XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 2571
CONCLUSIONS
A novel method of increasing the contact angles of miner-
als above 150° has been developed. The propriety reagents
named tentatively Super Collectors have been tested for the
beneficiation of low-grade copper ore. Laboratory flotation
tests showed that the new reagents can greatly improve the
kinetics of flotation and, hence, the recovery. The benefits
of using Super Collectors have been determined both in
laboratory experiments and by a model-based simulation.
The model has been developed from first principles using
the hydrophobic force as a kinetic parameter. The input
parameters for the simulation include the hydrophobic
force parameters for the particles present in a feed stream to
a flotation bank and the various operating parameters such
as energy dissipation rate, feed rate, etc. Both the labora-
tory and simulation results show that the Super Collectors
are excellent promoters for coarse particle flotation. Super
Collectors can also improve the recovery of the slow-float-
ing particles present in cleaner scavenger tails to eliminate
circulating loads and thereby increase plant throughput.
REFERENCES
Abrahamson, J., 1975. Collision rates of small particles in
a vigorously turbulent fluid. Chemical Engineering
Science, 30(11), 1371–1379.Bushell, C. H. G. (1962).
Kinetics of flotation. Trans. AIME, 223, 266–278.
Clark, M. E., Brake, I., Huls, B. J., Smith, B. E., &Yu, M.
(2005). Creating value through application of flota-
tion science and technology. Centenary of Flotation
Symposium, 6–9 June,Brisbane, QLD.
Gupta, M., &Yoon, R. H. (2024). Maximizing the recovery
and throughput of a rougher flotation bank by improv-
ing the recovery of composite particles. Minerals
Engineering, 207, 108545.
Gupta, M., Huang, K., &Yoon, R. H. (2022). Predicting
the recovery and grade of a rougher flotation circuit
from liberation data. Minerals Engineering, 188,
107853.
Gupta, M., Huang, K., Noble, A., &Yoon, R. H. (2023).
Improving the performance of a low-grade por-
phyry copper ore flotation plant using a simulator
that can predict grade vs. recovery curves. Minerals
Engineering, 202, 108243.
Huang, K., Keles, S., Sherrell, I., Noble, A., &Yoon, R. H.
(2022). Development of a flotation simulator that can
predict grade vs. Recovery curves from mineral libera-
tion data. Minerals Engineering, 181, 107510.
Jameson, G. J. (2010). New directions in flotation machine
design. Minerals Engineering, 23(11–13), 835–841.
20 g/t SC-3. As shown, the use of SC greatly increased the
kinetics, resulting in a 91.6% recovery after the 5-min flo-
tation time, as compared to the 89.6% recovery in the con-
trol test. Note here that with SC a copper recovery reached
89.6% in just 3 min flotation time, demonstrating that SC
was a strong kinetics promoter. Furthermore, a size-by-size
analysis of the test products showed that SC significantly
improved coarse particle recoveries.
The authors of the present investigation developed a
flotation kinetics model using the hydrophobic force as the
major kinetic parameter (Huang et al., 2022). The model
was validated against the plant survey data obtained in a full-
scale plant operation (Gupta et al., 2023). Contributions
from the hydrophobic force were determined from the size-
by-class Kij matrix based on the contact angle matrix (qij),
which in turn was derived from the liberation matrix (mij)
of the particles present in the rougher flotation feed (Gupta
et al., 2022). In these symbols, i awnd j represent particle
size and surface liberation, respectively.
Figure 4 shows a set of two recovery vs. grade curves.
One was obtained by assuming that q =70° for the chal-
copyrite grain of composite particles coated with KAX,
while q =150° for the chalcopyrite grain coated with SC.
The detailed procedures of the simulations have been
described previously (Gupta and Yoon, 2024). As shown,
Super Collector gave substantially higher copper recoveries
than KAX but only in the region of lower product grades.
This finding suggests that Super Collector is helpful for the
recovery of composite particles. Apparently, fully liberated
particles can be readily recovered by a weaker collector such
as KAX.
