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1 s2.0 S089268750300325X Main PDF
1 s2.0 S089268750300325X Main PDF
1 s2.0 S089268750300325X Main PDF
a
WA School of Mines, Curtin University, LB 22 Kalgoorlie, WA 6433, Australia
b
Newcrest Mining Ltd., Perth, Australia
Received 9 May 2003; accepted 7 July 2003
Abstract
Flash otation is an important unit operation within many grinding circuits. It provides an opportunity for the valuable mineral
to be recovered as early as possible in the processing plant. This prevents liberated valuable mineral from building up in the re-
circulating load of the mill, and reduces the occurrence of overgrinding. Overgrinding can place a signicant limitation on overall
recovery, because it causes the production of valuable nes that are dicult to recover by otation.
The ash otation cell is fed by the cyclone underow in a closed grinding circuit. This feed stream represents the optimal particle
size distributions of valuable mineral and gangue for otation kinetics, selectivity and grade. The ash cell treats the recirculating
load of the ball mill, and therefore inuences the performance of both the mill and the hydrocyclone classier. The eect of a ash
cell in the grinding circuit is dicult to determine since ash cells in Australia are introduced at the design stage and so no plant data
is available before and after the introduction of the ash otation unit. By establishing a computer simulation of the closed-circuit
grinding with ash otation, the interaction of ash otation with grinding can be estimated. The models can be used to predict the
eect of various changes to the operating conditions on circuit performance as well as the expected grinding performance in the
absence of ash otation. This enables the eect of ash otation and any possible benets to be evaluated.
The model was developed from unit models of the ball milling, hydrocyclone classication and ash otation processes. An
empirical model was used for the ash cell, and generic models were tted to the ball mill and hydrocyclone based on the matrix
model and the Plitt model respectively. The data required for the development of the models was obtained from plant surveys of the
Kanowna Belle gold mine and laboratory batch grinding and otation tests.
The model accurately represents the plant grinding and ash otation circuit while operating under normal conditions. Simu-
lation of the circuit using the model enabled the eect of variations to ash cell operating conditions on the ash concentrate,
recirculating load and cyclone overow to be determined.
2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +61-8-9088-6180; fax: +61-8-9088-
The major design dierence between the SkimAir
6181. ash otation cell and conventional otation cells is
E-mail address: yand@wasm.curtin.edu.au (D. Yan). the conical discharge. The bottom discharge and inlet
location are designed to handle the extremely coarse incorporating this in a circuit with ball mill and cyclone
material in the ash cell feed. This coarse material is models that have been tted to suitable generic models
short circuited directly to the bottom discharge. This from experimental data.
prevents the material from interfering with the otation, A comprehensive model of a two-component (valu-
where it could lead to a higher pulp density in the cell able mineral and gangue) otation system will include
and the prevention of particles rising to the surface. equations of recovery for all size intervals of the two
SkimAir otation cells can also be tted with dual components. This enables the total recovery and con-
outlets for the purpose of optimising mill eciency and centrate grade to be determined for variations in the
ash performance in combination (see Fig. 1). The top feed grade and size distribution. This will allow ash
discharge is of a lower pulp density (4050% solids) otation performance to be predicted as the recirculat-
compared to the bottom discharge (6070% solids) ing load of the mill changes.
and is sometimes bypassed to the mill discharge. The
bottom discharge of the ash cell is used to feed the ball 2.2. Modelling closed circuit grinding with ash otation
mill. In the cell, there is a distinct pulp density prole,
where the density increases with depth in the cell. In this A matrix modelling approach could be used for ash
way the circuit is able to cope with the dierent water otation in closed circuit grinding, similar to the meth-
requirements of ash otation and grinding. ods used by Laplante et al. (1995) to predict the recovery
of gold by gravity concentration. This technique models
2.1. Modelling gravity concentration in terms of the entire milling cir-
cuit, therefore including the concepts of grinding, lib-
In the closed circuit to be simulated, there are three eration and classication as well as the recovery within
separate mineral processing units. Therefore, three in- the concentrator. The model is a population balance
dividual models need to be developed: a model for the that is developed from a combination of plant data and
ball mill, the hydrocyclone classier and the ash o- laboratory results. In eect, Laplantes prediction of
tation cell. It was not intended to develop a new model gravity recoverable gold (GRG) incorporated models of
for either the grinding or classication processes as they a ball mill, hydrocyclone and gravity concentrator.
