
whether the proposed design based on required information meet regulatory requirements.
Specifically, the evaluation involves rigorous engineering, scientific analysis and engineering
judgment. This review may take place in parallel with the Environmental Assessment and site
preparation licensing process (Alberta Human Services, 2005). During the construction phase,
the government carries out compliance activities to verify that the licensee is complying with the
associated regulations and its license.

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TECHNOLOGY SELECTION
In processing of titanium concentrates, particles in the -38 µm are problematic in the separation
of concentrates. About 10% to 20% of titanium and zirconium minerals are contained in the -
38µm size range, this portion has limited value and their elimination at the early stages of the
mineral recovery processes would be desirable (Q. Lui, 2006). Separation processes considered
should eliminate fines, and reduce bitumen and gangue minerals at the early stages. This includes
the following: sieves, hydro cyclone, centrifuges and flotation.
Particles that are less than 75µm are very challenging to sieve as there is continuous clogging
and considering that we have particles as small as 38 µm it is going to be even more challenging
to use sieves (Klimpel R. , 1998). Centrifuges have a very high energy consumption rate hence
expensive to operate as well as executing repairs. The spare parts in centrifuges are very
expensive and the internal parts are also subject to abrasive wear, and it is not advisable to use
centrifuges to separate particles coated with oil because of the little control over the size of
particles and the type of particles separated caused by the oil viscosity (Simon, 2008). Cyclones
have the ability to remove the fines better than machines already discussed. Since centrifuges
were shown to reduce the amount of bitumen (Liu, Cui, & Etsell, 2006), it would be expected
that cyclones do the same. For the mentioned reasons cyclones should be used instead of
centrifuge at the start of the process.
According to (Q. Lui, 2006) the pulp flotation step gave over 90% recoveries for heavy minerals
and about 50% reduction of the feed mass, and therefore 50% feed mass that collects in the
tailings consists mostly of the gangue minerals. The pulp flotation step was therefore included in
the process to further reduce the silica content of the concentrate. Also pulp flotation was
preferred because of the oily nature of the ore i.e. the mineral surfaces are covered by oil even
though cyclones reduced the oil content, so this can be utilized in the oil flotation process.
Bitumen removal can be done in two most efficient ways namely; Calcination and de-oiling.
Calcination involves burning the feed to about 700o
C to remove bitumen while de-oiling
involves scrubbing the concentrate with a surfactant in the presence of naphtha (Oxenford &
Coward, SGS Minerals services Technical Bulletin 2001-2012, 2011). De-oiling is preferred
because Calcination is not a feasible choice due to the Kyoto Protocol that commits Canada to
reducing greenhouse gas emissions; also during Calcination the minerals tend to lose their

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magnetic properties hence making the later stages of processing more difficult (Oxenford &
Coward, SGS Minerals services Technical Bulletin 2001-2012, 2011).
Even though de-oiling is preferred it presents a problem because there is a fairly large amount of
pyrite left behind, which interferes with sequential ZrO2/TiO2 separation. That is why pyrite
flotation is be added. Pyrite flotation is a suitable method as it does not take a toll on the
environment and thus adhering to the Kyoto Protocol. In this flotation of pyrite, the results we
are focusing on are the recovery of the ZrO2/TiO2 in the tailings and the removal of pyrite in the
froth (Reverse flotation).
The bulk concentrate produced at this stage would be expected to have increased grades of
zircon and titanium. At this stage the aim should now be to produce a concentrate of zircon and
that of titanium minerals. The possible methods to be used at this stage include electrostatic
separation, gravity separation, magnetic separation and flotation.
It is expected that the feed to be processed is of high tonnage and therefore the method to be
chosen must be able to economically process this kind of feed. Electrostatic separation would not
be suitable for this process because it’s a low tonnage process and can only process dry feed.
Magnetic separation would also not be preferable for processing a high tonnage feed but may be
considered at later processes. When using gravity separation, for this process to achieve
successful separation between the minerals, their specific gravity should be significantly
different. The specific gravity of the titanium minerals from the Alberta oil sands tailings ranges
from 3.5 to 5 and zircon specific gravity is about 4.6 to 4.7 (SGS Mineral Services, 2001).
Therefore successful separation of the minerals from each other would not be possible.
Flotation is a selective process and can be used to achieve more accurate separations compared
to the previous methods discussed. Flotation conditions can also be adjusted to achieve the
desired selectivity using a combination of flotation reagents. This method would be desired for
successful separation of the titanium minerals from zircon since they are more hydrophobic than
zircon and quartz, and most of the particles are of a finer size. Besides the hydrophobicity of the
minerals, SGS when carrying out a similar project floated zircon and depressed the rest of the
minerals, which did not prove successful as they did not manage to produce marketable grades
for titanium minerals. Floatation is therefore the chosen process at this stage and titanium

