778 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
on-site and that obtained in the ore dissolution tests done
in the laboratory. The final water composition came close
to the process water in terms of major elements and some
of the minor elements. Additionally, it was demonstrated
that a dissolution loop allows for predicting the potential
impact of the recycling water on the ore floatability. This
methodology could serve as an aid for predicting water
quality matrix variation and designing closed water circula-
tion systems at existing and new plants.
It is important that the correct quality of water be used
within a process i.e., it is not necessary to use potable water
in a flotation process and it has been found that waters of a
higher ionic strength improve flotation. Thus, the metallur-
gical response when changing water quality will be different
depending on each plant, so the optimal water quality for
each case should be determined (Slatter et al., 2009).
In this paper, the effect of the future minerals char-
acteristics and freshwater makeup quality on the mineral
flotation recovery of Collahuasi mining company (Chile) is
presented. For this purpose, a preliminary study at labora-
tory scale to evaluate the effect of water quality and mineral
characteristics on the metallurgical performance was devel-
oped. Then, a methodology to estimate and evaluate the
future process water quality was developed, depending on
the future environmental constraints.
The ore of Collahuasi mining will start experiencing
significant changes in the next few years (period 2024–
2028), towards more complex mineralogy and slower
kinetics. Additionally, due to projected environmental con-
straints, the water quality will also change. Figure 1 shows
the water resources of the Collahuasi concentrator plant for
the future operation, where the current continental water
resources (CW) will be partially replaced by remineralized
desalted water (RDW) and combined with the recovered
water (RW) mainly from thickeners and tailings damps, to
generate the new process water during the next years.
METHODOLOGY
Experimental Tests to Evaluate the Effect of Water
Quality on Metallurgical Performance
Batch flotation tests were carried out to evaluate the effect
of mineral type and water quality on the metallurgical per-
formance. In total, 30 tests were performed, considering
five minerals and six water types. All tests were performed
in duplicate.
Table 1 shows the operating conditions of the flotation
batch tests. The flotation cell was Agitair LA-500, as shown
in Figure 2, with a volume of 2.7 L. All tests included
duplicates and a kinetic characterization, according to the
times shown in Table 1.
Table 2 shows the characteristics of the five minerals
evaluated in the flotation tests. The selected minerals are:
two minerals with fast kinetics (FA and FB), two with slow
kinetics (SA and SB) and a mixture of fast and slow miner-
als (FS).
Table 3 shows the characteristics of the six water types
evaluated in the flotation tests: process water (PW), remin-
eralized desalinated water (RDW), tap water (TW), seawa-
ter (SW), mixture 1 (80% RDW +20% SW), mixture 2
(35% RDW +65%SW).
Table 1. Operating conditions of flotation batch tests
Variable Value
Cell type Agitair LA-500
Volume (L) 2.7
Impeller speed (rpm) 1300
Air Flowrate (L/min) 12
Scraping frequency (s) 20
Flotation times (min) 1, 3, 5, 8, 12.5, 20
Conditioning time (min) 1
Reagents SIPX (30 g/t), Nalflote (20 g/t)
Figure 1. Water resources in the concentrator plant
on-site and that obtained in the ore dissolution tests done
in the laboratory. The final water composition came close
to the process water in terms of major elements and some
of the minor elements. Additionally, it was demonstrated
that a dissolution loop allows for predicting the potential
impact of the recycling water on the ore floatability. This
methodology could serve as an aid for predicting water
quality matrix variation and designing closed water circula-
tion systems at existing and new plants.
It is important that the correct quality of water be used
within a process i.e., it is not necessary to use potable water
in a flotation process and it has been found that waters of a
higher ionic strength improve flotation. Thus, the metallur-
gical response when changing water quality will be different
depending on each plant, so the optimal water quality for
each case should be determined (Slatter et al., 2009).
In this paper, the effect of the future minerals char-
acteristics and freshwater makeup quality on the mineral
flotation recovery of Collahuasi mining company (Chile) is
presented. For this purpose, a preliminary study at labora-
tory scale to evaluate the effect of water quality and mineral
characteristics on the metallurgical performance was devel-
oped. Then, a methodology to estimate and evaluate the
future process water quality was developed, depending on
the future environmental constraints.
The ore of Collahuasi mining will start experiencing
significant changes in the next few years (period 2024–
2028), towards more complex mineralogy and slower
kinetics. Additionally, due to projected environmental con-
straints, the water quality will also change. Figure 1 shows
the water resources of the Collahuasi concentrator plant for
the future operation, where the current continental water
resources (CW) will be partially replaced by remineralized
desalted water (RDW) and combined with the recovered
water (RW) mainly from thickeners and tailings damps, to
generate the new process water during the next years.
METHODOLOGY
Experimental Tests to Evaluate the Effect of Water
Quality on Metallurgical Performance
Batch flotation tests were carried out to evaluate the effect
of mineral type and water quality on the metallurgical per-
formance. In total, 30 tests were performed, considering
five minerals and six water types. All tests were performed
in duplicate.
Table 1 shows the operating conditions of the flotation
batch tests. The flotation cell was Agitair LA-500, as shown
in Figure 2, with a volume of 2.7 L. All tests included
duplicates and a kinetic characterization, according to the
times shown in Table 1.
Table 2 shows the characteristics of the five minerals
evaluated in the flotation tests. The selected minerals are:
two minerals with fast kinetics (FA and FB), two with slow
kinetics (SA and SB) and a mixture of fast and slow miner-
als (FS).
Table 3 shows the characteristics of the six water types
evaluated in the flotation tests: process water (PW), remin-
eralized desalinated water (RDW), tap water (TW), seawa-
ter (SW), mixture 1 (80% RDW +20% SW), mixture 2
(35% RDW +65%SW).
Table 1. Operating conditions of flotation batch tests
Variable Value
Cell type Agitair LA-500
Volume (L) 2.7
Impeller speed (rpm) 1300
Air Flowrate (L/min) 12
Scraping frequency (s) 20
Flotation times (min) 1, 3, 5, 8, 12.5, 20
Conditioning time (min) 1
Reagents SIPX (30 g/t), Nalflote (20 g/t)
Figure 1. Water resources in the concentrator plant