are already adequately described by existing models Laplante and Dunne (2002) applied this approach to
(Lynch, 1977; Plitt, 1976). However, coarse particle GRG in a grinding circuit with ash otation, rather
otation is a much less understood process, and is not than a gravity concentrator, to predict the recovery of
satisfactorily explained by the generic otation models, free gold in the ash concentrate.
which are better suited to conventional otation. The The GRG model could also be applied to the recov-
focus of the experimental work was on developing a ery of pyrite in the ash cell and takes a convenient
model that well describes the ash otation process, and matrix form. It demonstrates a way by which the indi-
vidual models may be combined to simulate the entire val, where the only input vector that the model requires
grinding circuit, and this approach was used in the is f, the SAG mill discharge. All other streams can be
model development for this investigation. determined by a single calculation involving f and the
Flash otation removes liberated valuable minerals transformation matrices. The model owsheet is shown
from the recirculating load of the mill. This means that in Fig. 2 and a key for the stream vectors is shown in
the feed to the mill is signicantly altered by the presence Table 1.
of ash otation. This changes the mill product, the All model calculations involve matrix addition, sub-
cyclone underow and the returned load to the mill. The traction, multiplication and inversion. Starting in the
simulation of closed circuit grinding with ash otation discharge hopper, the cyclone feed is dened as Eq. (1),
requires the ball mill, the hydrocyclone and the ash cell where m and r are unknowns.
to all reach steady state, as they all inuence the per- cfmr 1
formance of the others in a loop. The models of each
The cyclone underow is calculated by applying the
unit process can be integrated so that iterations can be
transformation matrix C (Eq. (2)).
performed on the models until steady state is reached in
the circuit, from a given new feed. This will enable u C f m r 2
closed circuit grinding to be simulated at steady state Similarly, the ash top discharge, r, can be calculated by
with and without the inclusion of a ash cell, so that the applying P, D and R in sequence, as in Eq. (3), where I is
eect of ash otation on the performance of the mill the 18 18 identity matrix.
can be determined. The mill performance can be looked r I R I D P C f m r 3
at in terms of recirculating load, ash cell concentrate
This can be rearranged so that r is dened by f, m, C, P,
ow rate and the classication eciency and split size of
D and R only (Eq. (4)).
the hydrocyclone. The distribution of particle sizes and
sulphur in the cyclone overow is indicative of the IIRIDPCr IRIDPCf m
impact of ash otation on the feed to conventional r IIRIDPC1 IRIDPCf m
otation (the cyclone overow) and the expected per-
4
formance of the otation circuit.