Figure 4. Recovery vs. grade curves obtained by simulation
using KAX and SCs as collectors
CONCLUSIONS
A novel method of increasing the contact angles of miner-
als above 150° has been developed. The propriety reagents
named tentatively Super Collectors have been tested for the
beneficiation of low-grade copper ore. Laboratory flotation
tests showed that the new reagents can greatly improve the
kinetics of flotation and, hence, the recovery. The benefits
of using Super Collectors have been determined both in
laboratory experiments and by a model-based simulation.
The model has been developed from first principles using
the hydrophobic force as a kinetic parameter. The input
parameters for the simulation include the hydrophobic
force parameters for the particles present in a feed stream to
a flotation bank and the various operating parameters such
as energy dissipation rate, feed rate, etc. Both the labora-
tory and simulation results show that the Super Collectors
are excellent promoters for coarse particle flotation. Super
Collectors can also improve the recovery of the slow-float-
ing particles present in cleaner scavenger tails to eliminate
circulating loads and thereby increase plant throughput.
REFERENCES
Abrahamson, J., 1975. Collision rates of small particles in
a vigorously turbulent fluid. Chemical Engineering
Science, 30(11), 1371–1379.Bushell, C. H. G. (1962).
Kinetics of flotation. Trans. AIME, 223, 266–278.
Clark, M. E., Brake, I., Huls, B. J., Smith, B. E., &Yu, M.
(2005). Creating value through application of flota-
tion science and technology. Centenary of Flotation
Symposium, 6–9 June,Brisbane, QLD.
Gupta, M., &Yoon, R. H. (2024). Maximizing the recovery
and throughput of a rougher flotation bank by improv-
ing the recovery of composite particles. Minerals
Engineering, 207, 108545.
Gupta, M., Huang, K., &Yoon, R. H. (2022). Predicting
the recovery and grade of a rougher flotation circuit
from liberation data. Minerals Engineering, 188,
107853.
Gupta, M., Huang, K., Noble, A., &Yoon, R. H. (2023).
Improving the performance of a low-grade por-
phyry copper ore flotation plant using a simulator
that can predict grade vs. recovery curves. Minerals
Engineering, 202, 108243.
Huang, K., Keles, S., Sherrell, I., Noble, A., &Yoon, R. H.
(2022). Development of a flotation simulator that can
predict grade vs. Recovery curves from mineral libera-
tion data. Minerals Engineering, 181, 107510.
Jameson, G. J. (2010). New directions in flotation machine
design. Minerals Engineering, 23(11–13), 835–841.
20 g/t SC-3. As shown, the use of SC greatly increased the
kinetics, resulting in a 91.6% recovery after the 5-min flo-
tation time, as compared to the 89.6% recovery in the con-
trol test. Note here that with SC a copper recovery reached
89.6% in just 3 min flotation time, demonstrating that SC
was a strong kinetics promoter. Furthermore, a size-by-size
analysis of the test products showed that SC significantly
improved coarse particle recoveries.
The authors of the present investigation developed a
flotation kinetics model using the hydrophobic force as the
major kinetic parameter (Huang et al., 2022). The model
was validated against the plant survey data obtained in a full-
scale plant operation (Gupta et al., 2023). Contributions
from the hydrophobic force were determined from the size-
by-class Kij matrix based on the contact angle matrix (qij),
which in turn was derived from the liberation matrix (mij)
of the particles present in the rougher flotation feed (Gupta
et al., 2022). In these symbols, i awnd j represent particle
size and surface liberation, respectively.
Figure 4 shows a set of two recovery vs. grade curves.
One was obtained by assuming that q =70° for the chal-
copyrite grain of composite particles coated with KAX,
while q =150° for the chalcopyrite grain coated with SC.
The detailed procedures of the simulations have been
described previously (Gupta and Yoon, 2024). As shown,
Super Collector gave substantially higher copper recoveries
than KAX but only in the region of lower product grades.
This finding suggests that Super Collector is helpful for the
recovery of composite particles. Apparently, fully liberated
particles can be readily recovered by a weaker collector such
as KAX.
Figure 4. Recovery vs. grade curves obtained by simulation
using KAX and SCs as collectors