FLOTATION TECHNOLOGY
China ’ s BGRIMM continues global expansion
China ’ s BGRIMM Technology Group offers its KYF forced-air cell , BF self-aspirated cell as well as flotation columns worldwide . Outside of its home Chinese market where it has over 85 % market share , BGRIMM has successfully exported flotation solutions to global operations like Chinalco ’ s Toromocho copper project in Peru , Syrah ’ s Balama graphite mine in Mozambique , the Pasar copper operation in the Philippines , the Al-Masane copperzinc mine and the Oufuman Aton phosphate mine in Saudi Arabia , the Palut gold mine in Tajikistan , Yukon Zinc ’ s Wolverine project in Canada ( currently on care and maintenance ), Lynas ’ Mt Weld rare earths project , Northern Minerals ’ Browns Range rare earths project , Pilbara Minerals ' Pilgangoora lithium operation and Cudeco Rocklands ’ copper project all in Australia , the Newfoton apatite project in Russia , Chifeng LXML ’ s Sepon gold project in Laos , the Nokeng fluorspar , Tharisa platinum and Palabora copper mines in South Africa , Chambishi copper mine in Zambia , and West Shansu copper and cobalt mine in DRC . Its success in Africa has come by working with dealer Roytec Global , based in Modderfontein , South Africa .
A key milestone in its global presence with larger cells was in 2008 , when BGRIMM started to sell 320 m 3 cells ( KYF-320 ) and besides its large volume installations in China , 28 units were adopted by Toromocho copper mine in Peru . The KYF-680 machine , a new generation forced-air flotation cell , developed by BGRIMM in recent years has a capacity of 680 m 3 making it the largest flotation cell in the world in the present . The first unit has been installed , tested and is currently operating at the DeXing copper mine in China to reprocess the tailings . The cell was launched in 2018 and has run through 2019 . BGRIMM says the year-long monitoring shows the stable performance of the cell and the overall recovery rate of the flotation plant has been increased by 1.48 % steadily .
Stepwise arrangement of flotation cells is the most common layout for flotation circuit in mineral processing industry . In such design , slurry flows from upstream to downstream by gravity and the middling products are returned to previous stages by pumps . BGRIMM also provides an alternative solution to clients and a type of slurry-suction flotation cell is adopted so that all the flotation cells can be placed on a same horizontal platform and no pumps are needed for middling product transferring . As a typical application , Jinchuan nickel mine cut the footprint of its flotation circuit by 24 % and reduced the building height by 3.2 m .
The latest big African success is at Palabora Mining Company in South Africa and the supply of seven specially designed 320 m 3 large coarse and high density particle flotation cells . The PMC project started production in 2019 . The mineral particle size of flotation feeding is P80 = 15 m , and the slurry density is 1.38 t / m 3 . In addition , the settling velocity of mineral particles is very high . The BGRIMM 320 m 3 flotation cells can restart in the event of a stop of more than 120 minutes . Also , the flotation recovery and grade are better than before . Most recently , BGRIMM has supplied cells for Anglo American ’ s Fines Flotation Pilot Plant at the Mogalakwena North platinum concentrator in South Africa .
BGRIMM cells at Sepon gold mine in Laos
The Sepon gold mine has been expanded to 8,000 t / d in 2020 . BGRIMM supplied six sets of KYF-160 and three sets of KYF-70 Flotation cells . The feed grade of Au is 2.3 g / t and the mass pull is low . BGRIMM provided the client with a solution for the flotation circuit , based on the unique characteristics of the mine . The COVID-19 pandemic brought serious negative impacts to the manufacturing industry in China at the beginning of the year , but BGRIMM still delivered the flotation equipment on time . The project just finished commissioning recently and the expected recovery rate has been achieved , BGRIMM told IM .
Woodgrove proves upgrading capabilities at multiple projects
Woodgrove Technologies and its Staged Flotation Reactor ( SFR ) flotation technology has caused something of a stir in the industry in recent years by being selected to supply complete flotation plants when up against the two already discussed market leaders , while also delivering small banks of cells both before regrind on rougher tailings but also after regrind of the rougher concentrate to address increased mineral loading to the cleaner circuit .
NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020 | International Mining 31