AU2003229402A1 - Microwave treatment of ores - Google Patents
Microwave treatment of ores Download PDFInfo
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- AU2003229402A1 AU2003229402A1 AU2003229402A AU2003229402A AU2003229402A1 AU 2003229402 A1 AU2003229402 A1 AU 2003229402A1 AU 2003229402 A AU2003229402 A AU 2003229402A AU 2003229402 A AU2003229402 A AU 2003229402A AU 2003229402 A1 AU2003229402 A1 AU 2003229402A1
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- ore
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- ore particles
- method defined
- microwave energy
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- 239000002245 particle Substances 0.000 claims description 147
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 claims description 41
- 229910052500 inorganic mineral Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 21
- 239000011707 mineral Substances 0.000 claims description 21
- 238000012545 processing Methods 0.000 claims description 20
- 230000004075 alteration Effects 0.000 claims description 16
- 229910052751 metal Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 16
- 239000002184 metal Substances 0.000 claims description 16
- 150000002739 metals Chemical class 0.000 claims description 13
- 238000005336 cracking Methods 0.000 claims description 11
- RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N Copper Chemical compound [Cu] RYGMFSIKBFXOCR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 9
- 229910052802 copper Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 9
- 239000010949 copper Substances 0.000 claims description 9
- 238000010438 heat treatment Methods 0.000 claims description 9
- PXHVJJICTQNCMI-UHFFFAOYSA-N Nickel Chemical compound [Ni] PXHVJJICTQNCMI-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 8
- 239000010432 diamond Substances 0.000 claims description 7
- 238000010336 energy treatment Methods 0.000 claims description 7
- 239000000203 mixture Substances 0.000 claims description 7
- XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N Iron Chemical compound [Fe] XEEYBQQBJWHFJM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 6
- UCKMPCXJQFINFW-UHFFFAOYSA-N Sulphide Chemical compound [S-2] UCKMPCXJQFINFW-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 6
- 229910052947 chalcocite Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 6
- 229910052951 chalcopyrite Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 6
- DVRDHUBQLOKMHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N chalcopyrite Chemical compound [S-2].[S-2].[Fe+2].[Cu+2] DVRDHUBQLOKMHZ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 6
- 229910003460 diamond Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 6
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 claims description 6
- 229910001608 iron mineral Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052759 nickel Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 4
- 238000012216 screening Methods 0.000 claims description 4
- 229910052770 Uranium Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000012535 impurity Substances 0.000 claims description 3
- 229910052742 iron Inorganic materials 0.000 claims description 3
- JFALSRSLKYAFGM-UHFFFAOYSA-N uranium(0) Chemical compound [U] JFALSRSLKYAFGM-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 3
- 239000010453 quartz Substances 0.000 claims description 2
- VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N silicon dioxide Inorganic materials O=[Si]=O VYPSYNLAJGMNEJ-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 claims description 2
- 230000006378 damage Effects 0.000 claims 1
- 238000002386 leaching Methods 0.000 description 10
- 239000000463 material Substances 0.000 description 4
- 238000005065 mining Methods 0.000 description 4
- 238000004458 analytical method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000003153 chemical reaction reagent Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000005684 electric field Effects 0.000 description 2
- 238000009434 installation Methods 0.000 description 2
- 238000011084 recovery Methods 0.000 description 2
- 230000004044 response Effects 0.000 description 2
- OAICVXFJPJFONN-UHFFFAOYSA-N Phosphorus Chemical compound [P] OAICVXFJPJFONN-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 238000002441 X-ray diffraction Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004913 activation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000004411 aluminium Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052782 aluminium Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N aluminium Chemical compound [Al] XAGFODPZIPBFFR-UHFFFAOYSA-N 0.000 description 1
- 230000009286 beneficial effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000008859 change Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000000470 constituent Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000000356 contaminant Substances 0.000 description 1
- 230000001351 cycling effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000005670 electromagnetic radiation Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000012467 final product Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000010419 fine particle Substances 0.000 description 1
