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The mining industry consumes a great deal of water mainly during two processes:
1. Ore washing and flotation, in which the gangue is separated from the ore to be processed. In these instances, SNF Canada's flocculants are used for:
- Separating the water from the gangue in order to recycle the water.
- Dewatering the sludge obtained (centrifuging, filtration, thickening, etc.)
- Separating clear water from water containing suspended particles (settling, filtration, centrifuging, etc.)
There are several minerals for which these processes can be used, namely: iron, coal, phosphates, diamonds, sand, zinc, uranium, etc.
2. Processes for obtaining metal. In this case, the ore is dissolved in an acid, alkaline or specific solution in which the impurities are precipitated using a flocculant. The metal is then recovered in the form of a hydroxide or salt, often by flocculation.
The mining industry also uses SNF Canada polymers for various other applications. In particular:
Pelletization: this process is used for agglomerating fine wet particles in the form of granules using anionic polymers.
Dispersion: polymers are used for keeping clays, calcium carbonate or titanium oxide in suspension, or for grinding them. |
