Metallurgy Engineering and Mining Technology

Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. Metallurgy is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to the production of metals, and the engineering of metal components for usage in products for consumers and manufacturers. The production of metals involves the processing of ores to extract the metal they contain, and the mixture of metals, sometimes with other elements, to produce alloys. Metallurgy is distinguished from the craft of metalworking, although metalworking relies on metallurgy, as medicine relies on medical science, for technical advancement.

Metallurgy is subdivided into ferrous metallurgy (sometimes also known as black metallurgy) and non-ferrous metallurgy or colored metallurgy. Ferrous metallurgy involves processes and alloys based on iron while non-ferrous metallurgy involves processes and alloys based on other metals. The production of ferrous metals accounts for 95 percent of world metal production

Mine Ventilation provides a flow of air to the underground workings of a mine of sufficient volume to dilute and remove dust and noxious gases (typically NOx, SO2, methane, CO2 and CO) and to regulate temperature.Ventilation in underground mines is required to dilute and remove hazardous substances, control the thermal environment, and provide oxygen for humans and engine combustion. In Canadian mines, the most common considerations are the control of diesel engine exhaust emissions and mineral dust concentrations, to within prescribed levels for humans to work in that environment. A lesser concern is the clearance of blast fumes which is normally when the mine is not occupied. In a smaller number of mine radiation and other gases, such as methane may also need consideration. A new and increasing concern as Canadian mines go deeper is the control of heat exposure to the degree that it requires more air to control the temperature of the working environment than is needed for other concerns.

Tailings are distinct from overburden, which is the waste rock or other material that overlies an ore or mineral body and is displaced during mining without being processed.

Mining wastes are mining-related by—products of two types:

(a) mining-and-quarrying extraction wastes which are barren soils removed from mining and quarrying sites during the preparation for mining and quarrying and do not enter into the dressing and beneficiating processes, and

(b). mining—and-quarrying dressing and beneficiating wastes which are obtained during the process of separating minerals from ores and other materials extracted during mining-and-quarrying activities.

These wastes occupy valuable land and cause harm to stream life when they are deposited near the drainage area of a stream.

Materials processing, the series of operations that transforms industrial materials from a raw-material state into finished parts or products. Industrial materials are defined as those used in the manufacture of “hard” goods, such as more or less durable machines and equipment produced for industry and consumers, as contrasted with disposable “soft” goods, such as chemicals, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, and apparel.

The cycle of manufacturing processes that converts materials into parts and products starts immediately after the raw materials are either extracted from minerals or produced from basic chemicals or natural substances. Metallic raw materials are usually produced in two steps. First, the crude ore is processed to increase the concentration of the desired metal; this is called beneficiation. Typical beneficiation processes include crushing, roasting, magnetic separation, flotation, and leaching. Second, additional processes such as smelting and alloying are used to produce the metal that is to be fabricated into parts that are eventually assembled into a product.

Types of Material Processing

The processes used for the manufacture of a desired product generally provide two major functions: the formation or alteration of materials.  The formation of parts or products is usually achieved by molding, casting or the application of pressure.  The physical state or composition of commodities and products can be altered by a number of different means including chemical, mechanical and thermal operations.

Chemical engineering methods are applied in order to modify the cellular structure or molecular properties of materials on a microscopic level.  Thermal processes involving the addition or reduction of heat are used to alter a range of materials, especially metals.  Mechanical operations employ the use of specialized equipment in the transformation of solid matter.

Mineral processing, art of treating crude ores and mineral products in order to separate the valuable minerals from the waste rock, or gangue. It is the first process that most ores undergo after mining in order to provide a more concentrated material for the procedures of extractive metallurgy. The primary operations are comminution and concentration, but there are other important operations in a modern mineral processing plant, including sampling and analysis and dewatering.

Sampling and analysis

Sampling is the removal from a given lot of material a portion that is representative of the whole yet of convenient size for analysis. It is done either by hand or by machine. Hand sampling is usually expensive, slow, and inaccurate, so that it is generally applied only where the material is not suitable for machine sampling (slimy ore, for example) or where machinery is either not available or too expensive to install.

Many different sampling devices are available, including shovels, pipe samplers, and automatic machine samplers. For these sampling machines to provide an accurate representation of the whole lot, the quantity of a single sample, the total number of samples, and the kind of samples taken are of decisive importance. A number of mathematical sampling models have been devised in order to arrive at the appropriate criteria for sampling.

After one or more samples are taken from an amount of ore passing through a material stream such as a conveyor belt, the samples are reduced to quantities suitable for further analysis. Analytical methods include chemical, mineralogical, and particle size.

Earth science or geoscience is an all-encompassing term that refers to the fields of science dealing with planet Earth. It can be considered to be a branch of planetary science, but with a much older history. There are both reductionist and holistic approaches to Geosciences. The formal discipline of Earth sciences may include the study of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, and biosphere. Typically, Earth scientists will use tools from physics, chemistry, biology, chronology, and mathematics to build a quantitative understanding of how the Earth system works, and how it evolved to its current state.

Bituminous coal is a dense sedimentary rock, usually black, but sometimes dark brown, often with well-defined bands of bright and dull material; it is used primarily as fuel in steam-electric power generation, with substantial quantities used for heat and power applications in manufacturing and to make coke. There are actually two main types of coal: ‘thermal’ coal, which is mostly used for power generation, and ‘metallurgical’ coal, which is mostly used for steel production. Thermal coal is more abundant, has lower carbon content and is higher in moisture than metallurgical coal.