School: Engineering

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Minerals and Solids Processing
  • Unit Code

    ENS5561
  • Year

    2024
  • Enrolment Period

    1
  • Version

    3
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Muhammad Rizwan AZHAR

Description

There is a wide range of processing technologies used in the minerals industry with varying characteristics that determine how and why they are used. This unit provides the underpinning fundamental physical, chemical and transport processes that are important to minerals processing. A key feature of minerals processing is the influence of raw materials and market needs on processes and products. Students will learn the importance of the integrated "mine to metal" approach to process design and optimisation, to gain an understanding of the challenges that dictate the sustainable supply of these materials.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass 1 unit from ENS6169 or ENS3111

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded ENS4114

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Investigate the principles of physical and chemical processes that allow selective separation of minerals from ores, and of elements from mineral concentrates, metals and materials.
  2. Analyse at a qualitative level the relationship between the fundamental processes, the process objectives and the final equipment design for mineral and material processing.
  3. Select appropriate processing routes for a given ore deposit or source materials with awareness of the economic and environmental impacts.
  4. Use process flowsheets to describe the processes undertaken in mineral and material processing.

Unit Content

  1. Key issues in minerals processing from ore to recycling.
  2. Solvent extraction, ion exchange and electrowinning.
  3. Pyrometallurgical processes including kinetics and equilibria with applications in steel making and non-ferrous metals.
  4. Hydrometallurgical processes: precipitation, crystallisation and separation.
  5. Sedimentation, bubble flow, froth flotation and dewatering.
  6. Separation processes: screening, classification, gravity separation and partition curves. Dense medium separation, magnetic and electrical separation.
  7. Ore properties and grade recovery, breakage and sizing.
  8. Liberation and particle size reduction processes: comminution, blasting, crushing, grinding.
  9. Synthesis of mineral processing flowsheets.

Learning Experience

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 113 x 1 hour labNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 113 x 2 hour lectureNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 113 x 1 hour tutorialNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
Laboratory Work ^Laboratory reports30%
TestMid-semester test20%
Examination ^End of semester examination50%

^ Mandatory to Pass


Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

ENS5561|3|1

School: Engineering

This unit information may be updated and amended immediately prior to semester. To ensure you have the correct outline, please check it again at the beginning of semester.

  • Unit Title

    Minerals and Solids Processing
  • Unit Code

    ENS5561
  • Year

    2024
  • Enrolment Period

    2
  • Version

    3
  • Credit Points

    15
  • Full Year Unit

    N
  • Mode of Delivery

    On Campus
  • Unit Coordinator

    Dr Muhammad Rizwan AZHAR

Description

There is a wide range of processing technologies used in the minerals industry with varying characteristics that determine how and why they are used. This unit provides the underpinning fundamental physical, chemical and transport processes that are important to minerals processing. A key feature of minerals processing is the influence of raw materials and market needs on processes and products. Students will learn the importance of the integrated "mine to metal" approach to process design and optimisation, to gain an understanding of the challenges that dictate the sustainable supply of these materials.

Prerequisite Rule

Students must pass 1 unit from ENS6169 or ENS3111

Equivalent Rule

Unit was previously coded ENS4114

Learning Outcomes

On completion of this unit students should be able to:

  1. Investigate the principles of physical and chemical processes that allow selective separation of minerals from ores, and of elements from mineral concentrates, metals and materials.
  2. Analyse at a qualitative level the relationship between the fundamental processes, the process objectives and the final equipment design for mineral and material processing.
  3. Select appropriate processing routes for a given ore deposit or source materials with awareness of the economic and environmental impacts.
  4. Use process flowsheets to describe the processes undertaken in mineral and material processing.

Unit Content

  1. Key issues in minerals processing from ore to recycling.
  2. Solvent extraction, ion exchange and electrowinning.
  3. Pyrometallurgical processes including kinetics and equilibria with applications in steel making and non-ferrous metals.
  4. Hydrometallurgical processes: precipitation, crystallisation and separation.
  5. Sedimentation, bubble flow, froth flotation and dewatering.
  6. Separation processes: screening, classification, gravity separation and partition curves. Dense medium separation, magnetic and electrical separation.
  7. Ore properties and grade recovery, breakage and sizing.
  8. Liberation and particle size reduction processes: comminution, blasting, crushing, grinding.
  9. Synthesis of mineral processing flowsheets.

Learning Experience

Students will attend on campus classes as well as engage in learning activities through ECU's LMS

JoondalupMount LawleySouth West (Bunbury)
Semester 113 x 1 hour labNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 113 x 2 hour lectureNot OfferedNot Offered
Semester 113 x 1 hour tutorialNot OfferedNot Offered

For more information see the Semester Timetable

Assessment

GS1 GRADING SCHEMA 1 Used for standard coursework units

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

ON CAMPUS
TypeDescriptionValue
Laboratory Work ^Laboratory reports30%
TestMid-semester test20%
Examination ^End of semester examination50%

^ Mandatory to Pass


Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005)

For the purposes of considering a request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Commonwealth 2005), inherent requirements for this subject are articulated in the Unit Description, Learning Outcomes and Assessment Requirements of this entry. The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the support for students with disabilities or medical conditions can be found at the Access and Inclusion website.

Assessment

Students please note: The marks and grades received by students on assessments may be subject to further moderation. Informal vivas may be conducted as part of an assessment task, where staff require further information to confirm the learning outcomes have been met. All marks and grades are to be considered provisional until endorsed by the relevant School Progression Panel.

Academic Integrity

Integrity is a core value at Edith Cowan University, and it is expected that ECU students complete their assessment tasks honestly and with acknowledgement of other people's work as well as any generative artificial intelligence tools that may have been used. This means that assessment tasks must be completed individually (unless it is an authorised group assessment task) and any sources used must be referenced.

Breaches of academic integrity can include:

Plagiarism

Copying the words, ideas or creative works of other people or generative artificial intelligence tools, without referencing in accordance with stated University requirements. Students need to seek approval from the Unit Coordinator within the first week of study if they intend to use some of their previous work in an assessment task (self-plagiarism).

Unauthorised collaboration (collusion)

Working with other students and submitting the same or substantially similar work or portions of work when an individual submission was required. This includes students knowingly providing others with copies of their own work to use in the same or similar assessment task(s).

Contract cheating

Organising a friend, a family member, another student or an external person or organisation (e.g. through an online website) to complete or substantially edit or refine part or all of an assessment task(s) on their behalf.

Cheating in an exam

Using or having access to unauthorised materials in an exam or test.

Serious outcomes may be imposed if a student is found to have committed one of these breaches, up to and including expulsion from the University for repeated or serious acts.

ECU's policies and more information about academic integrity can be found on the student academic integrity website.

All commencing ECU students are required to complete the Academic Integrity Module.

Assessment Extension

In some circumstances, Students may apply to their Unit Coordinator to extend the due date of their Assessment Task(s) in accordance with ECU's Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000001386.

Special Consideration

Students may apply for Special Consideration in respect of a final unit grade, where their achievement was affected by Exceptional Circumstances as set out in the Assessment, Examination and Moderation Procedures - for more information visit https://askus2.ecu.edu.au/s/article/000003318.

ENS5561|3|2