f SAG mill discharge
2.3. Model development
Conventional
Hydrocyclone Flotation feed
The model of the grinding circuit is a composite of Ball Mill Grinding
m c
Classification o
the circuit models for both componentspyrite and G C
gangue. Sucient data was available to determine a r u
function that accurately related the size distribution of Partial Bypass
total solids with the size distribution of pyrite in the ore. Flash Recovery P
d
The full circuit model for each component is composed R p
of three individual process models (ball mill grinding,
Flash b
hydrocyclone classication and ash otation) that are t Internal Classification
linked together in a process loop. In turn, ash otation D
For simplicity, we can dene T in Eq. (5). 3.1. Kanowna Belle grinding and ash otation circuit
r T f m where 5 survey
1
T I I R I D P C I R I D P C This project required knowledge of the composition
The ball mill discharge is dened as follows (Eq. (6)). of all grinding and ash otation streams in the plant. A
survey of the milling circuit was conducted at Kanowna
m G I P D P C f m r 6 Belle. Samples were collected over the duration of an
M is dened as hour, where samples were taken every 10 min to obtain a
composite sample. Plant parameters (most importantly
m M f m r where 7
mill feed rate, cyclone feed rate and ash cell operating
M G I P D P C variables) were recorded from the control system for the
We can substitute r from Eq. (5) into Eq. (7) and rear- period of the survey. Samples were obtained for the
range to solve for m (Eq. (8)). following streams:
1
m I M I T M I T f 8 SAG mill discharge,
Similarly, r can be determined by substituting m into ball mill discharge,
Eq. (5). cyclone feed,
cyclone overow,
r T fI I M I T1 M I Tg f 9 cyclone underow,
Eqs. (8) and (9) allow all streams in the circuit to be ash concentrate,
dened by the new feed f and the process model ash top discharge.
transformation matrices. These equations are the fun-
damental solutions to the circuit model. It was not possible to sample the ash bottom dis-
Microsoft Excel has been used to host the model. The charge due to the absence of a sampling point, though
only inputs to the model are the mass ow, sulphur this stream can be reconstituted from data obtained for
grade and size distribution for the SAG mill discharge. other streams around the ash cell. The samples were
Additionally, the ash cell is controlled by a mass pull analysed for particle size and gold and sulphur grades.
factor and the split of the cyclone underow to the ash
cell can be entered. From this data, the model can fully 3.2. Analysis of raw plant data
dene all streams in the circuit and calculate the relevant
performance indicators. The circuit model operates as a Survey results were conrmed to be suitable for use in
two-component (pyrite and gangue) system. As there is modelling by balancing the data both manually and with
a very strong correlation between the distribution of JKSimMet v5.1. The data balanced adequately at all
total solids to the distribution of pyrite, the pyrite dis- owsheet nodes for each component (total solids, water,
tribution is calculated from the input SAG mill dis- gold and sulphur) as total stream values, and also by
charge distribution. This enables the model to dene the particle size. Survey data also indicated that the plant
new feed distributions of both components. was operating at steady state, with typical operating and
performance parameters. Therefore, the survey data was
acceptable for use in the development of a representative
3. Experimental procedure circuit model and no repeat survey was required.
The model of ash otation and closed-circuit 3.3. Ore, process water and reagents
grinding was developed using two data sourcesoper-
ating data from a plant survey and the results of labo- The ore and reagents used in the laboratory tests were
ratory otation tests. The objective of the laboratory collected from the Kanowna Belle Gold Mine. The
testwork was to simulate ash otation so that the re- mineralogy of the ore is relatively simple and it can be
sults were comparable to the performance of ash o- considered as a two-component (pyrite and gangue)
tation in the plant. The otation performance could system. It should be noted that there is a small amount
then be determined experimentally with changes to the of arsenopyrite, which also hosts gold, in the ore.
operating conditions in the laboratory cell. The equiv- However, no attempt was made to dierentiate between
alent performance of the plant ash cell can be ascer- pyrite and arsenopyrite in this testwork. Due to the
tained without having to change parameters within the strong relationship between gold and sulphide in the ore,
plant, by scaling the results from the laboratory tests. only assays for sulphur were required for these tests.
