'Dry and wet' mineral processing-a challenge workshopped in Turkey

摘要

More than fifty researchers from the University of Cape Town (South Africa), University of Queensland (Australia), University British Columbia (Canada) and Haceteppe University (Turkey) gathered in Ankara for two Jays in September to explore and debate the opportunities din! challenges arising from dry vs. wet' processing. The debate hinged on the contrasting expertise of dry cement processing in Turkey vs net mineral extraction. The availability of suitable quantities and quality of water is one of the major challenges lacing the sustainability of the mining and mineral processing industry. Since the industry's beginning in the early 1200s, vast amounts of water have been used to beneficiate minerals. Today, increasingly, many operations are located in remote, arid regions. Kurt her, even when supply is abundant, there are environ mental and community concerns about water usage. Consequently, work is underway to look at various options, which include the use of treated sewage water and seawater, but an option is to consider whether some currently used wet processes could be successfully and possibly even beneficially replaced, either fully or in part by dry ones.