Reference number : GC-2017-Q4-01873, amendment number : , agreement type : G, recipient legal name : Waters, Kristian (McGill University)|Waters, Kristian (Université McGill), recipient country : CA, recipient province : nan, recipient city : Quebec|Québec, recipient postal code : nan, program name english : Collaborative Research and Development Grants - Project, program name french : Subventions de recherche et développement coopérative - projet, program purpose english : This research proposal is targeted at two important challenges in mineral processing, and the supply of critical and strategic metals.  These are: 1) niobium recovery  and 2) fine particle flotation._x000D_
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Niobium is a vital alloying metal, with the majority found in high-grade structural steel. The second largest application is superalloys, such as in components for aircraft engines where the high thermal resistance provided by the niobium is vital.  Niobium has been included as one of the highly critical materials by the European Union, based upon the supply risk and economic importance.  The main niobium mining operations are two mines in Brazil (CatalÃ£o and Araxá), and the Niobec deposit in Quebec (Canada).  As is the case in many mining operations, valuable minerals are often lost to the tailings stream in the form of "slimes".  These slimes contain more than 2.5 % (leading to 15 % of the total mass of niobium) niobium-bearing minerals, in the form of pyrochlore and columbite.  As such, being able to recover the niobium minerals from these slimes will have a significant beneficial impact on the economic performance of a processing plant, and on the availability of this strategic metal._x000D_
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Mineral processing is very much dependent upon particle size, with each separation technique having an optimum particle size range outside of which efficiency decreases dramatically.  Flotation is the most common method of separating valuable minerals from waste; the aim of which is to selectively attach particles of a particular mineral to air bubbles by changing the surface chemistry of the minerals (valuable and waste) and the operating parameters of the flotation vessel.  This project will investigate methods of selectively recovering niobium minerals using a combination of flotation techniques, namely column flotation and floc-flotation._x000D_
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The overall aim of this project is to better understand the two flotation techniques, and to utilise this knowledge on a case study of minerals containing the strategic metal niobium.  This project is supported by Niobec (based in Quebec), which is one of the leading producers of niobium, and the largest outside of Brazil., program purpose french : This research proposal is targeted at two important challenges in mineral processing, and the supply of critical and strategic metals.  These are: 1) niobium recovery  and 2) fine particle flotation._x000D_
_x000D_
Niobium is a vital alloying metal, with the majority found in high-grade structural steel. The second largest application is superalloys, such as in components for aircraft engines where the high thermal resistance provided by the niobium is vital.  Niobium has been included as one of the highly critical materials by the European Union, based upon the supply risk and economic importance.  The main niobium mining operations are two mines in Brazil (CatalÃ£o and Araxá), and the Niobec deposit in Quebec (Canada).  As is the case in many mining operations, valuable minerals are often lost to the tailings stream in the form of "slimes".  These slimes contain more than 2.5 % (leading to 15 % of the total mass of niobium) niobium-bearing minerals, in the form of pyrochlore and columbite.  As such, being able to recover the niobium minerals from these slimes will have a significant beneficial impact on the economic performance of a processing plant, and on the availability of this strategic metal._x000D_
_x000D_
Mineral processing is very much dependent upon particle size, with each separation technique having an optimum particle size range outside of which efficiency decreases dramatically.  Flotation is the most common method of separating valuable minerals from waste; the aim of which is to selectively attach particles of a particular mineral to air bubbles by changing the surface chemistry of the minerals (valuable and waste) and the operating parameters of the flotation vessel.  This project will investigate methods of selectively recovering niobium minerals using a combination of flotation techniques, namely column flotation and floc-flotation._x000D_
_x000D_
The overall aim of this project is to better understand the two flotation techniques, and to utilise this knowledge on a case study of minerals containing the strategic metal niobium.  This project is supported by Niobec (based in Quebec), which is one of the leading producers of niobium, and the largest outside of Brazil., agreement title english : Fine particle flotation: Niobium minerals, agreement title french : Fine particle flotation: Niobium minerals, agreement number : CRDPJ, agreement value : 209775.0, agreement start date : 2018-02-07, agreement end date : nan, description english : nan, description french : nan, expected results english : nan, expected results french : nan, additional information english : Grant or Award spanning more than one fiscal year (2017-2018 to 2020-2021)., additional information french : Subvention ou bourse octroyée s'appliquant à plus d'un exercice financier (2017-2018 à 2020-2021)., owner organization : nserc-crsng, owner organization title : Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | Conseil de recherches en sciences naturelles et en génie du Canada