Today, Solvay launched an exclusive digital knowledge hub, the Mining Chemicals Handbook, which provides 24/7 access to relevant mining chemical application information for those active in this demanding sector. This is the first such resource in the industry, underscoring Solvay’s commitment to the industry and ongoing efforts to lead and innovate.
Originally known as The Blue Book from Cytec (which Solvay acquired in 2015), this valuable resource has a long legacy. Building on that heritage, it has now been updated, digitised and expanded upon to better reflect the current challenges facing the industry, as well as the changing content consumption patterns of mine personnel in the digital era.
Solvay’s new Mining Chemicals Handbook, or MCH, delivers the company’s extensive expertise and application know-how, along with current reagent data, to each user’s desktop or handheld device. The hub also includes a range of new tools designed to help improve clients’ performance and profitability.
“Interactive features,” notes Nicolas Renaud, Solvay’s Digital Business Transformation Director, “include value calculators to explore the impact of reagent selection and operational changes on plant performance. Through the knowledge hub, Solvay will also provide current information about its field work and research, which can serve as guidance for mines facing similar challenges.”
Renaud told IM: “One of the reasons we are moving this resource online is that a static system doesn’t make sense anymore. The last Blue Book was published in 2010. We want to be able to give customers the latest mining chemistry information as of today not from ten years ago. Customers have been asking us for the last five years when the next version was coming out. With this we hope we have given them a more dynamic version for the future and one where the knowledge is easier to access.”
The new resource includes almost the entire product range – well over 95% – that Solvay sells to mining focussed on flotation reagents and solvent extraction. This largely came from Cytec but it also includes some products that Solvay acquired with its 2011 takeover of Rhodia. The only current exclusions are Solvay peroxides, used in gold and silver leaching plus there are cases where specific tailor-made reagent blends are supplied to customers for their specific ores which are not all covered.
Solvay Special Projects and Business Development Director,The Blue Book story began in 1907 when American Cyanamid was formed, and began publishing technical bulletins including one from 1930 titled: “Sodium Aerofloat – its Properties and Applications.” By 1937 it was publishing Ore Dressing Notes on flotation reagents and in 1953 a book called Heavy Media Separation Processes for Mineral Concentration came out. The first titled Mineral Chemicals Handbook that later became known as the Blue Book appeared in 1976 with another three editions after that, the last two being under the Cytec name which was spun off from Cyanamid in 1993. Solvay then acquired Cytec in 2015. The Blue Book had and has a somewhat legendary status in the mining chemicals industry and was a coveted gift to customers.
The new digital resource has three main sections – the handbook itself which is the in-depth content including technical white paper type articles on major mining chemicals areas such as particular types of flotation reagents for particular metals and industrial minerals. Plus there are two elements that were not in the Blue Book – a product finder to allow users to easily navigate the Solvay mining chemcials product catalogue. Then there is a tools and calculator section that is a useful resource that can be used offline in remote sites for example, equipped with features like unit conversions plus metallurgical and value calculators.
Looking at the handbook part – this is divided into mineral processing, industrial minerals, alumina processing and solvent extraction. Mineral processing for example has a section devoted to new innovations in flotation reagents that are being brought to the market covering what the innovation is about, product specific usage (eg copper-moly separation) and in-use parameters. You can also search by ore types. There are illustrations, links to research, evaluations of the reagent in a lab and plant context. But there are also video links in places showing mining chemical case stories and application examples. Customers can also download datasheets on products.
“The launch of the new Mining Chemicals Handbook is one milestone in delivering on our broader digital ambition,” explains Martin de Saignes, Executive Vice President, Mining Solutions at Solvay. “We believe mining chemistry has the power to be ‘smart.’ With access to the right plant data, reagent formulation and selection have the potential to be dynamic. This means that reagents can be tailored to the ore type and processing conditions at any point in time. Tailoring reagents starts with solid foundational insights. In this sense, Solvay’s new digital hub links our know-how and ambition with our customers’ needs.”
On the hub itself, he adds: “Welcome to the Mining Chemical Handbook. As a solution provider to the mining industry for more than 100 years, we are continually identifying new ways to share our latest work, technologies and insights to help mines maximise the performance of their operations. We invite you to explore our digital knowledge hub and to check back frequently as we add new content.”
Those interested in can request access to the new digital handbook at: https://www.solvay.com/en/brands/mining-chemicals-handbook