- 239000010437 gem Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910001751 gemstone Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 230000006872 improvement Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000001499 laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000005007 materials handling Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000012986 modification Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000004048 modification Effects 0.000 description 1
- 239000011574 phosphorus Substances 0.000 description 1
- 229910052698 phosphorus Inorganic materials 0.000 description 1
- 239000000843 powder Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000002360 preparation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 239000000047 product Substances 0.000 description 1
- 238000012827 research and development Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000003313 weakening effect Effects 0.000 description 1
Landscapes
- Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)
Description
WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 MICROWAVE TREATMENT OF ORES The present invention relates to treating ores with microwave energy to facilitate subsequent processing 5 of the ores. The present invention relates particularly, although by no means exclusively, to using microwave energy to treat ores to facilitate subsequent processing 10 of the ores to recover valuable components, such as metals from the ores. There have been a number of proposals to use microwave energy in a range of mining applications, such 15 as comminution of ores, and there is on-going research and development work into these mining applications. However, these proposals have not been successfully used because of difficulties with (a) the high total power needed, (b) constructing a suitable arrangement to expose ores to 20 microwaves, and (c) controlling the level of microwave exposure to avoid unwanted changes in the minerals and undesirable changes in the ore particles themselves. An object of the present invention is to provide 25 a microwave energy-based method of treating ores to facilitate subsequent processing of the ores to recover valuable components such as metals from the ores. In general terms, according to the present 30 invention there is provided a method of treating ore particles to facilitate subsequent processing of the ore particles, for example to recover a valuable component such as a metal from the ore particles, the method including exposing the ore particles to microwave energy 35 and causing structural alteration of the ore particles. Structural alteration of the ore particles is the WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 -2 result of differences in thermal expansion of minerals within ore particles, as a consequence of exposure to microwave energy, resulting in regions of high stress/strain within the ore particles and leading to 5 micro-cracking or other physical changes within the ore particles. In a specific example, structural alteration of the ore particles is the result of heating and therefore 10 thermal expansion of only some of the minerals within ore particles in response to microwave energy leading to micro-cracking or other physical changes within the ore particles. 15 Preferably the method includes exposing the ore particles to microwave energy and causing structural alteration of the ore particles without significantly altering the mineralogy, ie composition, of the ore. 20 Particularly in cases where the ore is to be leached in the subsequent processing step, preferably the method includes exposing the ore particles to microwave energy and causing structural alteration of the ore particles with minimal change to the sizes of the ore 25 particles. In this regard, the present invention is based in part on the realisation that microwave energy, particularly high energy microwave energy, can be used 30 selectively to produce micro-cracks in ore particles that improve exposure of the ore to subsequent processing, such as by leaching, without substantially reducing the size of the particles. The latter point can be important in situations where coarse as opposed to fine particles are 35 preferred in the subsequent processing and it is therefore undesirable for microwave energy treatment to cause break down of particles into fines. This is also attractive WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 -3 where leaching is used to remove a desired component from an ore and there are unwanted reactive components within the ore which consume excessive amounts of reagents if they are ground too finely. This is commonly the case in 5 uranium ores where the recovery obtained is often limited by needing to balance the fineness of grinding of the material to enable the valuable minerals to leach versus the higher consumption of reagents at finer particle sizes. 