2902 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
plenum at the bottom. The height of the top chamber is
450 mm.
The ore sample is added to the top chamber at the start
of the test. A mixture of air and water enters this chamber
through the sintered disc, fluidising the ore sample and pro-
moting particle-bubble interactions. The hydrophobic par-
ticles attach to bubbles and then rise through the freeboard
to be collected in the overflow launder as concentrate.
The plenum allows the development of uniform flu-
idisation and bubble distribution in the upper chamber.
Fluidisation water is introduced at the base of the plenum,
below a single perforated plate. Air is also introduced into
athe plenum below the perforated plate via a separate air
sparger. The perforated plate creates back pressure, promot-
ing bubble dispersion and directing the flow upward. In this
manner, a laminar upward flow of air bubbles and water
develops in the plenum before entering the upper chamber
to fluidise the ore sample. Refer to Verster et al. (2023) for
a more detailed description of the design, development and
operation of the small-scale fluidised bed flotation device.
Site-Based Test Campaign
The small-scale fluidised bed flotation tests were conducted
on-site at a copper processing mine in Australia. The tests
were performed concurrently with a full-scale plant survey
of a newly commissioned and fully functional coarse par-
ticle flotation circuit. The coarse particle flotation circuit
is operated as a scavenger duty. The tailings of the conven-
tional circuit are further processed using the HydroFloat ®
to recover copper and other valuable metals that would
have otherwise been rejected to the final tailings. The feed
samples for the small-scale tests were collected directly
from the underflow of the second cyclone nest, feeding
the industrial HydroFloat ®, and floated immediately in the
small-scale fluidised bed device. A simplified schematic of
the flowsheet and sampling point is depicted in Figure 2.
All the small-scale flotation tests were performed using
the plant process water. Preliminary assessment determined
that the levels of residual frother in the process water was
insufficient to promote the production of fine bubbles. For
this reason, the process water was topped up with frother
Figure 2. A simplified schematic representation of the coarse particle flotation circuit
plenum at the bottom. The height of the top chamber is
450 mm.
The ore sample is added to the top chamber at the start
of the test. A mixture of air and water enters this chamber
through the sintered disc, fluidising the ore sample and pro-
moting particle-bubble interactions. The hydrophobic par-
ticles attach to bubbles and then rise through the freeboard
to be collected in the overflow launder as concentrate.
The plenum allows the development of uniform flu-
idisation and bubble distribution in the upper chamber.
Fluidisation water is introduced at the base of the plenum,
below a single perforated plate. Air is also introduced into
athe plenum below the perforated plate via a separate air
sparger. The perforated plate creates back pressure, promot-
ing bubble dispersion and directing the flow upward. In this
manner, a laminar upward flow of air bubbles and water
develops in the plenum before entering the upper chamber
to fluidise the ore sample. Refer to Verster et al. (2023) for
a more detailed description of the design, development and
operation of the small-scale fluidised bed flotation device.
Site-Based Test Campaign
The small-scale fluidised bed flotation tests were conducted
on-site at a copper processing mine in Australia. The tests
were performed concurrently with a full-scale plant survey
of a newly commissioned and fully functional coarse par-
ticle flotation circuit. The coarse particle flotation circuit
is operated as a scavenger duty. The tailings of the conven-
tional circuit are further processed using the HydroFloat ®
to recover copper and other valuable metals that would
have otherwise been rejected to the final tailings. The feed
samples for the small-scale tests were collected directly
from the underflow of the second cyclone nest, feeding
the industrial HydroFloat ®, and floated immediately in the
small-scale fluidised bed device. A simplified schematic of
the flowsheet and sampling point is depicted in Figure 2.
All the small-scale flotation tests were performed using
the plant process water. Preliminary assessment determined
that the levels of residual frother in the process water was
insufficient to promote the production of fine bubbles. For
this reason, the process water was topped up with frother
Figure 2. A simplified schematic representation of the coarse particle flotation circuit