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minerals would be floated using suitable reagents leaving zircon in the tailings stream. The
zircon stream is expected to contain zircon and residual Siderite, Garnet and possibly (quartz and
calcite). Zircon can be concentrated by either flotation or magnetic separation. Zircon can be
floated easily without a collector which is an advantage but the main challenge is that the
zirconium slurry has to be heated to about 60ºC which presents increased energy consumption
issues and emissions health issues. Magnetic separation is the preferred option since the mineral
of interest is non-magnetic and it is removed from the weakly magnetic particles. This is also
more economical and environmentally friendly.The Zircon stream is expected to consist of
minerals such as Apatite, Tourmaline, Quartz and Calcite, Hematite, Garnet and Siderite. Most
of these minerals have a nonmagnetic property just like the mineral of interest therefore
elimination of these minerals prior to magnetic separation would increase the recovery of high
grade zircon. Gravitational separation can be used to eliminate them by exploiting their
differences in specific gravity. By using gravity separation we expect to eliminate Apatite,
Tourmaline, Calcite and remaining quartz since they are lighter than the mineral of interest.
The titanium stream from the bulk flotation is expected to contain; Leucoxene, Rutile, Ilmenite,
Altered Ilmenite, Miscellaneous particle (Apatite). The concentrates can be separated by spirals,
gravity separation, electrostatic separation or magnetic separation. In this stream, Ilmenite can be
concentrated by spirals followed by magnetic separation but this has to be done on a dry basis
which is not economical (N. Babu1, 2009). All of the heavy minerals in this stream are electro
conductive therefore their conductivity cannot be utilized to separate them but their magnetic
susceptibility can be utilized hence magnetic separated is the better choice.

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THE PROCESS FLOWSHEET
Figure 1: Process flow sheet

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WASTE DISPOSAL, TREATMENT AND RECYCLE OPTION
CYCLONES TAILINGS
The hydro cyclone contains a fair amount of a mixture of oil, water and silicates. This stage
contains oil which should be disposed safely to avoid all the drastic effects that it has on both the
environment and the living things.
Bio decomposition of oil in the mixture can be done by the use of anaerobic organisms.in this
method, the tailings will be spread out on the land and the soil is subjected to conditions that
favor bio decomposition of oil .To speed up the bio degradation of oil by the aerobic process, the
tailings would be spread out to allow air to penetrate through the soil providing oxygen needed
for the process. It would best to fertilize the tailings to provide nutrients to the microorganisms.
DISPOSAL OF FINES
The process feed contains a significant amount of fine particles, the preliminary concentration
methods i.e. cyclone and bulk flotation are mainly directed at removing the particles. The tailings
are considered to be safer to be disposed into the tailings ponds because our feed properties do
not indicate the larger quantities of any harmful materials. The tailings from the cyclone and bulk
flotation will be subjected to water recovery in the tailing ponds.
DISPOSAL OF PYRITE
Pyrite is a concern for acid mine drainage (Ritcey, 1989). To limit acid mine drainage
generation, mining and processing companies must apply control strategies that aim at
preventing oxidation of pyrite, by reducing the presence of oxygen and/or water. So to counter
this acidification, lime will be added to neutralize the acid formed.
Lime neutralization remains by far the most widely applied treatment method. This is largely due
to the high efficiency in removal of dissolved heavy metals combined with the fact that lime
costs are low in comparison to other alternatives (Bernard, 2004). The principle of lime
neutralization of acid mine drainage lies in the insolubility of heavy metals in alkaline
conditions. By controlling pH to a typical set point of 9.5, metals such as iron (Fe) are
precipitated.

