3093
Reagents Modification Study for Improved Flotation of a Gold
Ore at the Dundee Precious Metals Krumovgrad Mine, Bulgaria
E. Tereucan, M. Aâtach, S. Gaydardzhiev
GeMMe–Mineral Processing, University of Liege, Belgium
D. Madanski, S. Sevdanov
Dundee Precious Metals Krumovgrad, Bulgaria
D. Sabeva
Dundee Precious Metals Chelopech, Bulgaria
ABSTRACT: A laboratory study was conducted with the view of replacing the currently used secondary collector
(promoter) at the Dundee Precious Metals, Krumovgrad (Bulgaria) flotation plant with a more efficient one
securing better recovery of the electrum from the ore. Eight reagents from various suppliers have been tested
to benchmark their performance against the currently used promoter. The promoters were compared based on
concentrate mass pull and gold and silver grade and recovery. Three of them have shown superior performance
on a comparative basis and have been subjected to further optimization. SEM inspection of the precious metals
grains lost in tailings was completed in parallel. The effect of reagents dosage on precious metals grades/recovery
levels achieved by the best performing promoters is discussed.
Keywords: Gold ore, flotation reagents, quantitative mineralogy, grade-recovery
INTRODUCTION
Study Context
At Krumovgrad, Bulgaria, the mining operation managed
by Dundee Precious Metals of Canada extracts and pro-
cesses an ore from the Ada Tepe deposit which is classified
as a low sulphidation epithermal gold deposit (Marchev et
al., 2003, 2004 Tsintsov &Ivanov, 2012). The majority
of gold present in the deposit is in the form of electrum.
The Krumovgrad plant processes the ore through crush-
ing, grinding and different flotation stages to ultimately
yield a precious metals concentrate. Being a classical flo-
tation operation, plant metallurgical performance depends
amongst others, largely on the physical characteristics
of the precious metals mineral carriers, like particle size,
shape and degree of liberation (Allan &Woodcock, 2001).
Therefore an automated mineralogy investigation in con-
junction with batch flotation testing was envisaged as an
enabling tool to understand the intrinsic behavior of gold
in flotation.
On the other hand, the type of reagents used and their
performance can be influenced by the physicochemical
parameters of the pulp. Xanthate group collectors are nor-
mally the preferred choice in gold flotation with their per-
formance being largely dependent on the redox potential
Reagents Modification Study for Improved Flotation of a Gold
Ore at the Dundee Precious Metals Krumovgrad Mine, Bulgaria
E. Tereucan, M. Aâtach, S. Gaydardzhiev
GeMMe–Mineral Processing, University of Liege, Belgium
D. Madanski, S. Sevdanov
Dundee Precious Metals Krumovgrad, Bulgaria
D. Sabeva
Dundee Precious Metals Chelopech, Bulgaria
ABSTRACT: A laboratory study was conducted with the view of replacing the currently used secondary collector
(promoter) at the Dundee Precious Metals, Krumovgrad (Bulgaria) flotation plant with a more efficient one
securing better recovery of the electrum from the ore. Eight reagents from various suppliers have been tested
to benchmark their performance against the currently used promoter. The promoters were compared based on
concentrate mass pull and gold and silver grade and recovery. Three of them have shown superior performance
on a comparative basis and have been subjected to further optimization. SEM inspection of the precious metals
grains lost in tailings was completed in parallel. The effect of reagents dosage on precious metals grades/recovery
levels achieved by the best performing promoters is discussed.
Keywords: Gold ore, flotation reagents, quantitative mineralogy, grade-recovery
INTRODUCTION
Study Context
At Krumovgrad, Bulgaria, the mining operation managed
by Dundee Precious Metals of Canada extracts and pro-
cesses an ore from the Ada Tepe deposit which is classified
as a low sulphidation epithermal gold deposit (Marchev et
al., 2003, 2004 Tsintsov &Ivanov, 2012). The majority
of gold present in the deposit is in the form of electrum.
The Krumovgrad plant processes the ore through crush-
ing, grinding and different flotation stages to ultimately
yield a precious metals concentrate. Being a classical flo-
tation operation, plant metallurgical performance depends
amongst others, largely on the physical characteristics
of the precious metals mineral carriers, like particle size,
shape and degree of liberation (Allan &Woodcock, 2001).
Therefore an automated mineralogy investigation in con-
junction with batch flotation testing was envisaged as an
enabling tool to understand the intrinsic behavior of gold
in flotation.
On the other hand, the type of reagents used and their
performance can be influenced by the physicochemical
parameters of the pulp. Xanthate group collectors are nor-
mally the preferred choice in gold flotation with their per-
formance being largely dependent on the redox potential