Preliminary assessment of hydrophobic-hydrophilic separation for pre-concentration of ree from coal tailings and alike material
department or school: Applied Science, Faculty of
department or school: Mining Engineering, Keevil Institute of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Aboagye, Patrick Ansah
issued: 2023-04-24T19:18:20Z
issued: 2023
related degree: Master of Applied Science – MASc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: All over the world, the primary economic deposits of rare earths are being exhausted. Finding new sources and methods for the concentration, coupled with a cost-effective extraction of rare earth elements (REEs) is imperative. Alternate and innovative strategies for the extraction and concentration of minerals are being developed continuously. Out of the many physical concentration processes available, the hydrophobic hydrophilic separation (HHS) process has yielded the best result for the pre-concentration of rare earth minerals (REMs). This study explores the possibility of using HHS as a novel process used to physically concentrate REMs of US coals (from 300 ppm to 2 % on ash basis) on BC coals. First, a set of three samples (roof, floor, and parting) were carefully chosen based on the outcome of their correlation coefficient from a study conducted in 2021 to characterize BC coals. A tailings sample (CT) from the plant was also selected to study in this thesis. The results on the roof, floor, and parting showed little to no concentration of REEs. Further investigations were carried out on the CT as most of the roof, floor, and partings would eventually end up as tailings due to processing at the coal preparation plant. The HHS process was affected by pH levels ranging from 7.5 to 9.5, and the results revealed a slight improvement in the final concentrate grade. An increase in collector dosage showed a direct correlation with the increase in concentrate grade, calculated on an ash basis. The reduction of the particle size (P80) of the tailings sample from 20 microns to 8.5 microns also resulted in an increase in the final concentrate grade. The mineralogical examination found that the rare-earth-bearing minerals were monazite, xenotime, and some smaller traces of REEs encapsulated in zircon. The majority of the sample was predominantly composed of quartz and illite/muscovite with minor traces of kaolinite and carbonates with slight traces of monazite and xenotime …
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/84461
note: PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF HYDROPHOBIC-HYDROPHILIC SEPARATION FOR PRE-CONCENTRATION OF REE FROM COAL TAILINGS AND ALIKE MATERIAL by Patrick Ansah Aboagye BSc., Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, 2012 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCE in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Mining Engineering) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) April, 2023 © Patrick Ansah Aboagye, 2023 ii The following individuals certify that they have read and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance the thesis entitled: Preliminary assessment of hydrophobic-hydrophilic separation for pre-concentration of REE from coal and alike material submitted by Patrick Ansah Aboagye in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Science in Mining Engineering Examining Committee: Dr. Maria Holuszko, Associate Professor, Mining Engineering, UBC Supervisor Dr. Bern Klein, Professor, Mining Engineering, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Dr. Marek Pawlik, Professor, Mining Engineering, UBC Supervisory Committee Member iii Abstract All over the world, the primary economic deposits of rare earths are being exhausted. Finding new sources and methods for the concentration, coupled with a cost-effective extraction of rare earth elements (REEs) is imperative. Alternate and innovative strategies for the extraction and concentration of minerals are being developed continuously. Out of the many physical concentration processes available, the hydrophobic hydrophilic separation (HHS) process has yielded the best result for the pre-concentration of rare earth minerals (REMs). This study explores the possibility of using HHS as a novel process used to physically concentrate REMs of US coals (from 300 ppm to 2 % on ash basis) on BC coals. First, a set of three samples (roof, floor, and parting) were carefully chosen based on the outcome of their corre…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2023-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0431383
language: eng
degree discipline: Mining Engineering
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Holuszko, M. E.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/84461