sulfide ore.... alot of sulfide ore

[MIke5450]

Hey all im new here. I looked around the best I could to find an answer to my question first but only found techniques for small amounts so I apologize if im being redundant here. OK what I need to know is... what is the best way to deal with around 5 to 10 tons of sulfide ore per hour. The ore vein itself is galena surrounded by dark red iron about 5 foot wide, basically looks like rust with the gray/greenish vein down the middle about 8 inches wide. The ledge was exposed with a cat. Ive got a general understanding of how flotation works, but it looks like the cost to set up to run that much material not to mention the space to set it up in doesn't look all that attractive. Also from what ive been able to find out so far is that it can be a real headache as they made it basically sound like what worked today has a good chance of not working tomorrow. Im guessing that's a bit of an exaggeration but I need something dependable. As far as I can tell that leaves me with roasting. Im wondering if anybody here has any experience with roasting on that scale and can tell me if it could be feasible and cost effective. If anybody has any other suggestions im all ears but please keep in mind im looking at initial cost, operating cost, health hazards, recovery rate, environmental, yeah the whole ball of wax. I understand sulfide is more expensive to process than free gold and that I may have to sacrifice some recovery rate for volume.... I just REALLY hate throwing it right back on the ground. While im at it ide like to just ask if I understand correctly that gravity concentration without say roasting first is just not going to work? I mean ive heard of leaches that are supposed to work and even a bacteria... but then I read someplace else that they don't work very well sooo the problem is I dont know what I dont know so please enlighten me.

Thanks
Mike

 

[Richard36]

Hello Mike,

First of all, you can concentrate your ore first, and actually, that is the way to do it.
Concentrate it, and then roast the concentrate before any attempt at leaching.

I would love to see that "Red Ore".
Could you post a photo?

That red ore could be a very high grade Gold Ore.
That stuff can assay as high as 30 oz per ton.

For that matter,
I would like to have a chicken egg size sample to look at,
and put on my Ore Shelf as a specimen.

Some photos of the vein system would be greatly appreciated by me, as well as others.
Photos of what you are trying to process would be helpful to us all,
and are mandatory so that we know for sure what you are trying to process.

Without photos, we do not know for sure what you are trying to process,
and if we do not know for sure what mineral, or mineral complex you are working with,
we are only guessing at what you should do as far as further processing of your Ore.

But yes, concentrate your ore, then roast it, and after roasting,
you can step up to the plate with whatever leaching process you intend to use to recover the values from the Ore.

I hope that this has been helpful,
and look forward to some photos of your ore,
as well as the outcrop, and the mineral veins that it contains.

Aside from that, if you would like to sell the Ore,
I do have contacts that would be interested in buying it.

Sincerely, Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[Richard36]

It would be helpful to Mike if a moderator would move this thread to the "Prospecting Section".
That way more people than myself would comment, and leave suggestions for Mike.

Sincerely, Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[4metals]

Topic moved as per your request.

 

[MIke5450]

Thank you very much. Ill get some pics posted asap I just have to shrink em.

 

[MIke5450]

I just posted the pictures at this link to save space here. The first 5 are of the vein and the rest are of samples from it and rocks from around it. Theres copper everywhere around there. The light colored spot there is actually a vein that ran under our feet where it had been dozed off and continued up the mountain as well. I wish I would have taken some more pictures of it but it was a 3 mile walk back into it and I was in a hurry to collect samples and get out before dark. Anyway there they are so any insight would be appreciated and let me know if you have any questions or would like to see any better pictures of any of the rocks. I looked through them pretty fast and I think I got out the blurry ones. Ill double check though when I get a chance.

Thanks again
Mike

http://s1080.photobucket.com/albums/j322/Michael_Mcfall/

 

[Richard36]

Nice find!

The outcrop is small, but none the less, a "High Grade Pocket".
The white spot with all the iron oxidation around it is the Sweet Spot,
as all the gray material is sulfides within the white Kaolinite matrix.

You are right about the Copper content, it's obvious.
So if nothing else, it's good Copper Ore,
but most likely will contain some percentage of Gold and Silver if it were to be assayed.

I've found a few very similar deposits here in Oregon.
Get an assay done on those sulfides, if it's more than just a small truck load of Ore.

