2356 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
increases with increasing particle size, so when bubbles are
the means of delivering collector to particles, preferential
collector coverage on coarser particles is possible.
From these results, we can conclude:
• The ore used in this study exhibits a high degree of
natural floatability. This is likely masking some of the
effects of the different collector dosing methods.
• The continuous addition of a collector does not
appear to have any significant benefit towards copper
recovery in a conventional flotation system
• Small gains in coarse particle recovery are evident
when the collector is added with both aero- and zero
methods. However, these relative gains disappear at
higher reagent dosages.
• The main benefit of this for conventional systems
appears to be an improved ability to control the rela-
tive balance between grade and recovery, and it is
likely to be beneficial in cleaning circuits where the
grade is paramount.
• The second benefit is the potential to reduce the
overall quantity of reagent used within the flota-
tion circuit. Low reagent use has many significant
benefits beyond cost—most reagents are environ-
mentally harmful, and the ability to operate at mini-
mum reagent dosage will eliminate excess collector
reporting to tailings dam water, causing harm to the
aquatic fauna and flora.
• The improvement in the recovery of coarser particles
is noteworthy and raises the possibility that aerosol
collector dosing will yield significantly better recov-
eries in coarse particle flotation.
FUTURE WORK
The results in this study show only limited potential for
aerosol collector dosing to improve mineral recovery in
conventional flotation systems because finer particles can
be made hydrophobic enough to float using conventional
collector dosing methods. Nonetheless, the results show
promise for coarse particle recovery, so the logical next step
is to apply aerosol collector dosing methods on a flotation
system designed for coarse particle flotation. This work is
currently in progress at the JKMRC using a HFMini flui-
dised bed flotation cell, which is a laboratory scale version
of the HydroFloat ™ (Verster, 2023).
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
No collector
Batch, Lo
Zero, Lo
Aero, Lo
Batch, Hi
Zero, Hi
Aero, Hi
-38 um +38-75 um +75 um
Figure 4. Copper distribution by size in the concentrate for the fine (–38µm), middling
(–38µm to +75µm) and coarse (+75µm) size classes for the different dosing methods at
low and high collector dosage rates
increases with increasing particle size, so when bubbles are
the means of delivering collector to particles, preferential
collector coverage on coarser particles is possible.
From these results, we can conclude:
• The ore used in this study exhibits a high degree of
natural floatability. This is likely masking some of the
effects of the different collector dosing methods.
• The continuous addition of a collector does not
appear to have any significant benefit towards copper
recovery in a conventional flotation system
• Small gains in coarse particle recovery are evident
when the collector is added with both aero- and zero
methods. However, these relative gains disappear at
higher reagent dosages.
• The main benefit of this for conventional systems
appears to be an improved ability to control the rela-
tive balance between grade and recovery, and it is
likely to be beneficial in cleaning circuits where the
grade is paramount.
• The second benefit is the potential to reduce the
overall quantity of reagent used within the flota-
tion circuit. Low reagent use has many significant
benefits beyond cost—most reagents are environ-
mentally harmful, and the ability to operate at mini-
mum reagent dosage will eliminate excess collector
reporting to tailings dam water, causing harm to the
aquatic fauna and flora.
• The improvement in the recovery of coarser particles
is noteworthy and raises the possibility that aerosol
collector dosing will yield significantly better recov-
eries in coarse particle flotation.
FUTURE WORK
The results in this study show only limited potential for
aerosol collector dosing to improve mineral recovery in
conventional flotation systems because finer particles can
be made hydrophobic enough to float using conventional
collector dosing methods. Nonetheless, the results show
promise for coarse particle recovery, so the logical next step
is to apply aerosol collector dosing methods on a flotation
system designed for coarse particle flotation. This work is
currently in progress at the JKMRC using a HFMini flui-
dised bed flotation cell, which is a laboratory scale version
of the HydroFloat ™ (Verster, 2023).
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
No collector
Batch, Lo
Zero, Lo
Aero, Lo
Batch, Hi
Zero, Hi
Aero, Hi
-38 um +38-75 um +75 um
Figure 4. Copper distribution by size in the concentrate for the fine (–38µm), middling
(–38µm to +75µm) and coarse (+75µm) size classes for the different dosing methods at
low and high collector dosage rates