2654 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
recovery compromise. Then a second area of interest can be
highlighted, the purple one, where high recoveries are asso-
ciated with already enriched concentrate (ER of about 3).
Here, adding a cleaner could improve the grade/recovery
compromise (Figure 4).
Hydrodynamics Conditions
Hydrodynamics conditions, i.e., air flow rate and rotor
speed, were studied to investigate their impact on the recov-
ery of lepidolite for samples with various desliming size.
Results of the design of experiments are plotted in terms
of grade and recovery either using surface reponses or iso-
recovery or iso-grade lines. Such information are displayed
for the flotation stage only (Figure 5) and for the whole
flowsheet (Figure 6).
Considering only the flotation stage, it appears that
grade is mostly impact by the air flow rate, whereas recover-
ies depend on the rotor speed (Figure 5). This is highlighted
by modelling both grade and recovery, according to:
..74 *
.**
.*
R xdesliming
x x
x
90 55 5
2 08 5.28
4 07
desliming
Li O
RotorSpeed
RotorSpeed
2
2
2
=+
+-
-
Figure 5. (a) Surface response of lithium recovery and (b) iso-recovery (blue line) and iso-enrichement ratio (green line) for the
flotation step. Plot built for a desliming size of 40µm
Figure 6. (a) Surface response of lithium recovery and (b) iso-recovery (blue line) and iso-enrichement ratio (green line) for the
whole flowsheet. Plot built for a desliming size of 40µm
recovery compromise. Then a second area of interest can be
highlighted, the purple one, where high recoveries are asso-
ciated with already enriched concentrate (ER of about 3).
Here, adding a cleaner could improve the grade/recovery
compromise (Figure 4).
Hydrodynamics Conditions
Hydrodynamics conditions, i.e., air flow rate and rotor
speed, were studied to investigate their impact on the recov-
ery of lepidolite for samples with various desliming size.
Results of the design of experiments are plotted in terms
of grade and recovery either using surface reponses or iso-
recovery or iso-grade lines. Such information are displayed
for the flotation stage only (Figure 5) and for the whole
flowsheet (Figure 6).
Considering only the flotation stage, it appears that
grade is mostly impact by the air flow rate, whereas recover-
ies depend on the rotor speed (Figure 5). This is highlighted
by modelling both grade and recovery, according to:
..74 *
.**
.*
R xdesliming
x x
x
90 55 5
2 08 5.28
4 07
desliming
Li O
RotorSpeed
RotorSpeed
2
2
2
=+
+-
-
Figure 5. (a) Surface response of lithium recovery and (b) iso-recovery (blue line) and iso-enrichement ratio (green line) for the
flotation step. Plot built for a desliming size of 40µm
Figure 6. (a) Surface response of lithium recovery and (b) iso-recovery (blue line) and iso-enrichement ratio (green line) for the
whole flowsheet. Plot built for a desliming size of 40µm