2962
The Effects of Process Parameters on a Pathbreaking
Coarse Particles Flotation Device
Marly Carvalho, Antti Rinne
Coarse Particles Flotation, Metso Finland Oy
Ian Sherrell
Separation R&D Program, Metso USA
Enkhzul Bayarmagnai, Tero Kravtsov
Metso Research Center Finland
ABSTRACT: Size reduction is one of the most energy intensive operations in mineral processing applications.
Even though it consumes most of the energy, it is needed for traditional enrichment methods to work effectively.
There are alternatives being developed to overcome the size limitation of some conventional mineral processing
equipment within a beneficiation flow sheet. Metso is developing a new flotation device in which coarse particles
as large as 1 mm could be recovered in addition to traditional flotation sized particles. The new technology
functions similar to conventional flotation equipment, however it has a novel feeding arrangement. This paper
summarizes the results achieved with this new technology in laboratory scale with a copper ore, evaluating the
significance and effect of each process variable in its operation.
INTRODUCTION
Conventional froth flotation has been used for over 100
years and it is still one of the most effective processes for
minerals concentration (Clark et al., 2006, Mudd, 2009).
Nevertheless, its application is generally limited to a specific
range of particle sizes (20–150µm, for base metals). There
has been a lot of research conducted which focused on
improving the recovery of fine particles (–20µm) and some
specific technologies are available for that range (Jameson,
2010). On the other hand, for coarse particles, there is still
need for fundamental research, since currently available
technologies have shortcomings, such as limited capacity,
increased consumption of water and/or required classifi-
cation before concentration (Jaques et al., 2021 Kromah
et al., 2022 Kohmuench 2018). Without coarse flotation
technology the industry must grind all Run of Mine (ROM)
ore down to the required range of particle size suitable for
conventional flotation (Awatey et al., 2015). This practice is
very energy intensive and not sustainable in the long term.
Ore reserve grades are getting lower and in order to keep the
same level of metal production, the volume of ROM ore to
a processing plant must be increased (Rötzer and Schmidt,
2020, Mudd, 2009). Brownfield plants must be modified
to handle higher throughputs, which leads to higher energy
usage and bottlenecks within the grinding circuit.
If particles can be separated at a coarser size fraction, a
coarse tailings can be removed, which reduces energy usage
in the grinding circuit and/or increases throughput through
the comminution stage. The inefficiency of conventional
flotation equipment is hypothesized to be due to the energy
dissipation in the cell as a result of the mechanical mixing
mechanism (Hassanzadeh et al., 2022 Jameson, 2010). For
The Effects of Process Parameters on a Pathbreaking
Coarse Particles Flotation Device
Marly Carvalho, Antti Rinne
Coarse Particles Flotation, Metso Finland Oy
Ian Sherrell
Separation R&D Program, Metso USA
Enkhzul Bayarmagnai, Tero Kravtsov
Metso Research Center Finland
ABSTRACT: Size reduction is one of the most energy intensive operations in mineral processing applications.
Even though it consumes most of the energy, it is needed for traditional enrichment methods to work effectively.
There are alternatives being developed to overcome the size limitation of some conventional mineral processing
equipment within a beneficiation flow sheet. Metso is developing a new flotation device in which coarse particles
as large as 1 mm could be recovered in addition to traditional flotation sized particles. The new technology
functions similar to conventional flotation equipment, however it has a novel feeding arrangement. This paper
summarizes the results achieved with this new technology in laboratory scale with a copper ore, evaluating the
significance and effect of each process variable in its operation.
INTRODUCTION
Conventional froth flotation has been used for over 100
years and it is still one of the most effective processes for
minerals concentration (Clark et al., 2006, Mudd, 2009).
Nevertheless, its application is generally limited to a specific
range of particle sizes (20–150µm, for base metals). There
has been a lot of research conducted which focused on
improving the recovery of fine particles (–20µm) and some
specific technologies are available for that range (Jameson,
2010). On the other hand, for coarse particles, there is still
need for fundamental research, since currently available
technologies have shortcomings, such as limited capacity,
increased consumption of water and/or required classifi-
cation before concentration (Jaques et al., 2021 Kromah
et al., 2022 Kohmuench 2018). Without coarse flotation
technology the industry must grind all Run of Mine (ROM)
ore down to the required range of particle size suitable for
conventional flotation (Awatey et al., 2015). This practice is
very energy intensive and not sustainable in the long term.
Ore reserve grades are getting lower and in order to keep the
same level of metal production, the volume of ROM ore to
a processing plant must be increased (Rötzer and Schmidt,
2020, Mudd, 2009). Brownfield plants must be modified
to handle higher throughputs, which leads to higher energy
usage and bottlenecks within the grinding circuit.
If particles can be separated at a coarser size fraction, a
coarse tailings can be removed, which reduces energy usage
in the grinding circuit and/or increases throughput through
the comminution stage. The inefficiency of conventional
flotation equipment is hypothesized to be due to the energy
dissipation in the cell as a result of the mechanical mixing
mechanism (Hassanzadeh et al., 2022 Jameson, 2010). For