Specialty & Industrial Gases Used in Mining Applications
Many times, when people hear the word “mining”, they think about historical times and usually say something like, “People still mine today?”. Well, as a matter of fact, yes. Mining is pretty much an ancient practice as the earliest mining activities were about 20,000 years ago. But it wasn’t until about 10,000 years ago when it started to become a more significant industry.
Back then, metals and minerals were only typically found in nature. When people would mine and find metals like silver and gold, they were often prized. Civilizations grew and further developed due to the growing mining industry. Countries were becoming wealthier as they excavated more metals and minerals. Fire was incorporated into mining which was a technological breakthrough at the time. From there, more advanced techniques came to light.
Today, coal is still one of the leading energy sources in the world. In fact, there’s been a boom in coal mining profits recently as the demand for energy abroad has increased.
Let’s take a look at some of the different mining processes and the gases that are utilized after metals and minerals have been excavated from the earth. But first, we’ll get some background on the different types of mining processes.
Mining Processes
Open pit mining
Open pit mining is the most common type of mining. It starts on the surface and then creates a pit as the earth is dug into. Typically, with open pit mining, copper is the most abundant metal mined in this process. When looking for metal, excavators look for green colored rock, which indicates that there is copper present. Electric shovels are used to scoop up the rock and earth and are then dumped into trucks that transport the material to the ore plants. Ore plants are where the metals are washed and processed. And ore itself is the material that is excavated, which contains the metals and minerals.
Underground mining
When it comes to ore that is too deep to excavate from the surface, underground mining is required. This is the type of mining we are all accustomed to seeing in movies and on television. To get to the underground areas, shafts or tunnels are created to lead miners to the excavation sites.
Underground mining is more costly than open pit mining because it takes more resources to get to the ore that is being extracted. Underground mining is most commonly used for mining coal.
Underwater mining
When mining for minerals and metals, you’ll also be able to find them under the ocean floor. Underwater mining can be tricky as miners have to take the ecosystem into account. Ships or underwater vehicles are used to drill into the ocean floor and can go as deep as 140 meters below sea level.
While there aren’t many detailed and strict regulations on underwater mining, there is a lot of untapped opportunity to find minerals, metals and gemstones under the sea floor. But, it poses a risk to sea life and is not the most sustainable way to mine for assets.
Now that you have a basic understanding of the types of mining processes, let’s take a look at how industrial gases are utilized in various applications within mining processes.
Providing Inert Environments
During mining excavations, particularly underground mining, there is high risk of explosions occurring. Within coal mines in particular, there are 2 types of explosions that could occur: methane and coal dust explosions.
Methane explosions happen when there’s a buildup of methane gas which comes from the coal itself. If it comes in contact with heat and there’s not enough air to dilute it, it will cause an explosion. The same can be said about coal dust. If the fine particulates come in contact with a heat source, the same results can occur. This is why providing an inert environment is extremely important.
In order to make sure these things don’t happen, abandoned areas or areas that have already been mined, are sealed and are kept in an inert state. This is done by reducing the amount of oxygen by adding inert gases like nitrogen or carbon dioxide. These sealed areas are isolated from other active mining areas to keep workers safe.
Nitrogen gas generating systems are known to be used in underground mining to extract nitrogen from the atmosphere and deliver it into sealed mined areas. These systems have been commercialized for the mining industry and have been a useful solution for creating inert environments in coal mines.
Mineral Processing
When processing the minerals and metals found in the mining sites, there are various stages that are required to get to the final product. First, the ore that is collected is crushed into a powdered substance. That powder is then enriched through a process called froth flotation.
Froth flotation essentially gets rid of any unwanted materials. During this process, the ore is suspended in water and the solid minerals and metals then attach themselves to a gas, either air or nitrogen and rise to the surface to be retrieved.
In order to increase efficiency in the flotation process, nitrogen is used to prevent oxidation and carbon dioxide is used to reduce the PH levels of the pulp created in this process.
Once the minerals are processed, they are sent to be melted and poured into molds to create the blocks or sheets of metal that are then sent to manufacturing plants where they use it to make things like copper wire, pipes, and other things that help us build things.
Mining Today
It may not seem like mining is that important today, but it’s what built our cities, railroads, bridges and highways. Mining provides us with the tools we need to build and power our daily lives. Mining will continue to be a necessary process in the future. Green energy sources, for example, require lots of mined resources.
This is just a tiny piece of the importance of the mining industry. The gases used within those processes are just as important as they allow us to get those pure metals and minerals in the state that they are received.
If you’re in the market for any industrial gases, whether it’s for something like semiconductor manufacturing or something as extensive as mineral processing, we have the industrial gases and mixes you need to make it happen. We are happy to answer any questions based on your specific needs or provide you with a free quote. Please give us a call at (562) 426-4017 or fill out our quote form online.
Sources:
https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/mining/topics/InertizationTechnologies.html
https://www.angloamerican.com/futuresmart/stories/our-industry/mining-explained/digging-deeper-mining-methods-explained
https://industry.airliquide.com.au/industries/mining
https://www.thermopedia.com/content/769/