REPROCESSING AND TAILINGS REDUCTION
Course Gangue Rejection
R
Circuit Featuring the
Eriez HydroFloat® ®
CY
Y CLONE OVERFLOW
It would also potentially result
TO CONVENTIONAL
FLOTA
T A TION
-160μ
2-ST
T AGE
SCREENS
CYC
Y CLONE
E
OW
UNDERFLO
in more metal and minerals being
recovered as cutoff grades fall in
line with the reduced need for
grinding.
FRESH MILL
FEED
Treating water right
B ALL MILL
HF CONC
TO REGRIND
+700μ
CIRCULAT
A T ING LOAD
In this example of coarse gangue rejection ERIEZ
HYDROFLOAT
A T®
from Eriez Flotation, the cyclone underflow
passes through a set of sizing unit
operations, here shown for illustrative
COARSE
purposes as a set of screens with 160-micron
TA
AIL
B ARREN T
and 700-micron apertures
Water specialist Talbot, in January,
launched a state-of-the-art mobile
unit that enables mining and
mineral resources players to test a
highly efficient and cost-effective
water treatment and mineral
product recovery solution right on
site.
conventional flotation and to regrind the
HydroFloat concentrate, a significant portion of
the tail will now be in the coarse size range.”
The proportion of final tailings that can be
produced in the coarse size class will depend on
the optimisation of the flotation process for the
HydroFloat, which will increase as the effective size
range of feed to the HydroFloat also increases.
“While the results will be application specific, it
is expected that the mass of final fine tails could
be reduced by at least 30% and replaced with the
same amount of coarse tail,” Wasmund said. “This
The mobile unit is able to demonstrate the
effectiveness of Vibrating Sheer Enhanced Process
(VSEP) technology, a solution developed by US
company New Logic Research Inc, which not only
treats highly contaminated and difficult water
streams to municipal quality, but is able to recover
valuable product from residue that would
otherwise be consigned to waste.
The VSEP membrane typically out-competes
other technologies on highly contaminated streams
that have elevated concentrations of scalants, which
solids/salts,” she told IM. “The vibration on the
VSEP module prevents these blocking or
damaging the membrane pores and flushes them
out with the brine. You can push the system much
further with minimal pre-treatment.”
In mine waters, this is critical, according to
Lipsett, as elevated and broad range contaminants
are often present. “We also see extreme pHs and
variability which simply cannot be tolerated on
traditional membrane systems.”
While treating contaminated and difficult water
streams is the main order of business for Talbot
and the VSEP, Lipsett said product recovery also
comes into the mix.
Precious metals operations, for example,
provide a strong business case for the VSEP as the
membrane can remove micro and nano particles,
where centrifuges and presses only remove the
micro particles. Should mining companies recover
this metal from the membranes, there remains the
potential for additional revenue.
And looking beyond simply metals/mineral
recovery revenue, VSEP could also allow mines to
generate general use “permeate” from their process
water. This can be used as a raw water source or
would mean less grinding energy, smaller mills
and a smaller fraction of the overall concentrator
output that needs to be dewatered and stored in a exceed the feed concentration of conventional
membranes, according to Claire Lipsett, General
Manager – Consulting Services at Talbot.
“If you concentrate a compound beyond processed further to potable quality and distributed
to local communities, according to Lipsett.
Lipsett said: “This guarantees their operating
licence and ensures their compliance to community
sustainability” – an aspect of operating a mine that
conventional fine tailing impoundment.” precipitation potential, you will produce is becoming increasingly valuable. IM
ABSOLUTE MATERIAL FLOW CONTROL
CHUTE SYSTEMS & SOLUTIONS
t0QUJNVNNBUFSJBMnPX
t6QUPEFDSFBTFJONBUFSJBMEFHSBEBUJPO
t3FEVDFEEVTUBOEOPJTFMFWFMT
t7JSUVBMMZNBJOUFOBODFGSFF
t(SFBUMZSFEVDFETQJMMBHF
t4JHOJmDBOUSFEVDUJPOJOCFMUEBNBHF
Tel: +27 (0) 11 827-9372
email: [email protected]
www.webachutes.com
MAY 2020 | International Mining 17