Water management system for ore mining operation
AssigneeExtrakt Process Solutions, LLC
InventorsPaul C. PAINTER, Bruce G. MILLER, Aron LUPINSKY
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Abstract
Processes of extracting mineral deposits in ore include treating a saline source, e.g., seawater, to reduce a concentration of one or more multivalent ions (e.g., Ca2+, Mg2+, SO42−) dissolved in the saline source by passing the seawater through one or more nanofilters to produce treated saline water while maintain a certain concentration of dissolved monovalent ions (e.g., (Na+, K+ and Cl−) in the treated saline water. The treated saline water can be used in an operation to extract minerals from ore such as in a flotation operation to extract minerals from ore, or to consolidate tailings generated from an extraction of minerals from ore, or both.
Claims19
A process of extracting ore, the process comprising:
- treating a saline source to reduce a concentration of one or more multivalent ions dissolved in the saline source by nanofiltration to produce a treated saline water having a concentration of dissolved monovalent salts of at least 0.5 wt %;
- and
- using the treated saline water in a flotation operation to extract minerals from ore or to consolidate tailings generated from an extraction of minerals from ore, or both.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.