10 The present invention is also based in part on the realisation that microwave energy, particularly high energy microwave energy, can be used to selectively produce micro-cracks in ore particles that make the 15 particles susceptible to subsequent comminution to reduce the particle size of the particles that have micro-cracks to be within an optimum particle size range for subsequent processing of the ore. This is particularly important in situations where the ore particles that contain valuable 20 components, such as metals, minerals or gemstones, are the most affected by the microwave energy treatment and break down preferentially into smaller size particles than the remainder of the ore particles and thereby allow separation of the valuable smaller particles from the 25 remaining larger particles by simple physical means. This is also particularly important in the reverse situations where the unwanted material is susceptible to break down in response to exposure to microwave energy. 30 In some cases the ore particles which react to microwaves and break down may include unwanted impurities and can be separated to improve the value of the majority of the ore, such as in the case of iron ores where the method can be used to remove contaminants, such as 35 phosphorus and aluminium. The term "microwave energy", is herein understood WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 -4 to mean electromagnetic radiation that has frequencies in the range of 0.3-300 GHz. The subsequent processing of the ore particles 5 may include heap leaching of the particles. By way of further example, the subsequent processing of the ore particles may include comminution of the particles to reduce the sizes of the particles to be 10 within an optimum particle size range for subsequent processing of the ore. This step is particularly suitable for ores where the product is not a fine powder such as is the case for iron ore and diamonds. It can also be beneficial in reducing the amount of ore which needs to be 15 ground finely for preparation of the final product if the composition of the different fractions can be directly measured and the components separated in a dry state. Online analysis systems such as Laser Induced Fluorescence, X-Ray Diffraction of Neutron Activation 20 Analysis are particularly suitable for use in combination with the microwave energy treatment. The method may include screening ore particles prior to exposing the ore particles to microwave energy in 25 order to provide a preferred particle size distribution for subsequent microwave energy treatment. Preferably the method includes screening ore particles prior to exposing the ore particles to microwave 30 energy in order to remove fines from the ore particles. Preferably the method includes exposing the ore particles to pulses of microwave energy. 35 In this regard, the present invention is also in part based on the realisation that the use of short pulses enables very high electric fields to be applied to the ore WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 particles in a simple, much more effective, physical arrangement with the total energy supplied to the particles being controlled by the number and duration of the pulses and that this is advantageous outcome. 5 Specifically, this is an advantageous outcome for some ore particles where high energy is needed to achieve sufficient micro-cracking and where, if the microwaves are supplied continuously, the particles have to be moved through the microwave field very quickly to avoid 10 excessive exposure whilst still achieving the desired rapid localised heating and micro-cracking, in which case there can be limits on the energy of the microwaves used or else complex expensive equipment is needed to enable the exposure. 15 Preferably the ore is exposed to the microwaves within a cavity such as that disclosed within the International patent application W002092162 in the name of the University of Stellenbosch which amplifies the 20 electric field strength to further improve the efficiency of the exposure and maximises the micro-cracking. The disclosure in the International application is incorporated herein by cross-reference. 25 Preferably the microwave energy within the pulses has high energy to give rapid heating of susceptor minerals in the ore. The term "high energy" is understood herein to 30 mean values substantially above those within conventional household microwaves, ie substantially above 1 kW. The use of pulsed microwave energy minimises the power requirements of the method and maximises thermal 35 cycling of the ore particles. By appropriate selection of operating conditions, WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 -6 pulsed microwave energy minimises heating of ore particles to temperatures at which there are changes to the mineralogy of the particles. 5 Preferably the pulsed microwave energy includes pulses of short duration. The term "short duration" is understood herein to mean that the time period of each pulse is less than 1 10 second. Preferably the pulse time period is less than 0.1 second. 