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MAGNETIC SEPARATION TAILINGS
From the SGS data and the composition of the ore, we expect an increase in hematite
concentration throughout the process (SGS Mineral Services, 2001). The accurate predictions of
the results of magnetic separation of hematite will depend on the magnetic field, particle size of
it; if a high grade and tonnage of hematite can be produced it can be considered as a marketable
commodity.
SELECTION OF TECHNOLOGY FOR DETAILED DESIGN
HYDRO-CYCLONES
Hydro cyclones are devices used in separation of solid liquid suspensions .They employ the
concept of centrifugal sedimentation whereby centrifugal forces are used in order to separate
particles .Hydro cyclones do not have any moving parts which makes them easy to use, low
maintenance and installation costs and hence for economic reasons they are commonly employed
in mineral processing industries. (Vieira, 2005).
Two designs covered are narrow and wide angle designs
Conventional Narrow Angle Designs
It is the mostly used cyclone in the industry.
Characteristics
 Long cyclone body length(4-7 times the body diameter )
 Included angle of the <25°
These cyclones can work efficiently at low cut size and are good for thickening purposes and
when we require high mass recoveries then they are the best to use. They can also be used for
classifying particles where low cut sizes are required.
According to (Amrein, 2000) high efficiency designs are characterized by long bodies and small
openings and compared to wide angle it is more advantageous to use.

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Figure 2: Picture of narrow angle hydro cyclone (Bradley, 1965)
Wide angle designs
The wide design cyclones are shorter than the narrow angle and the angle of the cone is generally
greater than 25°.They are used to classify particles according to their shapes and density .If the
cone is very large the motion of particles in the cyclone usually resemble that of a fluidized bed.
Figure 3: Wide angled design Hydro cyclone (Svarovsky, 2000)
They have a higher throughput compared to the narrow angle design. In our plant we will be
dealing with very fine particles (in microns) so we require to use a cyclone with very high
efficiency and selectivity. Due to this we choose the narrow angle design for our operations.

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FLOTATION
There are three main types of cells that flotation can be carried on. These include the mechanical
cells, flotation columns, and the Jameson cell. The mechanical and the Jameson cells can either
be cylindrical or rectangular. In the industry rectangular cells are usually designed for low
throughput processes, while cylindrical cells are usually designed for higher throughputs.
Generally cylindrical cells are better compared to rectangular cells since they promote uniform
mixing due to their geometry and they eliminate stagnant zones in the cells.
The main factors to consider when choosing a cell are the residence time of the cell and the
amount of concentrate that can be recovered for a given froth surface area and concentrate lip
length (Outotec Australia, 2009)The following flotation machines were identified:
Mechanical cells
These cells consist of an impeller which agitates the cell. The impeller draws down the air and
disperses it as bubbles in the pulp.
Dorr-Oliver
The Dorr-Oliver (Error! Reference source not found. is a forced air flotation cell, which
eans that air is provided to the cell by the external low pressure blower. It’s mostly well
suited for fine particle recovery. The Dorr-Oliver cell composes of a rotor and a stator
located at the bottom of the cell. The rotor works together with the stator to generate an
energy intensive zone (turbulence zone) at the bottom of the cell. Flotation takes place in
this zone as fine particles are driven into contact with air bubbles. The main purpose of
the stator is to provide a good separation of zones in the cell, and it also aids to distribute
the rotor jet uniformly in the cell to allow for maximum air dispersion without disturbing
the surface. The Dorr-Oliver has air dispersion capabilities that surpass that of other
forced air flotation machines. The low position of the rotor in the cell allows for deep
froths to be generated without affecting the slurry circulation within the cell, and also
results in longer transport distances. The deep froths offer more selectivity for fine
particle recovery. The rotor speed and size can also be varied to suit specific particle size
to be floated (L. MacNamara, (n.d.)).

