FLOTATION TECHNOLOGY
Rougher flotation and the Jameson Cell
Another Flotation 2025 paper outlines how the Glencore Technology Jameson Cell is increasingly being applied in rougher flotation duties as a means of debottlenecking concentrators and addressing space constraints while delivering high metallurgical performance. This paper addresses the Jameson Cell’ s effectiveness in these duties, with a particular focus on how recent design developments have enabled its use in larger throughput applications. The development of the specific suite of cells suitable for rougher and scavenger duties, capable of treating up to 4,500 t / h, represents a significant advancement in Jameson Cell technology. Central to this improvement is the introduction of a 500 mm downcomer, enabling substantial increases in single cell capacity across projects. In rougherscalping applications, the Jameson Cell has demonstrated its ability to produce final concentrate grade material, bypassing cleaning stages entirely. This paper presents operational data from recent installations in roughing applications at the Fruta del Norte and Caraíba mines. The findings demonstrate improved performance across both rougher and full flotation circuit operations. They also highlight the ability to debottleneck brownfield flotation circuits, allowing for increased concentrator throughput after the addition of a single Jameson Cell. Additionally, the data shows that overall equipment requirements can be reduced for greenfield operations, leading to more cost-effective solutions.
Lastly, as detailed in this month’ s Australian METS article, New Gold’ s installation of a Jameson Cell cleaning circuit at New Afton marks the 500th Jameson Cell worldwide— a major milestone that reinforces Glencore Technology’ s global leadership in flotation technology.
The foam substrate can be engineered with different pore sizes and the media can be tailored for the particle size distribution for the specific application. The pore size in the media defines the available surface area for mineral attachment and is analogous to the bubble surface area in froth flotation. The advantage of engineered foam media as a mineral collection mechanism is that it can be optimised for durability, surface energy, compliance, and flexibility, as well as the shape and size of the media. The industrial reticulated foam is coated and cured through industry standard processes; the cured foam sheets are then cut into cubes and vacuum packed for shipping. The contactor is a simple mixing device designed to contact the mineral slurry with the collection media. Embodiments of the contactor are a sump / pump and pipe or a horizontal rotating drum.
The circuit configuration will be a function of the feed slurry mineralogy, rheology and application space. The loaded media is separated from the slurry via a screen, either attached to the end of a horizontal drum contactor or as a standalone vibrating screen.
A recycled water rinse is used to remove the entrained gangue from the media which results in high upgrade ratios and low mass recoveries. The media is dewatered prior to the mineral removal stage with either a vibrating screen or a belt-on-belt rolls press.
The mineral is removed from the media by passing the loaded media and a release agent through a series of pumps. The release agent used in the mineral removal stage is reclaimed using a centrifuge or nano filtration stage. The reclaimed release agent
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International Mining | OCTOBER 2025