3611
Full Component Utilization of a Sedimentary Lead-Zinc Sulfides
Ore Based on Multi-Stage Tailings Discarding Technology
ZhenGuo SONG, KangKang CHEN, XiaoXing HU, YangGe ZHU
State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing, BGRIMM, BeiJing, China
ABSTRACT: To solve the problem of insufficient tailing storage capacity of a sedimentary Pb-Zn ore in China,
a revolutionary flowsheet was proposed. For the +0.5–60 mm fraction, a heavy medium cyclone and X-ray
Diffraction Topography (XRT) sorting was introduced to remove 45% of feed. All the dolomite with Pb-Zn
losses less than 4%. This improved the mill feed Pb+Zn grade from 1.02%+3.99% to 1.63%+6.43%. Pb and
Zn sulphides were recovered using selective flotation, followed by a flowsheet consisting of a “reflux classifier”
for flotation tailings discarding and a shaking table for sulphides removal for barite cleaning and upgrading
to recover barite from Zn tailings. The coarse dolomite was used for aggregates and all the fine tailings (40%
of feed) were used for underground backfilling. No tailings were discharged to the environment using the
new technology.
Keywords: Full component utilization, Sedimentary Pb-Zn sulfide ore, Multi-stage tailings discarding
technology
INTRODUCTION
As critically important non-ferrous metals, lead and zinc are
widely applied in fields such as batteries, military industry,
machinery, etc. (Mudd and Jowitt et al., 2017). It has been
shown that Pb and Zn very closely resemble each other
with respect to the type of deposits and the mode of con-
centration. Pb and Zn sulphide deposits are the dominant
resource type which are widely distributed in countries such
as Australia, Peru, the United States, China, Kazakhstan,
etc. (Mohr and Giurco et al., 2018). China possesses lead
and zinc reserves which account for a large proportion of
the world resources(about 20% for lead and 15% for zinc)
(Leach and Taylor et al., 2010 Zhang and Yang et al.,
2011). Numerous deposits have been discovered in mul-
tiple provinces in China such as Yunnan, Hunan, Guangxi,
etc. Some famous mines have maintained production for
many years at high outputs include Huize, Shuikoushan,
Fankou, etc.
The mine in our research is located in Guangxi
Province of China, and belongs to a typical sedimentary
lead and zinc deposit. In the plant operation, the conven-
tional grinding-flotation process is used to produce lead
and zinc concentrates from the mine. A limited part of the
tailings (about 40%) was used for mine backfilling, and the
rest was discharged to tailings ponds. As production has
progressed, the tailings ponds of the mine have been gradu-
ally filled up. Due to policy and environmental protection
laws, a new tailings pond is unable to obtain a license, so
the current plant operating system is unsustainable. The
BGRIMM team was entrusted by the mine-owner to carry
out relevant research in order to remove the current pro-
duction bottleneck and ensure the normal production. This
Full Component Utilization of a Sedimentary Lead-Zinc Sulfides
Ore Based on Multi-Stage Tailings Discarding Technology
ZhenGuo SONG, KangKang CHEN, XiaoXing HU, YangGe ZHU
State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing, BGRIMM, BeiJing, China
ABSTRACT: To solve the problem of insufficient tailing storage capacity of a sedimentary Pb-Zn ore in China,
a revolutionary flowsheet was proposed. For the +0.5–60 mm fraction, a heavy medium cyclone and X-ray
Diffraction Topography (XRT) sorting was introduced to remove 45% of feed. All the dolomite with Pb-Zn
losses less than 4%. This improved the mill feed Pb+Zn grade from 1.02%+3.99% to 1.63%+6.43%. Pb and
Zn sulphides were recovered using selective flotation, followed by a flowsheet consisting of a “reflux classifier”
for flotation tailings discarding and a shaking table for sulphides removal for barite cleaning and upgrading
to recover barite from Zn tailings. The coarse dolomite was used for aggregates and all the fine tailings (40%
of feed) were used for underground backfilling. No tailings were discharged to the environment using the
new technology.
Keywords: Full component utilization, Sedimentary Pb-Zn sulfide ore, Multi-stage tailings discarding
technology
INTRODUCTION
As critically important non-ferrous metals, lead and zinc are
widely applied in fields such as batteries, military industry,
machinery, etc. (Mudd and Jowitt et al., 2017). It has been
shown that Pb and Zn very closely resemble each other
with respect to the type of deposits and the mode of con-
centration. Pb and Zn sulphide deposits are the dominant
resource type which are widely distributed in countries such
as Australia, Peru, the United States, China, Kazakhstan,
etc. (Mohr and Giurco et al., 2018). China possesses lead
and zinc reserves which account for a large proportion of
the world resources(about 20% for lead and 15% for zinc)
(Leach and Taylor et al., 2010 Zhang and Yang et al.,
2011). Numerous deposits have been discovered in mul-
tiple provinces in China such as Yunnan, Hunan, Guangxi,
etc. Some famous mines have maintained production for
many years at high outputs include Huize, Shuikoushan,
Fankou, etc.
The mine in our research is located in Guangxi
Province of China, and belongs to a typical sedimentary
lead and zinc deposit. In the plant operation, the conven-
tional grinding-flotation process is used to produce lead
and zinc concentrates from the mine. A limited part of the
tailings (about 40%) was used for mine backfilling, and the
rest was discharged to tailings ponds. As production has
progressed, the tailings ponds of the mine have been gradu-
ally filled up. Due to policy and environmental protection
laws, a new tailings pond is unable to obtain a license, so
the current plant operating system is unsustainable. The
BGRIMM team was entrusted by the mine-owner to carry
out relevant research in order to remove the current pro-
duction bottleneck and ensure the normal production. This