Extractive metallurgy is that branch of metallurgy that deals with ores as raw material and metals as finished products. It is an ancient art that has been transformed into a modem science as a result of developments in chemistry and chemical engineering. The present volume is a collective work of a number of authors in which metals, their history, properties, extraction technology, and most important inorganic compounds and toxicology are systematically described.

To produce materials from mine to market it is necessary to overcome obstacles that include the force of gravity, the strength of molecular bonds, and technological inefficiencies. These challenges are met by the application of energy to accomplish the work that includes the direct use of electricity, fossil fuel, and manual labor. The tables and analyses presented in this study contain estimates of electricity consumption for the mining and processing of ores, concentrates, intermediate products, and industrial and refined metallic commodities on a kilowatt-hour (kWh) per unit basis, primarily the metric ton (ton) or troy ounce. Data contained in tables pertaining to specific currently operating facilities are static, as the amount of electricity consumed to process or produce a unit of material changes over time for a great number of reasons. Estimates were developed from diverse sources that included feasibility studies, company-produced annual and sustainability reports, conference proceedings, discussions with government and industry experts, journal articles, reference texts, and studies by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Suggestions for additions and corrections are welcome by the author. <...>

The term rare earths denotes the group of 17 chemically similar metallic elements that includes scandium, yttrium, and the lanthanides (Spedding 1978; Connelly et al. 2005). The lanthanides are the series of elements with atomic numbers 57 to 71, all of which, except promethium, occur in nature. The rare-earth elements, being chemically similar to one another, invariably occur together in minerals and behave as a single chemical entity. Thus, the discovery of the rare earths themselves occurred over a period of nearly 160 years, from 1787 to 1941 (Szabadvary 1988; Weeks 1956).

Техническія лабораторіи имѣютъ огромное значеніе въ дѣлѣ инженернаго обученія. По этому вопросу не можетъ быть двухъ мнѣній. Благодаря лабораторнымъ занятіямъ, учащійся пріобрѣтаетъ въ школѣ первые элементы профессіональной практики, легче и глубже усваиваетъ сущность изучаемыхъ предметовъ и, наконецъ, пріобрѣтаетъ знаніе методовъ и пріемовъ научныхъ изслѣдованій различныхъ процессовъ, дѣйствія машинъ, отдѣльныхъ механизмовъ и т. д. Послѣднее особенно важно. Это, именно, та часть научной подготовки инженера, которая можетъ быть достигнута только въ школѣ и которая требуется отъ него въ настоящее время болѣе, чѣмъ когда-либо прежде. <...>

This paper presents a brief overview of some IRGIREDMET advances in gold hydrometallurgy. Original impulse-percolation technology and equipment for intensive cyanidation of gravity
concentrates have been developed and introduced into industrial practice by IRGIREDMET since 1980s (RF Patents N1593250). The process is based on leaching using special hydrodynamic and reagent conditions providing high dissolution rate for coarse gold particles. Gold and silver are precipitated from pregnant solution by cementation or electrowinning. There was also proposed an improved cementation method using zinc in a contact with electrically conductive material.

Рассмотрен широкий круг вопросов, касающихся особенностей физикохимии элементарного акта флотации мелких частиц, кинетики микрофлотационного процесса, теоретических основ оптимизации технологии флотационной водоочистки и обогащения полезных ископаемых. Большое внимание уделено технологии микрофлотации, флотационным аппаратам для очистки воды и извлечения ценных минералов высокой степени дисперсности. Показаны области применения флотационной очистки воды в различных отраслях народного хозяйства.

Предназначена для инженеров-технологов станций водоподготовки и обогатительных фабрик, а также научных работников, специализирующихся в области коллоидной химии. Может быть рекомендована студентам и преподавателям вузов соответствующих специальностей

In the past several decades considerable emphasis was placed on investigation of flotation properties of industrial minerals. The interest in process development for beneficiation of various industrial minerals also comes from the growing need to recover economic minerals from lower grade ores. In general terms these ores in which the minerals exist as ores are associated with, complex, silicates do not respond to the concentration methods used to treat higher-grade less complex mineral silicate ores.

Without reagents there would be no flotation, and without flotation the mining industry, as we know it today, would not exist. Reagents in mineral processing are therefore an inseparable part of the flotation process. Many books, articles and patents exist on development of reagents, reagent chemistry and reagent application.

The forms in which metals are found in the crust of the earth and as sea-bed deposits depend on their reactivity with their environment, particularly with oxygen, sulphur, and carbon dioxide. Gold and the platinum metals are found principally in the native or metallic form. Silver, copper, and mercury are found native, as well as in the form of sulphides, carbonates, and chlorides. The more reactive metals are always in compound form, such as the oxides and sulphides of iron and the oxides and silicates of aluminium and beryllium. The naturally occurring compounds are known as minerals, most of which have been given names according to their composition (e.g. galena—lead sulphide, PbS; sphalerite—zinc sulphide, ZnS; cassiterite—tin oxide, Sn02 ).

A handy reference book for miners. This book contains the latest specifications and essential information on aggregate and minerals production and handling equipment. It should be noted that various factors, such as engineering advances, physical properties of raw materials, method of feeding and operating the equipment, moisture and physical conditions in material at the time of processing, altitude and other conditions will affect the equipment ratings as published and may yield results not exactly in accord with published data.