Mining Industry: Segments & Chemical Processes

The mining industry is a broad sector, with oil/coal/natural gas mining being the largest segment. The next largest segment is iron ore/steel mining. Crude oil is converted into petroleum and petroleum products, coal and natural gas are directly used, and iron ore is sent to smelters to make steel.

The next segment in the mining industry is the mining of non-ferrous metals (non-iron type metals) like Copper, Zinc, Lead, silver, gold, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, and cadmium. The ore obtained in these cases has only >1 to 15% mineral content. Hence, further ore processing is required to purify the mineral with a 35-60% metal content. The beneficiation process that is generally used is froth flotation.

The froth floatation process is like a glorified washing machine in which various chemicals like detergents, fabric softeners, and bleaches are added to clean the ore. The only major difference between froth flotation and a washing machine is we are trying to selectively pick up the >1 to 15% mineral from the ore.

The various chemicals used in the froth floatation process:

Frothers:Create high-quality froth that does not collapse immediately.

Collector:This is the main detergent that selectively extracts the mineral from the ore and…