FLOTATION TECHNOLOGY
Paul Moore spoke to Glencore Technology ' s Glenn Stieper , Technology Manager for Mineral Processing about the current usage of the Jameson Cell plus its future potential
Q The Jameson Cell is often ordered for final concentrate cleaning duties . What about the Jameson Cell also lends itself so well to scalping duties ? A The Jameson Cell saw its biggest initial take up in cleaner duties . Its delivery of better final concentrates seemed to lend itself more readily in market perception to this duty . And the cleaning and recleaning market remains an important market to Glencore Technology . However , rougher duty is emerging as a source of significant gains and savings . The Jameson Cell in a rougher duty has the ability to scalp final concentrates . In one example of three Jameson Cells in a circuit , the first rougher Jameson Cell is used to scalp off 60 % of the copper at final concentrate grade and then the second and third cells are used in a more traditional rougher scalper capacity . By using the Jameson Cell as a rougher scalper , an operation creates a significant reduction in footprint within the cleaning circuit , by removing the liberated mineral to final concentrate . This allows the site to selectively and efficiently regrind their concentrate and recover the rest via a cleaning circuit . All this is made possible by the superior mixing efficiency that occurs within the downcomer of the Jameson Cell .
Q Are there also many situations where the Jameson could be used for a complete flotation plant and is HudBay ' s New Britannia an indicator of potential and trends ? A Hudbay ’ s New Britannia copper-gold operation has chosen to create a flotation circuit made entirely of Jameson Cells . The northern Manitoba operation needs to process finer grinds and higher grades of ore , and to manage costs while doing so means pursuing as small a footprint as possible , while still delivering optimised recoveries and concentrate grades . We are about to ship the Jameson Cells to New Britannia and will be commissioning them in 2021 . The full circuit of Jameson Cells is not actually a new concept . It was installed like this back in 1996 at the Philex concentrator in the Philippines . In that particular example , the full Jameson Cell circuit resulted in a 3.3 % increase in copper recovery , 2.6 % increase in copper grade and 4.5 % increase in gold recovery against the existing conventional mechanical cell circuit ( all while delivering a 67 % reduction in footprint ). It was less prominent back in the early 2000s as Glencore Technology concentrated on the coal sector for Jameson Cell . Since the company broadened to base and precious metals , the take up has been significantly broader . And with the ability to improve grade and recovery of a plant , while reducing the energy consumption up to 50 % with a smaller footprint , the Jameson Cell is now appropriately being seen as a full plant option .
Q Are customers looking at larger cells for smaller footprints ? A Glencore Technology has introduced a new high capacity Z8500 / 12 cell that will allow an operation to treat higher volumes and be able to replace roughing banks with a single cell . This means a significant advantage to large copper mines , for example . We recently promoted a design that processes 1,200 t / h of feed within a full Jameson Cell circuit and a regrind mill , all within the footprint of 41 m x 19 m which is smaller than an Olympic pool .
Q Can you detail the Curragh Coal CHPP installation and why the cell is
Jameson Cells in-situ at the Sepon gold-copper operation in Laos
so efficient in coal treatment ? Is this plant 100 % Jameson cells ? A The Jameson Cells are very competitive against other technologies . The cell doesn ’ t have the carrying capacity limitations that other technologies have . And they can deliver higher feed rate capacities using a wash-water system that allows for good selectivity , maintains stable operation with the tailings recycle system and has a long component wear life . Curragh Coal uses only Jameson Cells in their flotation circuit , currently operating two modules , each with six cells . It is treating the greatest volume and tonnage of flotation feed to recover coal fines .
Q Can you outline some interesting examples of recent projects across different regions and commodities ? A Chifeng LXML ' s Sepon Gold in Laos are currently in the phase of optimising their Jameson Cells , after going through commissioning in the last two months . This is a very exciting project as the Jameson Cell is being utilised in a number of different applications . Three of Glencore technology ’ s largest E Cell designs have been placed in the duties of preflotation , roughing and cleaning . Like any commissioning process , especially involving remote commissioning in an era of COVID-19 , there have been bumps to overcome . However , feedback from the operation is that all the Jameson Cells are operating well and achieving concentrate specification targets .
Salt Lake Potash with its Lake Way project in Western Australia is another exciting project for Glencore Technology as it is our first Jameson Cell installation into potash since 2010 . The Jameson Cell has been found to be extremely effective with potash flotation in the past and we see great potential in a market that is seeing a resurgence . The Jameson Cells are going to be installed in a two-stage rougher scavenger reverse flotation duty , with commissioning expected to occur in late 2020-early 2021 .
Over in the DRC , the Ivanhoe / Zijin-owned Kamoa-Kakula copper mine is installing Jameson Cells to produce all of their final concentrate product . They have selected to position the Jameson Cells in the popular duties of cleaner scalper and recleaner .
Planning is currently underway to have the cells commissioned for their first processing line in 2021 , and Glencore Technology have just confirmed the order of two further Jameson Cells to be installed in the second line of processing at a later date .
34 International Mining | NOVEMBER / DECEMBER 2020