FLOTATION steelmakers to convert their steel production from the traditional BF / BOF process to the less CO 2 emitting DRI / EAF process , Quebec Iron Ore ( QIO ) developed an innovative flowsheet modification to upgrade the quality of its current product to meet the growing demand for DR grade iron ore .
The authors state : ” Although a reduction in grind size ( increased milling energy ) and use of traditional flotation can and is applied to generate a less than 2.5 % SiO 2 DR grade iron product , QIO , BBA and Eriez developed a coarse flotation upgrade process capable of producing a 1 % SiO 2 DR grade concentrate at nearly two times the target grind size and with improved global Fe recovery compared to conventional milling and flotation processes . Using a combination of hindered bed density separation and Eriez HydroFloat , this process also minimises dust generation during material handling and improves moisture control during transportation of the iron ore product due to the increased coarseness of the iron ore concentrate .”
This presentation will summarise the successful demonstration of Eriez HydroFloat technology at a laboratory scale to produce a coarse DR grade iron ore product with improvements in global flotation efficiency , maximisation of the target / required grind size , and minimisation of flotation reagent consumption ; all of which contribute to the decarbonisation of iron and steelmaking efforts .
Maelgwyn tests Imhoflot G-Cell at KGHM
Also at Flotation ‘ 23 the paper ‘ Application of pneumatic Imhoflot™ G-Cell in recovering fine particles : a case study of KGHM copper ore ’ will be presented , led led by Duong Huu Hoang , the Applied R & D Lead from Maelgywn Mineral Services plus his colleague Ahmad Hassanzadeh , with Paweł Kurzydło and Paweł Kwiatkowski from KGHM as well as Rainer Imhof , Lucas Pereira and Martin Rudolph from the Department of Processing at Helmholtz-Institute Freiberg for Resource Technology .
The depletion of deposits and ever-increasing metal demand requires the processing of lowgrade , complex , and finely disseminated ores and reprocessing of tailings . The authors say that even though flotation is capable of handling relatively fine particles , the use of conventional tank cells is limited in such cases . “ This study presents the results of applying a semi-industrial pneumatic G-Cell ( tangential feed to the separator vessel with 1.4 m diameter , throughput is 20 - 30 m 3 / h ) at KGHM Polkowice plant , one of the biggest copper concentrators in Europe . The testworks were conducted on three stream lines ie scavenger , cleaner , and final tailings using four different aerator designs with different operating parameters ( feed flowrate , air flowrate , and recycling load ). It demonstrated that G-Cell with advanced aerator concepts can be applied for
Maelgwyn ' s Imhoflot G-Cell has been trialled at KGHM ' s Polkowice plant , one of the biggest copper concentrators in Europe
plant expansions and retrofits to existing conventional cells to improve flotation performance , especially to reduce losses of fine copper-bearing particles to tailings .”
Black mass , the fine fraction from spent Li-ion batteries , needs to be recycled both for its valuable metal oxides and spheroidised graphite particles . Still , current recycling techniques show
BGRIMM large cells in the new energy mineral industry
The rapid deployment of new energy technologies as part of energy transitions implies a significant increase in demand for minerals . The types of mineral resources used vary by technology . Lithium , nickel , cobalt , manganese and graphite are crucial to battery performance , longevity and energy density . Especially , the requirement for lithium and graphite is growing sharply .
Flotation is one of the main processes to recover these minerals from their ores .
Xuesai Fan at Chinese flotation technology leader BGRIMM told IM : “ Different from bulk non-ferrous metals , such as copper , molybdenum , lead , zinc , it requires more consideration of coarse solid suspension and floating , and the large mass pull of froth for lithium and graphite flotation . Owing to these characteristics and several years of depressed prices of these materials , conventional large flotation cells can ’ t meet their requirements for processing .” He says in these flotation plants , smaller flotation cells are preferred and chosen in China . BGRIMM has devoted a lot of resources to studying and developing distinctive technology to improve the flotation performance of the large cells for these new energy minerals .
Fan comments : “ Yichun district , in Jiangxi province , is rich in lithium , that mainly exists in lepidolite . The total amount of lithium oxide resources is about 9 Mt , and the grade of lithium oxide is mostly about 0.2-0.6 %, equivalent to about 22 Mt of lithium carbonate . The capacity of the flotation plants is less than 2,000 t / d , and the largest size of flotation cell is 4 m ³. With the price of lithium carbonate increasing sharply , the lithium battery company enterprises CATL , GOTION and others have entered into the mining industry . For example , a world-class lepidolite mine has been invested in and is being completed by CATL , of which the
annual capacity is 3.3 Mt .” Fan says that for flotation process , there are two parallel lines of BGRIMM cells , including 15 sets of HIF-320 m 3 flotation cells in each line . Since the particle size of the feed is -0.3 mm ( - 74 microns approximately 35 %), the technology in these HIF flotation cells has elevated the position of the rotor and shortened the distance between the rotor and lip , to decrease the particle-bubble attachment transportation distance . “ The froth of lepidolite flotation is viscid and has poor flowability . For enhancing froth recovery , a rotated scraper assembly was developed for these 320 m3 flotation cells . Now , one line is in operation , and the flotation performance has met expectation .”
Moving on to graphite , its demand has grown 25 times from 140,000 t in 2020 to over 3,500,000 t in 2040 ( IEA , International Energy Agency ). The graphite production of China accounts for more than 60 % of the world . Hegang , in Heilongjiang province , has abundant graphite resources . “ The known ore reserves reached 1.731 billion tons , mainly crystalline graphite . 80 % of natural graphite anode materials of the new energy power batteries , and the natural graphite used by battery companies , such as Betray , Samsung , LG , etc , come from Hegang . And these battery companies are suppliers of Tesla , Toyota , BYD and other automobile companies .” In sharp contrast , the flotation plants until now have been mostly small scale in Luobei . Due to poor coarse particles recovery and strong hydrophobicity and drainage ability of graphite froth , the maximum size of the cells was 40 m 3 . “ With the BGRIMM technology of flotation cell development , 16 sets of 100 m 3 forced-air HIF / KYF combination flotation cells have been applied at a China Minmetals Project in Luobei , with a processing capacity of 7,500 t / d . The particle size of feeding is -0.074 mm , accounting for 40 %. The graphite recovery rate is 85 % and the grade is 95 %, and more than 11 % of + 0.15 mm particles in the concentrate .”
OCTOBER 2023 | International Mining