FLOTATION
including other vendors to test and supply equipment , and then to assist the owner to assess the outcomes and make adjustments , and one of those vendors was Weir . We learned that the high abrasion caused by monodisperse coarse ore slurries requires special lining materials and computational techniques to predict wear . We also learned that optimised feed classification can have a positive impact on the mass balance and performance of the CPF circuit .”
The other big and exciting news from Eriez is the announcement that Weir Minerals and Eriez Flotation have announced a cooperative agreement to design and develop CPF systems . Weir Minerals has families of products in wear linings and wet slurry classification , so Wasmund argues that they are well suited to this role . “ The combination of pumps , cyclones , classification equipment , and other mill circuit products supplied by Weir Minerals , along with Eriez ’ game-changing HydroFloat , StackCell ® , columns and sparging systems , allows owners to take advantage of well-matched equipment designed and tested as a system . This makes Weir a natural fit for contributing to CPF flowsheets .”
The non-exclusive cooperation agreement sees Weir and Eriez supporting each other in offering coarse particle flotation flowsheets to customers , who have the option to consider Weir and Eriez packages together or separately . This cooperative model is fundamentally different from the traditional OEM model of lumping multiple equipment offerings under a single vendor .
“ The other advantage of this arrangement is that in the future , owner ’ s teams will have the possibility to test the integration of Weir and Eriez equipment at the piloting and demonstration scale , thereby reducing perceived technical risk in project development . At Eriez , we believe that this partnership will help the CPF ecosystem to grow more quickly and will benefit our customers who are using this technology to make gamechanging improvements to the mining business .”
ProProcess – perfecting mobile flotation pilot plants
In August 2020 South Africa ’ s ProProcess was awarded the EPC contract for a Fines Flotation Mobile Pilot Plant , which included the detailed design , assembly and water commissioning of the plant at the ProProcess premises in Johannesburg . This phase of the project was completed within eight months . Modular process plant projects have the advantage of reducing overall construction and installation time by 30 to 50 %. Further to this , ProProcess has over the past 12 years developed and optimised an inhouse project execution methodology to fabricate and assemble these plants in the
Anglo CPR plant at Quellaveco
Anglo American confirmed to IM that construction of what it calls the Coarse Particle Recovery ( CPR ) plant at the Quellaveco copper mine in Peru , which includes the Eriez HydroFloat technology , started two months ago and will be completed in H2 2023 , adding : “ As far as we know , this will be the largest CPR plant in the world in the copper industry .” Metso Outotec Vertimills are also used at Quellaveco in addition to SAG mills and ball mills , specifically to regrind the HydroFloat concentrate so that it can be returned to the flotation cells . The Quellaveco CPR plant design was completed by DRA . While learnings from El Soldado were incorporated into the design , at Quellaveco the CPR is used to scavenge coarse losses from plant tailings which is a different configuration . At Quellaveco the CPR plant will also use recycled water from the tailings thickeners , saving fresh water .
shortest time possible .
This particular modular process plant is used for platinum concentrate flowsheet optimisation and as IM reported in 2021 was supplied to Anglo American Platinum . It comprises 16 road transportable ISO frame skids conforming to 40 ft marine container dimensions . After water commissioning , the pilot plant was disassembled and transported to the client site . Site erection was completed within three weeks . Using a modular plant construction methodology removes up to 80 % of site construction activities . An added benefit that off-site construction offers is easier build control , thus these projects enjoy higher safety achievements . They also generate less material waste , reduce energy consumption and reduce the project ’ s carbon footprint , this makes the modular plant build philosophy more environmentally sustainable .
Tanja Marcus , ProProcess Process Lead told IM : “ Historically the South African mining sector executed projects in a traditional manner , due to the size of the process equipment and lack of local modular process plant specialists in this industry . The modular build project philosophy is starting to gain traction locally , especially for processes that lend themselves to this approach . ProProcess has supplied multiple modular process plant systems , where the end-user offloads the units , connects electricity and water if required , fills with chemicals if required , and starts operating the modular plant within a very short time-frame . Flotation processes are typically too large to implement using this project execution methodology . An industry trend over recent years has , however , been to prove the process flowsheet and chemistry using site operating conditions and feed material . This has seen scoping studies being conducted in laboratories and many piloting and demonstration activities taking place on location . This also holds true for minerals processing - including flotation - flowsheets .”
Marcus says the first campaign for the Fines Flotation Mobile Pilot Plant was successfully completed by the client , and further campaigns are still planned . “ The advantage of using this pilot plant on site is that the process can be tested and optimised , without affecting the output of the main process plant . Other operators have expressed interest in owning modular piloting equipment as well , not just for flotation circuits but other unit processes as well .”
Precise dosing of flotation reagents – Solvay Cube
As already stated , the recovery of precious and base metals is increasingly focused on ores with lower grade content , while mines simultaneously face pressure to reduce their environmental footprint , save energy and improve operational safety . Global flotation chemicals supplier Solvay says it addresses these needs with an encompassing approach to help mining companies optimise their processes , from more efficient processing to replacing hazardous reagents and minimising the loss of valuable minerals during flotation .
According to Genevieve Castillo , Global Marketing Manager for Solvay ’ s Mining Solutions business , as mines increasingly turn to digital solutions to support their productivity and sustainability goals , they are looking not only at equipment and process improvements , but also at adapting reagent formulations in real time with help from plant data and artificial intelligence . “ Solvay brought dynamic formulation to life with the Solvay Cube , a stateof-the-art portable dosing system designed to facilitate precise blending and dosing control of reagent chemicals . A digital mining solution , the Solvay Cube is fully connected with mill systems , enabling near-real-time , on-the-fly reagent adjustments based on plant operating data . In turn , plants get their formulation right the first time , reducing the risk of instability during trials , as well as consumption of chemicals , water and energy .”
It says adoption of the Solvay Cube continues to grow . In a recent frother application , a Mexican lead-zinc-silver mine deployed the Cube to increase silver recovery by 9 % and improve the zinc grade by 1 % while reducing insolubles .
Health , safety and environmental ( HSE ) concerns at mines come in many forms . Solvay
International Mining | OCTOBER 2022