15 More preferably the pulse time period is less than 0.001 second. The time period between pulses of microwave energy may be set as required depending on a number of 20 factors. One factor that is relevant in a number of situations is to ensure that there is no undue heating of the mass of ore particles which could cause composition changes to the ore. Preferably the time period between pulses is 10-20 times the pulse time period. 25 The particles may be exposed to one or more pulses of microwaves to achieve the desired level of micro-cracking. This can be achieved in a single installation which releases microwave energy in pulses. 30 This can also be achieved in an installation having multiple exposure points at spaced intervals along a path of movement of the ore, with each of the exposure points releasing its own characteristic microwave energy in pulses or continuously. 35 In a situation in which the subsequent ore processing is heap leaching the ore, the main objective of WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 -7 exposing ore particles to microwave energy is to structurally alter the ore particles to improve access of a leach solution to ore particles. 5 Improved access to the leach solution may be the result of- break down of ore particles into smaller particles. However, in this application, preferably improved 10 access to the leach solution is the result of structural weakening of ore particles that improves porosity of the particles without causing substantial particle break down. The improvement in porosity resulting from 15 microwave energy exposure makes it possible to use larger sized particles of a given ore type in heap leaching than would normally be the case with the ore type. The width of the particle size range presented 20 for microwave energy treatment may influence the extent of particle break down. Specifically, there may be a greater likelihood of particle break down with a wider particle size distribution than with a narrower particle size distribution. 25 Preferably the ore particles include microwave susceptor and non-susceptor components, whereby improved access to the leach solution is the result of structural changes at the interface of microwave susceptor and non 30 susceptor components of the ore components. The ores of particular interest to the applicant are ores that contain valuable metals and the valuable metals are part of the microwave susceptor components of 35 the ores. Preferably the ores are ores in which the WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 -8 valuable metal is in present as a sulphide. The applicant is interested particularly in copper-containing ores in which the copper is present as a 5 sulphide, such as chalcopyrite or chalcocite. The applicant is also interested in nickel containing ores in which the nickel is present as a sulphide. 10 The applicant is also interested in uranium containing ores. The applicant is also interested in ores 15 containing iron minerals where some of the iron minerals have disproportionately higher levels of unwanted impurities. The applicant is also interested in diamond ores 20 where the ore has a mix of diamond containing minerals and diamond barren minerals such as quartz. Preferably the ore particles have a major dimension of 15 cm or less prior to exposure to microwave 25 energy. The wavelength of the microwave energy and the exposure time may be selected depending on relevant factors. 30 Relevant factors may include ore type, particle size, particle size distribution, and requirements for subsequent processing of the ore. 35 The method includes any suitable steps for exposing the ore to microwave energy.
WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 One suitable option includes allowing the ore to free-fall down a transfer chute past a microwave energy generator. 5 The free-fall option is a preferred option to a forced feed option in a mining industry environment because of the materials handling issues that are often associated with the mining industry. 10 Preferably the method includes transporting the ore to an inlet end of the transfer chute on a conveyor and transporting the microwave-treated ore from an outlet end of the transfer chute on a conveyor. 15 According to the present invention there is also provided a method of recovering valuable components, such as a metal, from an ore including the steps of: (a) treating ore particles by exposing ore particles 20 to microwave energy and causing structural alteration of the ore particles, the structural alteration of the ore particles being a result of differences in thermal expansion of minerals within ore particles, as a consequence of exposure to microwave energy, resulting in 25 regions of high stress/strain within the ore particles and leading to micro-cracking or other physical changes within the ore particles; and (b) processing the treated ore particles to recover 30 the valuable components. The processing step may be any suitable step, such as leaching the treated ore particles, for example by heap leaching, or comminuting and thereafter physically 35 separating the ore particles into different size fractions.
WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 - 10 The present invention is described further by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a flow sheet of the sequence of steps in a preferred embodiment of a method of recovering a valuable 5 component in the form of copper from copper-containing ores in which copper is present as the minerals chalcopyrite or chalcocite. With reference to the flow sheet, ore particles 10 are supplied to a primary crusher 1 and are crushed to a particle size of 10-15 cm. The crushed particles discharged from the primary crusher 1 are supplied via a conveyor (or other suitable 15 transfer means) to a microwave energy treatment station 3 and are allowed to free fall past a microwave energy generator (not shown) that exposes the ore particles to high energy pulses of microwave energy. 20 The microwave energy causes localised heating of the susceptor components of the ore, such as the chalcopyrite and chalcocite minerals, in the ore and the differences in thermal expansion of the constituents of the ore produces regions of high stress/strain within the 25 ore particles and causes micro-cracks to form in the particles, particularly particles containing chalcopyrite and chalcocite minerals. The operating conditions, such as energy level, 30 pulse duration, and exposure length are selected to ensure that the localised heating has minimal if any impact on the composition of the ore particles and does not cause catastrophic break down of the particles. With regard to the latter point, the objective of the microwave energy 35 treatment step in most applications is to form micro cracks that weaken but do not destroy the particles. Typically, with an input feed of 10-15 cm particles, the WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 - 11 majority of the output will have a particle size from 1 15 cm, with a substantial proportion of the output being larger than 5 cm. 5 Depending on the circumstances, the microwave treated ores are supplied to a heap leaching station 5 and are subjected to leaching to recover copper into solution or to a comminution station 7 and are further crushed and if necessary ground to selectively reduce the particle 10 size of the particles. The micro-cracks in the ore particles improve access for leach solution in the heap leaching step and reduce the energy required to produce an optimum particle size range in the subsequent crushing and grinding steps. 15 In particular, in situations such as the processing of ores containing chalcopyrite and chalcocite minerals, where the valuable metals are concentrated in susceptor materials, the crushing and grinding steps 20 produce a smaller particle size fraction that contains a relatively high concentration of valuable metals and a larger particle size fraction that contains non-valuable material. 25 The ground ore from the comminution station 7 is supplied to a physical separator 9 that separates the larger and smaller particle size fractions to facilitate recovery of copper from the smaller size fraction. 30 Many modifications may be made to the preferred embodiment of the present invention described above without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
Claims (27)
1. A method of treating ore particles to facilitate subsequent processing of the ore particles to recover 5 valuable components from the ore, including: exposing the ore particles to microwave energy and causing structural alteration of the ore particles without significantly altering the mineralogy, ie composition, of the ore, the structural alteration of the ore particles being a result 10 of differences in thermal expansion of minerals within ore particles, as a consequence of exposure to microwave energy, resulting in regions of high stress/strain within the ore particles and leading to micro-cracking or other physical changes within the ore particles. 15
2. The method defined in claim 1 includes exposing the ore particles to microwave energy and causing structural alteration of the ore particles without catastrophic destruction of the ore particles. 20
3. The method defined in claim 1 or claim 2 includes screening the ore particles prior to exposing the ore particles to microwave energy in order to provide a preferred particle size distribution for subsequent 25 microwave energy treatment.
4. The method defined in any one of the preceding claims includes screening the ore particles prior to exposing the ore particles to microwave energy in order to 30 remove fines from the ore particles.
5. The method defined in any one of the preceding claims includes exposing the ore particles to pulses of microwave energy. 35
6. The method defined in claim 5 wherein the microwave energy within the pulses has high energy to give WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 - 13 rapid heating of susceptor minerals in the ore.
7. The method defined in claim 5 or claim 6 wherein the pulses of microwave energy includes pulses of short 5 duration.
8. The method defined in claim 7 wherein the time period of each pulse is less than 1 second. 10
9. The method defined in claim 8 wherein the pulse time period is less than 0.1 second.
10. The method defined in claim 9 wherein the pulse time period is less than 0.001 second. 15
11. The method defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the ore particles include microwave susceptor and non-susceptor components and the valuable components in the ore are metals and the metals are part 20 of the microwave susceptor components of the ores.
12. The method defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the ore is an ore in which the valuable components are metals and the metals are present as a 25 sulphide.
13. The method defined in claim 12 wherein the ore is a copper-containing ore in which the copper is present as a sulphide, such as chalcopyrite or chalcocite. 30
14. The method defined in claim 12 wherein the ore is a nickel-containing ore in which the nickel is present as a sulphide. 35
15. The method defined in claim 12 wherein the ore is a uranium-containing ore. WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 - 14
16. The method defined in any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the ore is an ore in which the valuable components are iron and the ore contains iron minerals where some of the iron minerals have disproportionately higher levels of 5 unwanted impurities.
17. The method defined in any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein the ore is a diamond ore and the ore has a mix of diamond containing minerals and diamond barren minerals 10 such as quartz.
