Kemira Innovative Chemistries for Mining Applications

With the mining industry under increased pressure to conserve water, we understand the important role water treatment plays in production efficiency and environmental compliance.

Kemira’s expertise in water quality and quantity management enables us to add value to water-intensive processes and optimize water use and re-use. Through our extensive knowledge of mining processes and tailings management, we reduce customer costs and improve their yields.

Our in-depth understanding of defoamers, dispersants, flocculants and coagulants, scale control, iron-ore pelletization, tailings treatment and slurry preservation is backed by highly qualified application specialists, quality manufacturing and sophisticated supply chain management.

Defoamers for mining applications

We are a worldwide market leader in foam control technology offering a complete line of environmentally compliant and process-friendly defoamers suitable for mining applications.

Our product line includes silicone emulsion and silicone-free defoamers to meet all of your defoaming needs. Whether it is in flotation, wastewater treatment or other specific applications, our team of experts can tailor defoamer chemistry to address problems in any environment.

Kemira’s global defoamer plants are back-integrated and manufacture most of the components used in the product line. These include hydrophobic silicas, fatty amides, polymeric additives and surfactant and silicone chemistries.

Dispersant technology for mineral grinding and dispersion

Process recovery varies substantially depending on the ore, the combination of metals present in the ore, and the grade of the ore being processed. We are a leader in dispersant technology, which is effective for mineral grinding and dispersion and is used to maximize throughput and aid in transport and handling.

Our KemEcal™ dispersant product line spans a large number of acrylic-based polymers and copolymers of varying molecular weights, pH, termination routes, charge densities and functionalities for desired performance characteristics.

Water-based dispersants to aid in transport and handling

Kemira’s water-based dispersant polymers and formulations are designed to improve processing efficiency, aid in transportation, improve handling and provide end-use product quality benefits. They are effective in dispersing and stabilizing a wide range of high-solids mineral slurries including kaolin clay, calcium carbonate, lime, gypsum, iron oxide and other minerals.

Our products reduce the viscosity of clay and carbonate, as well as solids containing clay and carbonate as waste product, allowing for easier transport and processing. Where a reduction in particle size is needed, our products are used as effective grinding aids.

Flocculants and coagulants for mining operations

Kemira’s Superfloc® line of flocculants and coagulants is engineered to improve throughput, enhance your yield and optimize processes in mining applications. We offer a broad mineral-processing product line covering a wide variety of ionic charges, molecular weights, chemical types and physical forms.

Our dry powder flocculants exhibit consistent quality and high active polymer content. Our proprietary sieving process eliminates many dust fines and reduces human exposure and slippery residue in the make-down area. We offer anionic, non-ionic and cationic dry powder flocculants effective in concentrate tailings thickening, high rate thickener, filtration and acidic liquor clarification applications. Kemira’s products are free of nonylphenol and all nonionic and anionic powder flocculants contain less than 500ppm of acrylamide residuals.

We also manufacture a range of high-performance emulsion flocculants designed to lower costs in mining applications. Our proprietary emulsion breaker and carrier systems reduce polymer emulsion settling rates and result in the low formation of insoluble materials.

Our broad range of aluminum and iron-based coagulants will enable you to meet your water treatment quality standards. Inorganic coagulants and other novel chemistries are also effective for the removal of selenium, arsenic and other undesirable contaminants.

KemPel™ organic binders for iron-ore pelletization

KemPel organic binders for agglomeration of iron-ore can be used as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, bentonite in the pelletization process.

Kemira is working in cooperation with leading pellet producers, industry leaders like Outotec and research centers such as IPT in São Paulo to accelerate the introduction of our technology into commercial pelletization processes worldwide.

Scale control for mining applications

KemGuard® scale inhibitors can inhibit precipitation of insoluble alkaline earth metal salts, alter crystal morphology, disperse silt sludge and biological matter, stabilize calcium phosphate and provide iron transport. Our scale inhibitors are recommended for use in heap leach systems, CIL or CIP circuits, filtration systems prone to scale formation, control of scale formation in activated carbon columns, prevention of evaporative scale on spray nozzles, sprinkler systems and other areas of mining processing.

KemGuard scale inhibitors are effective over a wide range of pH and hardness levels and exhibit excellent thermal stability. They are typically compatible with commonly used chemistries, such as organic and inorganic oxidizing chemicals often used in water treatment.