This requires the replication of plant conditions in the Samples of the blended ore were taken and assayed to
laboratory and the simulation of the ash cell feed by ascertain whether or not the ore was suitable for use in
laboratory grinding and classication. otation trials. The average grades were 4.75 g/t gold
S. Mackinnon et al. / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 11491160 1153
100 20
90 18
Recovery to Concentrate (%)
Mass Distribution
80 16
Distribution in Feed (%)
Gold Distribution
70 Sulphur Distribution 14
60 Mass Recovery 12
Gold Recovery
50 10
Sulphur Recovery
40 8
30 6
20 4
10 2
0 0
6
0
80
00
60
50
50
00
00
25
38
53
75
10
15
21
30
42
60
85
11
17
23
33
47
67
95
Particle Size(m)
100 25
90
80 20
70
Sulphur Grade (%)
Recovery (%)
60 15
50
40 10
30
20 5
10
0 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Aeration Rate (L/min)
Total Solids Recovery Pyrite Recovery Gangue Recovery Concentrate Sulphur Grade
100
90
80
70
Recovery (%)
60
50
40
1 2
30
3 4
20
Plant
10
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Particle Size (m)
Calcott, 1956) with a scale factor (Eq. (12)). Addition- total mass pull rate of concentrate. This depends on
ally, the breakage function is assumed to be normalised. several operating parameters, including froth depth,
This enables Excel to t the selection function to the aeration rate and water addition. For simplicity, the
experimental data with relative simplicity. model will take this into account as a mass pull factor,
G B S I S 11 arbitrarily placed on a scale of zero to ten. The mass pull
factor is related directly to the actual total solids re-
1 exi =xj covery of the ash cell by a simple linear relationship.
Bij ai 12
1 e1 The recovery of pyrite and gangue at each particle size
where Bij is the breakage distribution function of size i was regressed against total solids recovery so that a re-
from size j, xi and xj are particle sizes such that xi 6 xj . lationship was determined between mass pull factor and
and ai is a constant. recovery. The otation recovery matrix, R, is a diagonal
Fig. 6 shows the model selection function calculated matrix containing these functions. Due to signicant
from the plant survey data. dierences in scale and design between the laboratory
The nal process model matrix is the otation re- and plant ash cells, the major distinction between the
covery matrix, R. This is taken from the laboratory performance of the plant ash cell and the laboratory
experimental data, where the data is scaled to correlate cell was the otation of gangue, so a scale factor was
with the data obtained from the plant survey. The major required to make laboratory data representative of the
factor controlling the performance of the ash cell is the plant conditions.
1.0
0.9
Selection function
0.8
0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.1
0.0
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 1000
Particle Size (m)
4.4. Evaluation of model t to experimental data two data sets correspond fairly well, especially when
considering that pyrite distributions of ash cell streams
To justify use in simulation, the model must be is fairly delicate to determine experimentally, and
demonstrated to accurately t the experimental data. therefore the onus is on the model to balance pyrite
Eectively, the model balances the raw experimental ows by particle size. This is the source of any deviation
data so that pyrite and gangue mass ows balance of model distributions from the raw experimental data.
throughout the circuit on a particle size basis. The
comparison between model and experimental data can 4.5. Circuit simulation
be made for solids and pyrite distributions, sulphur
grades, total stream mass ows and recovery by the ash The completed circuit model can be used to simulate
cell. There was little error associated with mass ow, and the grinding circuit of the Kanowna Belle plant, so that
the error can be attributed to the balancing of the raw the circuit performance can be predicted over a range of
experimental data by the model. However, there is a operating conditions without having to physically
greater error associated with the sulphur grades, and change the operating parameters in the plant. The value
this indicates that the plant survey data did not balance of this practice is that some understanding of the process
as tightly on a grade basis. In terms of ash cell per- and the reaction of the circuit can be obtained prior to
formance, the model is satisfactory. The model accu- making a change to conditions on the plant. This can
rately predicts the recovery of pyrite by particle size, and prevent the loss of plant stability or undesirable circuit
there is only an adjustment to ash cell pyrite recovery performance. Another valuable use of the grinding and
by 7%. This reects the observations of previous plant ash otation model is that it contributes to the better
surveys, where the survey results indicated a higher py- understanding of the eect that the ash otation unit
rite recovery than the ash cell was actually operating has on the rest of the grinding circuit. For these pur-
at. The eect was that the ash cell appeared to dis- poses, the circuit is simulated over the entire range of
charge more pyrite than was being fed into the unit, and ash cell conditions. This is achieved by adjusting the
it can be inferred that the model ash recovery is likely controlling parameter of the ash cell, the ash mass
to be more accurate than the recovery indicated by the pull factor, over its stable range of 010.
