140
D. Dreisinger et al.
The historical challenges at Paroo Station lead mine were numerous. The mine was
at the mercy of offshore lead smelters who set high and variable treatment charges
for Paroo Station lead mine concentrate. The concentrate has no intrinsic fuel content
(sulphide sulphur) and there are no by-products in the concentrate for smelter credit.
The regulatory compliance imposed by Ministerial Statement 1083 contains many
onerous conditions which have the potential to trigger cessation of transportation. The
costs associated with compliance include required sampling of air, water, soil, sumps,
etc., independent inspection, independent auditing, bagging and containerization of
the ~67% Pb concentrate containing +7.5% moisture. A total of 34 people was
involved in concentrate handling and shipping. The trucking and railing transport
were permitted along a prescribed dangerous goods route.
The economic consequences of these factors resulted in Paroo Station lead mine
were numerous:
• High and unpredictable cost operation
• Unable to hedge lead price
• Short mine life treating high grade ore resulting in leaving a large amount of the
mineral resource out of the mine plan.
The historical challenges of the Paroo Station lead mine operation provided
an ideal situation to consider the implementation of a concentrate to metal
hydrometallurgical technology.
Lead Hydrometallurgical Technology
LeadFX secured the rights to use a hydrometallurgical process for lead recovery
(1–4) from InCoR Technologies (InCoR), who had earlier secured from BASF SE
and the University of British Columbia (UBC) exclusive worldwide rights to two
hydrometallurgical lead recovery technologies using methane sulphonic acid (MSA)
extraction of lead from “mixed oxide” or “sulphide” concentrates followed by purification and electrowinning of lead [2–4]. The technology uses methane sulphonic acid
(MSA), produced by BASF, as a lixiviant for cerussite dissolution. The process also
employs an anglesite conversion step and recovers the lead by electrowinning to
produce lead cathode for sale.
Methane sulphonic acid (Fig. 2) is an ideal reagent upon which to base the development of a lead hydrometallurgy technology. In water, MSA reacts readily with
metal carbonates and oxides to form highly soluble methane sulphonate salts. Lead
has a particularly high solubility of ~560 g/l Pb at 23 °C. MSA has a high conductivity, is non-oxidizing and chemically stable. It is odourless, biodegradable, and
recyclable. It has a low vapour pressure and a strong acidity (similar to sulphuric
acid).
The application of MSA to the Paroo Station lead mine concentrate involves a
series of chemical steps.
D. Dreisinger et al.
The historical challenges at Paroo Station lead mine were numerous. The mine was
at the mercy of offshore lead smelters who set high and variable treatment charges
for Paroo Station lead mine concentrate. The concentrate has no intrinsic fuel content
(sulphide sulphur) and there are no by-products in the concentrate for smelter credit.
The regulatory compliance imposed by Ministerial Statement 1083 contains many
onerous conditions which have the potential to trigger cessation of transportation. The
costs associated with compliance include required sampling of air, water, soil, sumps,
etc., independent inspection, independent auditing, bagging and containerization of
the ~67% Pb concentrate containing +7.5% moisture. A total of 34 people was
involved in concentrate handling and shipping. The trucking and railing transport
were permitted along a prescribed dangerous goods route.
The economic consequences of these factors resulted in Paroo Station lead mine
were numerous:
• High and unpredictable cost operation
• Unable to hedge lead price
• Short mine life treating high grade ore resulting in leaving a large amount of the
mineral resource out of the mine plan.
The historical challenges of the Paroo Station lead mine operation provided
an ideal situation to consider the implementation of a concentrate to metal
hydrometallurgical technology.
Lead Hydrometallurgical Technology
LeadFX secured the rights to use a hydrometallurgical process for lead recovery
(1–4) from InCoR Technologies (InCoR), who had earlier secured from BASF SE
and the University of British Columbia (UBC) exclusive worldwide rights to two
hydrometallurgical lead recovery technologies using methane sulphonic acid (MSA)
extraction of lead from “mixed oxide” or “sulphide” concentrates followed by purification and electrowinning of lead [2–4]. The technology uses methane sulphonic acid
(MSA), produced by BASF, as a lixiviant for cerussite dissolution. The process also
employs an anglesite conversion step and recovers the lead by electrowinning to
produce lead cathode for sale.
Methane sulphonic acid (Fig. 2) is an ideal reagent upon which to base the development of a lead hydrometallurgy technology. In water, MSA reacts readily with
metal carbonates and oxides to form highly soluble methane sulphonate salts. Lead
has a particularly high solubility of ~560 g/l Pb at 23 °C. MSA has a high conductivity, is non-oxidizing and chemically stable. It is odourless, biodegradable, and
recyclable. It has a low vapour pressure and a strong acidity (similar to sulphuric
acid).
The application of MSA to the Paroo Station lead mine concentrate involves a
series of chemical steps.