Reducing the impact of mining and quarrying on the landscape and on the environment is undoubtedly a key challenge facing the growing mining sector.  Effective ore-processing practices and the efficient production of concentrates can help to limit the environmental impact by reducing the volumes of material that have to be transported and processed by potentially hazardous thermal and chemical refining methods.

The strength of stainless steel, combined with its resistance to wear and corrosion, makes it a prime candidate for pumps, screens, filters, etc. used in the processing of mineral ores and concentrates.  This section of the library is dedicated to uses in this important industrial sector.

A Dupont-SEI joint enterprise, this article describes a pilot separator for processing kaolin clay and titanium dioxide ore. The separator will incorporate the largest high-temperature superconductivity magnet, in terms of combined size, magnetic field, and stored energy, that has ever been built. The system processes ore in batch mode by pumping unprocessed clay slurry through a nonmagnetic, 300 series stainless steel pipe. The pipe contains an in-line canister filled with a 400 series "soft magnetic" stainless steel-wool filter.