That is your primary objective at this point.
You need to know what it contains as far as Gold/Silver before you step up to roasting and leaching.
Determine values first, unless you want to dig yourself an expensive hole.

I did that once.
Most "Green horns" do make that mistake at least once, don't be one of them.
I was, I learned. It wasn't a cheap education.

Just my thoughts on the subject.

This is a Hydrothermal Vein System in conjunction with Granitic rock,
or at least some one of Granite's differentiation products (Rock Types).

Photo # 27 is a prime example of the more disseminated form of the ore in that pocket,
and is worth further investigation as well.

Send a sample to "Reed Labs", and have them run a multiple element test on it for you.
Sound advice from someone who knows. That test will tell you the amount of Copper present,
and the Ore can be sold as Copper Ore with that document, even if it contains no Gold/Silver.

Thanks again for the photos.

I hope that my post has been helpful.

Sincerely, Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[Richard36]

In going through those photos again, it became obvious that this vein is more than a small deposit.
It is a sheet-like layer that dips slightly downward to the left, and the exposed pocket is where the vein has been dug into through the oxidation layer to expose the abundance of sulfides within the Kaolin/Quartz matrix.

Just thought that I would make that clarification.

Below are the photos I found interesting.

Sincerely, Rick. "The Rock Man".

 

[Reno Chris]

Pat of the problem is economically handling sulfide ores on a small scale: Its not easy. Roasting 5 to 10 tons per hour is not an option because you would need environmental permits to do that and such permits would require controls and you'd be looking at a capital construction expense far greater than for flotation.

Even a flotation plant capable of at least 5 tons per hour would run over 1 million to construct. You have to crush and mill everything before you crush it, and then your flotation product will have to be shipped to Mexico for smelting - we have very few smelters in the US anymore. None that I know of take custom sulfide shipments.

These facts are a part of why there are almost no small scale mine operations in the US.

Chris

 

[DarkspARCS]

looks like a shipping contract to China might be the way to go here. Supply the Chinese with the best assay you can get from this and a ball park figure on amount in tonnage that can be mined and shipped.

 

[Richard36]

Pat of the problem is economically handling sulfide ores on a small scale: Its not easy. Roasting 5 to 10 tons per hour is not an option because you would need environmental permits to do that and such permits would require controls and you'd be looking at a capital construction expense far greater than for flotation.

Even a flotation plant capable of at least 5 tons per hour would run over 1 million to construct. You have to crush and mill everything before you crush it, and then your flotation product will have to be shipped to Mexico for smelting - we have very few smelters in the US anymore. None that I know of take custom sulfide shipments.

These facts are a part of why there are almost no small scale mine operations in the US.

Chris

All good and true, but if the market contact I made is good,
then being able to extract the ore and permits to do so becomes the only obstacle.

That might even be able to be taken care of since he has equipment, is willing to travel, and is willing to go through the permitting process to work deposits for those who can't mine their claim, but have a deposit of ore with sufficient value and quantity in place to be worth going after.

Pockets that produce 1/2 oz or more of gold per ton consistently are well worth going after with the contacts that I have.

Just putting this out there, ... :mrgreen:

 

[DarkspARCS]

Check out this Electrochemistry Encyclopedia article on "EXTRACTING METALS FROM SULFIDE ORES"...

8)

 

[rexun]

Rick, I say this with all due respect. Have you found a true market for buying ore? I have found that selling ore is almost impossible. I have also found that people willing to travel to process your ore are scams which involve miners who wish to get a piece without your involvement in the process. The bottom line is, you have to recover the metals from your ore by yourself. Don't expect someone to come along and pay you thousands of dollars for your ore. You will have to do that on your own. Just my observation in how it works.

 

[DarkspARCS]

Here's a quick thought...

Using my particular brand of sulfide ore, known as a polymetallic replacement deposit (which mind you is exactly that... 22 different metals bound to a 30% iron base by the 22% sulfer catalyst), powder the ore then shake it into a vat of water housing an electrolytic setup using a stainless steel sheet as the cementing agent. won't the metals drop out due to the iron from the steel, leaving the sulfer behind in solution (creating sulphuric acid that can be used in the leeching process)?