FLOTATION_proof 25/05/2016 10:20 Page 6
FLOTATION
collectors and defoamers for phosphate
beneficiation operations and phosphoric acid
production facilities. These new products along
with Solvay’s application expertise are allowing
customers to increase production without costly
capital expansions while lowering their overall
production costs,” explained Greg Flieg, Global
Business Director for Solvay’s Industrial Minerals
business line. “We have initiated new research
programs targeting key challenges faced by
today’s iron ore producers and are continuously
looking for additional opportunities to bring new
technology to the industrial minerals market.”
Solvay’s technical service team helps
customers drive efficiency from existing assets by
assisting operations in maximising plant
throughput, conducting metallurgical and
physical audits of the plants and identifying
improvement opportunities. “From our research
groups to the application specialists in the field,
we are dedicated to assisting our customers to
achieve the most out of their operations. Working
closely with our customers allows us to
continuously innovate and effectively address the
needs and challenges of the industry,” says
Chuck Price, Executive Vice President of Solvay’s
Mining Solutions business.
To help process more challenging reserves,
Solvay developed a range of selective collectors
and modifiers to allow operations to achieve
desired metallurgical results. Recently operations
19th International Seminar on
Paste and Thickened Tailings
in Latin and North America and Eurasia adopted a
formulation based on its neutral circuit
promoters (NCPs) including selective collectors
such as AERO® XD-5002 and AERO 5100 and
unique AEROPHINE® chemistry. “In combination
with our family of CYQUEST® modifiers and AERO
depressants, this solution was able to improve
recovery of the base metals, mainly Cu, and
achieve concentrate grade by rejecting penalty
elements such as Sb, F and As and controlling
insolubles such as talc and serpentine.”
The safety and environmental aspects of
mineral processing have been always a major
component of innovation for Solvay. “We are
continuing the successful introduction of the
AERO 7260HFP depressant family in the Cu/Mo
separation process, replacing around 50% of the
NaSH consumption,” said Ricardo Cap anema,
Global Business Director for Solvay’s Mineral
Processing business line. “This reduces the
treatment cost and significantly reduces the
exposure of employees to the risks of handling
NaSH.” Solvay is also seeing much success in
replacing xanthate with more selective reagents
in several operations. For example, recent Ni
operations in Canada have adopted a collector
scheme using AEROPHINE technology and
reducing the need of dosing xanthates, a product
that has handling concerns due to its combustible
properties and the release of CS2 during application.
Solvay is also engaged in developments on
coarse particle flotation to allow for energy
consumption reduction during the comminution
step. Additionally, chemical technologies are
creating an opportunity to maximise sulphur
recovery in several operations, enabling more
efficient tailings management and reducing the
risk of acid drainage.
Sulphide flotation
As B. Ramos and colleagues in the Mining
Chemicals division of Chevron Phillips Chemical
Co, note in a 2016 SME paper, “sulphide mineral
flotation operations continuously strive for a
balance between optimising copper sulphide
mineral recovery while rejecting iron sulphide
minerals.”
It is their opinion that “predominately the
most effective, and economical, reagents for
sulphide mineral recovery fall within the thiol
collector family.” Chevron Phillips Chemical has
developed a family of reagents that have
demonstrated the ability to keep copper sulphide
mineral recovery, improve molybdenite recovery,
while selectively minimising recovery of iron
sulphides; mainly pyrite, pyrrhotite, and
arsenopyrite.
Discussions in the paper include test data using
Orfom® MC Collectors in copper-molybdenum
ores, copper-gold ores, and copper-molybdenumzinc ores. The presentation also discussed
flotation parameters including pH, retention time,
ARE AS OF INTE REST
E XECU TIVE COMMIT TE E
Paste • Thickening • Filtering •
Rheology • Chemicals • Tailings slurry
transport • Pumping • Tailings beach
slope • Testing • Case studies
chair
Hubert González
Tailings and Water
Management Manager,
SCM Minera Lumina Copper,
Chile
July 5~8
executive director
Carlos Barahona
General Manager, Gecamin,
Chile
Hotel Grand Hyatt, Santiago, Chile
SPECIAL DISCOUNTS
technic al coordinator
Sergio Barrera
Senior Tailings Consultant,
Delfing, Chile
for companies
Register in paste2016.com
FOUNDING BO DY
O RG ANIZ E R
INS TIT U TIONAL PAR TNE R S
AUSTRALIAN CENTRE
FOR GEOMECHANICS
JUNE 2016 | International Mining 99