FLOTATION
As ore grades continue to decline , mining operations face the challenge of grinding minerals finer to separate valuables metals from non-valuables . However , excessive fines pose recovery challenges , leading to losses in valuable metals . Following Metso ’ s extensive R & D , the Concorde Cell™ has emerged to recover unachievable fine and ultra-fine particles . Thus , increasing profitability while reducing operating costs , energy consumption and water usage .
This patented technology – the first of its kind – is tailored for finely disseminated and complex orebodies that were once considered inaccessible . For optimal results , it works best when used in conjunction with TankCell ® technology , as both are part of Metso ’ s Planet Positive offering and ensure unmatched metallurgical performance .
“ Combining the well-proven TankCell technology with Concorde Cells is a low-risk and high-benefit approach ,” Antti Rinne , VP Flotation at Metso says . “ The cell produces very high shear and extremely fine bubbles , which increases fine and ultrafine particle recovery .”
He adds : The TankCell remains the industry starting point for most of the recent big mine expansions or large new greenfield mines . Ramp up times have been very short and TankCell is a robust , flexible and highly proven technology . At the same time , we are making a lot of progress in understanding to what extent we can use emerging faster kinetics devices like our Concorde Cell in conjunction with TankCells . These new technologies have the ability to separate faster and with greater efficiency .”
In the real world you get ore variability and sometimes far more than anticipated , including changes in your main ore and host rock , clays plus fluctuation in grades and particle sizes , varying chemistry and water quality amongst other factors that impact overall flotation performance . " TankCell is ubiquitous in the industry because it has proven over and over again it is able to handle these variations – whatever happens it provides recovery consistently ."
Jord is in the process of fabricating a pilot scale NovaCell unit for testing at multiple customer sites
Creative collectors
Paul Moore looks at the cutting edge of froth flotation technologies , including a taste of some of the topics that will be presented at the forthcoming Flotation ‘ 23 conference in Cape Town in November
But Concorde Cells ’ addition Rinne says can allow you to recover portions of mineral that it would be hard to separate with anything else – especially the finer particles . “ This is where our TankCell plus Concorde Cell concept has come from . We have seen that whenever you have a single line of TankCells in a flotation plant , Concorde Cell really performs very well up front in the circuit scalping duties . When you have the
best possible and highest grade ore coming in , it is capable of very high recoveries even to the point of a final concentrate . It also decreases the load on the cleaner circuits dramatically and gives the scavenging cells an easier job . Also it is removing the well liberated fine particles right at the start of flotation so less of those fines end up recirculating , being overground and wasting energy . Tied to that these fines are also quite often of high grade so it is very beneficial to be able to recover them .”
Today , over 10 flotation projects worldwide are deploying the Concorde Cell , though not all of them are operational yet – they include copper , molybdenum , nickel , gold and PGMs amongst other applications . Several of these are already running and are using the Concorde Cell in various flotation duties and Rinne says are obtaining very consistent positive results . “ Of course , it remains a new technology so there are a lot of real world learnings to be made but I would say wherever we deploy the Concorde Cell it provides benefit – it is about where we can maximise that benefit for the customer .”
Overall as it increases efficiency it also has the potential to decrease plant footprint , so that is another sustainability benefit . Depending on the specific project Rinne adds that there may be the possibility to have more Concorde Cell units than TankCells or vice versa , it will depend on the nature of the ore type and complexity .
And the technology development is ongoing . “ Concorde Cell was developed initially to deal with fines , but as we go up in particle size it is still showing efficiency improvement – even to mid-size particle range of 100 micron for instance . We are also looking at larger capacity Concorde Cells – more towards roughing applications . But we are doing all of this in a very measured , step by step approach .”
But taking the technology into the future , is there potential in having an all Concorde Cell flotation plant ? This has been achieved by other emerging technologies at a very limited number of sites – but it is still very much the exception rather than the rule . “ In the right application with a straightforward flowsheet , a full Concorde Cell plant has to potential to outperform a traditional flotation plant by some distance – but it is a new technology so it needs to become more widely used in a more traditional setting first so that customers can better understand it and what it is capable of .”
Rinne did add though that one option for Concorde Cell is to use it to upgrade other emerging tech cells due to its better performance and said that this has already been done at a couple of sites . “ Metso has also developed a Concorde Blast Tube upgrade which unlocks the potential of customers with existing selfaspirated pneumatic flotation cells . This direct retrofit to Concorde Cell technology offers a seamless transition , ideal for complex ores . The forced air Blast Tubes handle fresh feed and tailings recycling , enabling finer grinding without losing valuable particles . Advanced air control
32 International Mining | OCTOBER 2023