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The Dorr-Oliver cells are also equipped with a uniformly designed radial launder system
which accelerates the removal of froth as it reaches the surface. The radial launder
receives froth from the surface plus froth from the heavy loaded area at the center of the
cell near the low pressure blower. Launder water is barely a required for this cell.
(FLSmidth, 2010)
Picture taken from FLSmidth flotation brochure (FLSmidth, 2010)
Figure 4: Dorr-Oliver schematic diagram
Wemco
Wemco flotation cell (Error! Reference source not found.) is a self-aspirating cell. The
otor is positioned at a higher position in the cell which allows air to be drawn into the cell
without the need for a blower (L. MacNamara, (n.d.)). The amount of air coming in is
controlled by the control valve on the air intake. The position of the rotor also results in
shorter froth travel distance leading to a high coarse particle recovery. This makes the
Wemco cell to have one of the highest recoveries compared to other flotation cells
(FLSmidth, 2010). Due to the position of the rotor in the cell, this cell also has reduced
maintenance requirements and therefore greater availability.
The Wemco cell has also a streamlined hybrid draft tube which serves to control
circulation in the cell by making sure that the slurry is pumped from the bottom of the
cell to the rotor region where flotation takes place. The tank bottom is bevelled to
minimize stagnant zones and to facilitate particle suspension. It also composes of radial
launders to improve froth removal and increase recovery. The circulation in cell creates a

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flow pattern towards the radial launders, which recover the froth. This cell is also
available in sizes to 500 m3
. (FLSmidth, 2010)
Picture taken from FLSmidth flotation brochure (FLSmidth, 2010)
Figure 5: Wemco cell schematic diagram
TankCell
Similarly to the Door-Oliver, the TankCell (Figure 6: TankCell) illustrated below, is a
forced air flotation cell. It contains patented froth crowders and these help maintain the
desired froth depth, especially if the ore contains less floatable material, in which case the
froth depth would be very little without the use of froth crowders. It also contains
flexible high capacity radial launders which help recover the concentrate quickly. The
TankCell is said to have a good selectivity due to the increased depth between the froth
and mechanism.
This cell operates with a different mechanism which is called the FloatForce, which is the
stator and rotor designed in a different manner. According to the equipment
manufacturer, with FloatForce the cell operates as an ideal mixer, thus it maximises the
number of collisions between mineral particles and air bubbles (Outotec, 2011). Also
with the use of this mechanism there is an increase in efficiency of slurry pumping and
gas dispersion capacity. The froth surface area of a TankCell is optimized based on the
mineralogy of the feed and kinetics. This cell is designed to handle maximum lip carrying
rates and loadings rates for a specified task. The TankCell is available in sizes up 500 m3
.
(Outotec, 2011)

19
Picture taken from Outotec Flotation technologies brochure (Outotec, 2011)
Figure 6: TankCell
Denver Free –Flowing cell
This device keeps the mineral particles in suspension by continuously agitating the pulp and it
generates air bubbles of suitable size and quantity. Agitation in the Denver free flow machine is
obtained by means of an impeller. In this machine, there are no intermediate partitions and weirs
between the cells. The pulp flows in and out of each cell freely (Yalcin, 2007). The pulp level is
controlled by a single weir operating in the final cell. These machines are used particularly in
bulk flotation circuits of large capacity and this is why they are considered since we will be
working with a bulk of zirconium/titanium flotation.
The Denver flotation cells renowned for their; Compactness, Improved Recoveries, Subsequent
Operation Economies. These flotation machines with complete process monitoring
instrumentation are designed to give optimized total economy and maximum return on
investment. Features of the Denver Flotation Machine include (McNally Sayaji Engineering
Limited, 2012). Economy in metallurgical results, Selectivity and recovery, Even dispersion of
air, Good capability to keep solids in suspension, Low wear rate, Easy start up under full load,
Low short circuiting, Low sanding, Easy installation and maintenance, Low power consumption
The Denver free flowing machine was chosen for bulk flotation because we are operating circuits
of large capacity whilst still requiring high recoveries. For pyrite flotation the tank cell was
chosen because of its high selectivity and high recovery rates. For titanium flotation the Wemco
cell and Dorr-Oliver cell will be used for flotation of titanium minerals. This is mainly to