18. The method defined in any one of the preceding claims wherein the ore particles have a major dimension of 15 cm or less prior to exposure to microwave energy. 15
19. The method defined in any one of the preceding claims includes transporting the ore to an inlet end of the transfer 'chute on a conveyor and transporting the microwave-treated ore from an outlet end of the transfer 20 chute on a conveyor.
20. A method of treating ore particles to facilitate subsequent processing of the ore particles to recover valuable components from the ore, including: exposing the 25 ore particles to microwave energy and causing structural alteration of the particles without catastrophic break down of the particles, the structural alteration of the ore particles being a result of differences in thermal expansion of minerals within ore particles, as a 30 consequence of exposure to microwave energy, resulting in regions of high stress/strain within the ore particles and leading to micro-cracking or other physical changes within the ore particles. 35
21. A method of treating ore particles to facilitate subsequent processing of the ore particles to recover valuable components from the ore, including: exposing the WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 - 15 ore particles to pulses of microwave energy and causing structural alteration of the particles, the structural alteration of the ore particles being a result of differences in thermal expansion of minerals within ore 5 particles, as a consequence of exposure to microwave energy, resulting in regions of high stress/strain within the ore particles and leading to micro-cracking or other. physical changes within the ore particles. 10
22. The method defined in claim 21 wherein the microwave energy within the pulses has high energy to give rapid heating of susceptor minerals in the ore.
23. The method defined in claim 21 or claim 22 15 wherein the pulsed microwave energy includes pulses of short duration and high energy.
24. The method defined in claim 23 wherein the time period of each pulse is less than 1 second. 20
25. The method defined in claim 24 wherein the pulse time period is less than 0.1 second.
26. The method defined in claim 25 wherein the pulse 25 time period is less than 0.001 second.
27. A method of recovering valuable metals from an ore including the steps of: 30 (a) treating ore particles by the exposing ore particles to microwave energy and causing structural alteration of the particles, the structural alteration of the ore particles being a result of differences in thermal expansion of minerals within ore particles, as a 35 consequence of exposure to microwave energy, resulting in regions of high stress/strain within the ore particles and leading to micro-cracking or other physical changes within WO 03/102250 PCT/AU03/00681 - 16 the ore particles; and (b) processing the treated ore particles to recover valuable metals. 5
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| AU2003229402A AU2003229402B2 (en) | 2002-05-31 | 2003-05-30 | Microwave treatment of ores |
Applications Claiming Priority (4)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUPS2734 | 2002-05-31 | ||
| AUPS2734A AUPS273402A0 (en) | 2002-05-31 | 2002-05-31 | Microwave treatment of ores |
| AU2003229402A AU2003229402B2 (en) | 2002-05-31 | 2003-05-30 | Microwave treatment of ores |
| PCT/AU2003/000681 WO2003102250A1 (en) | 2002-05-31 | 2003-05-30 | Microwave treatment of ores |
Publications (2)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| AU2003229402A1 true AU2003229402A1 (en) | 2003-12-19 |
| AU2003229402B2 AU2003229402B2 (en) | 2009-01-08 |
Family
ID=34275225
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| AU2003229402A Ceased AU2003229402B2 (en) | 2002-05-31 | 2003-05-30 | Microwave treatment of ores |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| AU (1) | AU2003229402B2 (en) |
Family Cites Families (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WO1992018249A1 (en) * | 1991-04-10 | 1992-10-29 | The Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited | The recovery of a valuable species from an ore |
| CA2277383C (en) * | 1999-07-15 | 2009-11-24 | Roland R.H. Ridler | Microwave thermal shock metallurgy |
-
2003
- 2003-05-30 AU AU2003229402A patent/AU2003229402B2/en not_active Ceased
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| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| AU2003229402B2 (en) | 2009-01-08 |
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Opponent name: BHP BILLITON INNOVATION PTY LTD |
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Opponent name: BHP BILLITON INNOVATION PTY LTD |
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