Test-Work for Assessing Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF) in a Polymetallic Application

Deza N.; Montes K.; Estrella D.; Valdivia H.; Concha J.; Ruiz F.; Wasmund E. · IMPC 2024 - 31st IMPC-International Mineral Processing Congress (2024)

Resumen

Under the 1.5 accelerated energy transition (AET-1.5) scenario, it is expected that demand for metals will continue to increase significantly for the foreseeable future. However, the future supply growth of some of these metals is in question since it is becoming more complex and time-consuming to develop new mining projects, and there are also technical challenges to overcome in the current operations. For example, it is known that as the years go by, reserve grades become lower, which means that to produce the same amount of metal today it is necessary to process more than twice as much ore as was needed 20 years ago. This brings with it other realities such as higher energy consumption, higher water consumption, and higher waste generation (tailings). On the geological side, it is widely known that as the exploitation of the deposit deepens, the ore tends to become harder with more complex mineralogies, which usually end up negatively impacting the processing capacity and recovery, which decreases the production of valuable elements. To be able to satisfy the demand of critical minerals, new policies, practices and technologies need to be implemented in the development and optimization of mining projects. In this context, Antamina, a polymetallic mine located in the Peruvian Andes has implemented a program to evaluate novel technologies to improve its processes. One of the technologies evaluated was the HydroFloat® Coarse Particle Flotation (CPF). The main objective in the study of the HydroFloat was to increase net metal production through the recovery of valuable elements lost in the coarse fraction of the rougher tailings of the conventional plant. To develop that evaluation, a desktop CPF study was performed in 2021, followed by a comprehensive CPF lab test-work campaign, and an on-site CPF pilot campaign. This paper will present results of the CPF test-work, including CPF concentrate cleaning results. This is the first time that this type of study has been conducted for evaluating the CPF process in a polymetallic (Cu/Zn) mine and concentrator flowsheet. Copyright