20
combine the different advantages they have, as already discussed. The Wemco cell will be used
for the roughing stage, where it is desired to have high recoveries for the desired minerals
(titanium minerals). As already discussed the Dorr-Oliver is desired for cleaning purposes as it
produces a high grade concentrate and will be used as cleaner cells.
GRAVITY SEPARATION
Some of the Gravity Separators are Spiral, Jigs (conventional, Centrifugal), Fine particle
Separators (Falcon Separator & Multi Gravity Separator).as we are dealing with very fine
particles in the range of 38 to 154 microns our focus will be on fine particle separators.
Falcon Concentrator
The falcon concentrator can operate at very high speed hence the high rotation speed and the
gravitational force can cause very small particles of different specific gravities to be separated
efficiently. The Falcon concentrator has a shape of a bowl and this is so that when the feed slurry
climbs up the bowl the heavier particles will react more to forces acting on them more than the
light one. The heavy particles stick to the surface in contact with the bowl whereas the light
particles move to the top of the slurry with the water. “Separation then takes place by removal of
the lower portion of the slurry which contains higher SG minerals through a collection slot.
Number orifices in the Falcon concentrator regulate the flow by momentarily closing and
opening removing the concentrate from the main stream” (Taylor & Francis, 2003)
Advantages
 High capacity
 Can separate small particles (down to 20µm)
Disadvantages
 An operator can’t see the separating surfaces
Multi-Gravity Separator (MGS)
These separators combine both centrifugal motion and motion of angled rotating drum such as
that of the Falcon Concentrator. The oscillating motion of the shaking table provides gravity
separation of fine particles. “Feed slurry enters the MGS and is distributed onto a perforated feed
ring mounted internally near the top end of an inclined spinning drum, together with wash water.
The diluted slurry is thus subjected to centrifugal and shaking forces which cause the high SG

21
particles to move up the inclined drum and low SG particles to move down the drum slope to
discharge as tailings. Discharge of the high SG (concentrate) particles is assisted by internal
scrapers which rotate at a speed slightly faster than the drum” (Taylor & Francis, 2003)
Its advantage is that the machines are very selective whereas the downfalls are the machines
complexity and they are expensive, have low capacity and closed hence the operator is unable to
see the separation surfaces. (Taylor & Francis, 2003)
We will finally settle for the Falcon concentrators in our project because it has an edge compared
to other machines both in terms of costs, capacity and its ability to separate fine particles. The
number of Gravity separators will be determined in equipment sizing looking at the targeted
efficiency for each gravity separator and the amount of tailings to be processed.
Minerals to be separated are Zirconium, Apatite, Tourmaline, Quartz and Calcite, Garnet and
Siderite. The specific gravity of this minerals are 4.6-4.7 (SGS Mineral Services, 2001), 3.19,
3.15 2.65, 2.71, 3.7 and 3.96 respectively .the 3 heaviest minerals which are Zircon, Siderite and
Garnet will report to the heavy stream and the rest will report to the lights.
MAGNETIC SEPARATION
Dry versus wet separation
As a rule of thumb, operations look to reduce drying requirements for obvious cost implications,
therefore wet magnetic separation is employed early in a process can greatly benefit an operation
if a clean marketable product can be produced, since it alleviates both drying and dry storage
costs. Although WHIMS use can be advantageous, a common drawback of conventional designs
is entrapment of nonmagnetic in the magnetics product, particularly when treating finer particles.
(M.Dobbins, 2009).
Dry magnetic separation was not recommended for this application for the following reasons:
Flotation is used throughout the initial flow sheet and the tailings retreat circuit, so additional
drying costs would be present

