Metal mining processes include extraction and beneficiation steps during production. Extraction removes the ore from the ground, while beneficiation concentrates the valuable metal in impresion camiseta the ore by removing unwanted constituents. Often, more than one metal is targeted in beneficiation processes. For example, silver is often beneficiated and recovered with copper. The beneficiation method selected varies with mining operations and depends on ore characteristics and economic considerations.
The following sections provide more detail on extraction methods and beneficiation processes, as they relate to the mining of each metal.
Extraction Processes
As described in a report drafted for EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics, extraction involves removing any overburden, then drilling, blasting, and mucking the broken ore and waste rock.
Mobile rigs drill holes in rock, which can then be filled with explosives for blasting waste rock and ore. Potential pollutants involved in this step in the mining process include the fuel, lubricants, and hydraulic oils consumed by the rigs; fuels and oils typically contain such constituents as benzene, ethylbenzene, and toluene.
Explosives (usually a mixture of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil) are used to break up the rock. Other explosives, including trinitrotoluene (TNT) and nitroglycerine, may also be used.
Mucking is the process of removing broken ore from the mine, using a variety of loading and hauling equipment to transport ore to a mill for beneficiation. Depending on ore volume, trucks, rail cars, conveyers, and elevators may all be required to haul ore. Equipment involved in this step of the mining process uses hydraulic fluid (containing glycol ethers); batteries (containing sulfuric acid, lead, antimony, and arsenic); and lubricants and fuel (containing petroleum hydrocarbons).
Beneficiation Methods
Ore beneficiation is the processing of ores to regulate the size of the product, to remove unwanted constituents, or to improve the quality, purity, or grade of a desired product. Under regulations drafted pursuant to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (40 CFR §261.4), beneficiation is restricted
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