22
Ultra-fine materials are difficult to process with dry magnetic separation
Dry magnetic separation may be recommended at some stages for the following reason:
If rutile or zircon co-products are present in the ilmenite stream, drying process may be
necessary to avoid entrainment .Since the rutile or zircon co-products are eliminated from the
ilmenite stream, this is avoided.
Dry magnetic separation will invariably require the ore to be sized into several fractions each of
which must be spread in monolayers over the separators. With dry methods, care must also be
taken to ensure control of possible dust hazard, an expensive precaution both in capital and
operating costs. Furthermore the dry separators have considerably lower capacities than wet
machines. While dry separators frequently yield and excellent separation on material coarser
than 75 µm (J.Svoboda, 1987), but if the un-sized material containing’s large portion of the fines,
the wet process would be preferable over the dry process.
In order to extend the process of magnetic separation to fine weakly magnetic minerals one must
use wet magnetic separators generating sufficiently high magnetic force in the working space. A
major development was achieved in this direction in 1995 (M.Dobbins, 2009), which combined
high gradient field strength with Frantz idea of magnetized matrix and also increased the
magnetic force by several orders of magnitude compared to dry high intensity magnetic
separator. His wet high-gradient magnetic separator became the starting point of remarkable idea
with a range of high gradient magnetic separators.
The most relevant starting point in the selection of the most suitable separation technique is to
consider the particle size distribution of the solids to be treated. The selection of equipment is
based on the relationship below (J.Svoboda, 1987).

23
Table 3: showing the selection criteria of separators (DOBBINS, 2007)
particle size
>75µm
wet
strong magnetic drum
weakly magnetic HGMS
dry
strong magnetic drum
weakly magnetic
IMR ,Cross-
belt,OGMS,HGMS
<75µm wet
strong magnetic drum,HGMS
weakly magnetic HGMS
Criteria Roll separator Dry drum
separator
WHIMS HGMS(super
conducting)
Ferromagnetic
material (magnetite,
tramp iron)
Scalper model (low
strength) with
long-lasting thick
belt
Small amount
tolerated (<1%),
using release bar
Needs to be
scalped first by
LIMS; highly
selective; Designed
for the continuous
separation of
various minerals
with intermediate
susceptibilities.
The matrix is a
ferromagnetic material
that provides a high
level of magnetic
induction
Highly
paramagnetic
material (ilmenite,
garnet)
Moderate-strength
with high capacity,
thick long-lasting
belt
High-strength,
release bar
required, high
feed rate, less
separation
sharpness
High efficiency if
wet process is
desired
Provides the collection
sites for paramagnetic
particle capture
Moderately
paramagnetic
(biotite, leucoxene,
monazite)
High efficiency,
higher grade and
recovery compared
to electromagnets
No use High efficiency if
wet process is
desired
High efficiency it
produces localized
regions of extremely
high gradient
Weakly
paramagnetic(musco
vite, amphiboles,
High efficiency,
higher grade and
recovery compared
No use Moderate
efficiency
Higher efficiency
Magnetic condition is
very larger therefore

24
HGMS SEPARATORS: SOLENOID VS SUPERCONDUCTING
Super conducting magnets have the potential for much better performance than their
conventional counterparts. They should be able to produce large volumes of high field for a
small consumption of energy. Furthermore they should be able to operate at high overall current
pyrite) Cleaning of
quartz, feldspar
zircon, rutile
to electromagnets finer and lower
magnetic
susceptibility
paramagnetic particles
can be captured
High magnetic flux
density
Operations and
maintenance
Low attendance.
Belt change easy.
Minimal operator
attendance.
Replacing drum
shell requires
qualified shop
work
Minimal
attendance,
significantly less
than a horizontal
WHIMS
configuration
High separation
efficiencies
Fine particle
processing
Long component
life
Simple reliable design
with no moving parts
Easy flushing of
magnetics
Low specific power
consumption
Large volumes
Low maintenance cost
Over 90% efficiency
High capacity 150 mm versions
providing 1.5x
capacity of 100
mm roll
Very high
capacity with 610
mm diameter
drums. Larger
drums are also
available
80–150 tph with
largest 80–150 tph
with largest
High capacity loading
capacity
High temperature +120°C if needed Up to 100°C Not applicable Not applicable
Process control Wide range of
parameters, great
control flexibility
Moderate range
of adjustments
Moderate range of
adjustments
Operated with a
controlled slurry flow
rate

25
densities. Apart from reducing the capital cost by making the magnet very compact and light,
this method also make it possible to produce high gradients of magnetic field. With the use of a
superconducting magnet in mineral separation it should be possible to generate very high
magnetic field at low input power, in large volume
HIMS SEPARATORS: JONES CONTINOUS SEPARATORS VS FRANTZ FERROLITER
The Frantz device operates intermittently; the flow is interrupted, the magnetic field is reduced to
zero and the magnetic particles are back washed. Then the field is switched on again and the
whole cycle is repeated. This means the process would be a batch process which is not suitable
for an industrial plant. A more practical separator for large quantities has been developed for the
Jones separator.
LIMS SEPARATORS: DRUM VS DAVE TUBE
The Davis tube is a laboratory machine designed to separate small samples therefore it cannot be
used. Most modern wet separators are based on the drum separator.
Table 4: Operation parameters of Drums, (J.Svoboda, 1987)
drum
diameter
concurrent
drum
counter rotation
drum
counter current
drum
Mm capacity(t/mh) capacity(t/mh) capacity(t/mh)
600 35 40
900 50 60 20
1200 85 30
1500 100 35
DETAILED DESIGN
BULK FLOTATION
This flotation step uses the floatability of the bitumen covered heavy minerals; it is an essential
step since it is a step where 50% of silica and other hydrophilic solids are lost (Liu, Cui, & Etsell,

26
2006). Even though bitumen turns out to be collector in this flotation some of it is recovered to
the tailings (approximately 10%).
The reagents used for pulp flotation are sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and the MIBC; they are used
as pH adjuster and frother respectively. pH levels are required to be alkaline to allow for
effective flotation, and also the de-oiling stage requires pulp to be at an alkaline pH. These
reagents are added in minimal quantities so it is an expectation that they should be easy to
remove form the recycle water stream.
DEOLING
The de-oiling stage is aimed at removing the bitumen or oil from the heavy minerals. De-oiling
is achieved by adding a surfactant (sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate, SDDBS) to the pulp in
the presence of naphtha. The purpose of naphtha is to dilute the bitumen and reduce its viscosity
allowing SDDBS to come in contact with it and reacting with it to form scum, and some stable
oil emulsions.
The de-oiling process is done at elevated temperatures because at low temperatures bitumen
exhibits adhesive behavior. To separate the scum, oil emulsion from the heavy minerals the
cyclone will be used. The overflow of the cyclone that is mainly bitumen, naphtha, SDDBS and
their products are sent to the bitumen production plant where the reagents will be recovered as
well as the bitumen.
PYRITE FLOTATION
In pyrite flotation the pyrite mineral is hydrophobic and the zirconium/ titanium bulk is the
hydrophilic mineral. In this flotation of pyrite, the results we are focusing on are the recovery of
the ZrO2/TiO2 in the tailings and the removal of pyrite in the froth (Reverse flotation). For
pyrite flotation dithio-phosphates (aero float collectors) are will be used.
They are one of the mostly used collectors and are of sulfhydryl type where the polar group
contains bivalent sulfur (thio compounds). They are very powerful and selective in the flotation
of sulphide minerals (Avotins, Wang, & Nagaraj, 1994)
Like xanthates, alkali dithio-phosphates are used for the flotation of sulphide minerals. But they
are weaker than xanthates, because the salts of dithio-phosphates with heavy metals are more
soluble than the salts of xanthates (Yalcin, 2007). Typical pH usage range is neutral to alkaline.

27
Dithio-phosphates react with other compounds in a manner similar to xanthic acid as shown in
the following reaction (Bulatovic S. M., 2007)
Dithio-phosphates were selected over xanthates even though xanthates are powerful collectors of
pyrite because of its high selectivity. Dithio-phosphates also have the added advantage of being
environmentally friendly over xanthates hence much easier to dispose to tailings dam.
Sodium di-isopropyl dithio-phosphate will be specifically used as the collector for pyrite
flotation.
TITANIUM FLOTATION
Flotation of the titanium minerals will be carried out using oleic acid as a collector. Oleic acid is
a strong collector for oxide minerals but has a low selectivity. The selectivity of this collector
would mainly depend on the method of pulp preparation, the pH of the pulp and the
successfulness of depressants used (Bulatovic S. M., Collectors, 2007). Oleic acid is an anionic
collector, therefore is attaches to the mineral surface by a carboxylic ion (anionic ion).
Attachment of the carboxylic ion to minerals surface is by both chemisorption and physical
adsorption (Bulatovic S. M., Adsorption Mechanism of Flotation Collectors, 2007).
Before carrying out flotation the pulp will be pre-treated in an acid medium using sulphuric acid
at pH 2. This has been shown to significantly improve the overall recovery of ilmenite to about
90% (A. M. Abeidu, 1976) (Bulatovic S. M., Flotation of Titanium Minerals, 2010). Flotation of
the titanium minerals will then be carried out at pH 6. This is mainly because the maximum
recovery of rutile using oleic acid as a collector has been observed to be at this pH (Hoşten,
2001) and the suitable pH range of flotation of ilmenite with oleic acid is 5-7 (Bulatovic S. M.,
Flotation of Titanium Minerals, 2010, pp. 177-178). Sodium hydroxide and sulphuric acid will
be used to regulate the pH.
Pine oil will be added during the process as a frother this is mainly because when used with fatty
acids it produces froth with improved loading properties and that easily collapses after discharge
(Bulatovic S. M., Frothers, 2007).

28
As it is desired to only float the titanium minerals (DOBBINS, 2007) suitable depressants will be
used to prevent other minerals from floating. A mixture of hydrofluorosilicic acid (H2SiF6) and
sodium-fluorosilicate (Na2SiF6) will be used as depressant. Hydrofluorosilicic acid will be added
for depression of silicates mainly quartz. The purpose of sodium-fluorosilicate will also be to
depress silicates but mainly garnet, tourmaline, apatite and zircon. It is important at this stage to
depress majority of the apatite in the feed as only a maximum of 0.2% of P2O5 can be allowed
for titanium Oxide pigment production (Samuel Payne Moyer, 1951).
MAGNETIC SEPARATION
Weakly magnetic mineral such ilmenite(as shown in table 4) with magnetic susceptibility ranges
from 5×10-6
m3
kg-1
down to 1×10-7
m3
kg-1
can be recovered by a magnetic induction up to 0.8T
(J.Svoboda, 1987).
Strongly magnetic minerals could be recovered by a separator with the use of relatively weak
magnetic induction, up to 0.15T (J.Svoboda, 1987).
With advent HGMS, the potential for the treatment of Non-magnetic minerals which include
weakly paramagnetic with specific magnetic susceptibility smaller than, 1×10-7
m3
kg-1
can be
provided with proper device and experimental conditions
Table 5 showing specific magnetic susceptibilities of paramagnetic minerals (J.Svoboda, 1987)
Mineral Magnetic susceptibility(m3
kg-1
×10-9
)
Ilmenite 200-1500
Hematite 500-3800
Rutile 12-50
Monazite 120-250
Siderite 380-1500
Leucoxene Between ilmenite and rutile
Zirconium 16.7

29
CONCLUSION
The ongoing research promises to come out with positive results (marketable grades of heavy
minerals) that will benefit both the people of Alberta and government of Canada in general. This
would solve the environmental problems currently posed by the oil sands tailings in Alberta. We
expect to have an economically feasible plant as we carefully selected methods of operation that
were cost effective, efficient and had very small carbon prints which in a way reduces
additional costs that might be need to be implemented to stay within the threshold limits that the
government of Alberta has set for industries. After carrying out the mass balance for the overall
process it was also realised that haematite is concentrated as other minerals are, producing a high
grade of this mineral. This haematite and bitumen removed from the de-oiling process can be
sold as by-products. Further project work will look at the detailed design, which includes cost of
the equipment, operating parameters and process control or simulation of the project. In the
second phase of the project detailed economic evaluation of the will also be carried out.

30
RECOMMENDATIONS
The project is going very well and it is on schedule. It is however recommended that most of the
work be done experimentally because it is very hard to make some approximations in every
process. It is documented that some of the minerals are locked in the silicates and garnets so
theoretical approximations may not be sufficient for this project. To also help make the project a
success it is recommended that a mentor or someone in the industry who has worked on a similar
project provide further process details concerning the ore. Some software like the flow-sheet
design software is required for the project and should be provided. Regarding the process it is
recommended that hematite be considered in the primary minerals because its grade is
significantly high.

31
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35
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