survey results. There is also a corresponding adjustment
in ash concentrate grade, where the model predicts a 4.5.1. Eect on ash concentrate
slightly lower grade. This can be attributed to more fa- From fundamental otation theory, there is a con-
vourable conditions for ne gangue otation in the icting relationship between grade and recovery, where
laboratory cell than in the plant ash cell. As a result, the optimal plant performance gives the desired balance
the model slightly overestimates the recovery of gangue, of grade and recovery. The circuit simulation illustrates
particularly in the range of 50300 lm. This is demon- this concept well, and from the simulation data, the
strated by the ash concentrate grade by particle size, operating ash cell grade-recovery curve can be deter-
shown in Fig. 7. mined (Fig. 9). While the curve is a somewhat unusual
The experimental and model pyrite distributions for shape, this is likely a result of a change in cell conditions
the ash cell are shown in Fig. 8. It can be seen that the such that there is actually a shift in the grade-recovery
40
35
Concentrate Sulphur Grade (% S)
30
25
20
15
0
10 100 1000
Particle Size (m)
Fig. 7. Comparison of model and experimental ash concentrate grades by particle size.
S. Mackinnon et al. / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 11491160 1157
100
90
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
10 100 1000 10000
Particle Size (m)
Exp Flash Feed Flash Co ncentrate To p Discharge B o tto m Discharge
Model Flash Feed Flash Co ncentrate To p Discharge B o tto m Discharge
Fig. 8. Comparison of model and experimental ash cell pyrite size distribution.
60
50
Concentrate Grade (%S)
40
30
20
10
0
37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
Sulphur Recovery (%)
curve. The inection in the middle region of the curve Flash cell performance can also be quantied by
therefore represents a transition stage that joins the two looking at selectivity. In this case, selectivity is the re-
grade-recovery curves. The exact cause of this shift is covery of the valuable mineral, pyrite, relative to the
dicult to ascertain, though it is interesting to note that recovery of gangue. Often selectivity is quantied as a
a near-identically shaped grade-recovery curve has been selectivity index (SI), which is the ratio of recoveries.
observed at Cadia Mines (Hart, 2002). From the origi- The ash cell operating curve is shown in Fig. 10. Se-
nal plant survey, the ash concentrate grade was only lectivity is seen to decrease as the concentrate mass pull
22% sulphur, signicantly below the set-point of 30% rate increases due to the increased prevalence of gangue
sulphur. The simulation indicates that to achieve this entrainment.
grade, so that the ash concentrate can be added directly The eect of ash cell performance on the size dis-
to the nal concentrate, a ash cell recovery sacrice of tribution and pyrite distribution of the ash concentrate
almost two percent is required. This observation is is also important to consider. The particle size distri-
useful for rening the way that the ash cell is operated bution of the concentrate at several total solids recov-
to achieve its grade specications and indicates how the eries is shown in Fig. 11, and from this it can be seen
ash performance may change as the operating point that the ash concentrate is ner at higher mass pull
moves along the grade-recovery curve due to a change to rates. This is due to the increased prevalence of ne
operating conditions. gangue entrainment, and is undesirable as a signicant
1158 S. Mackinnon et al. / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 11491160
44.0
43.5
43.0
100
90
80
Cumulative Percent Passing (%)
70
60
50
1.24%
40 1.61%
2.00%
30
2.15%
20
10
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
Particle Size (m)
Fig. 11. Eect of mass pull rate on ash concentrate size distribution.
benet of ash otation is the coarser concentrate ob- showed that the recirculating load, expressed as a per-
tained and the increased ease of dewatering the con- centage of new circuit feed, decreased signicantly as
centrate. However, the eect of the ash cell operation ash cell recovery increased. With the ash cell recov-
on the pyrite distribution is opposite, as at higher mass ering no concentrate (ash mass pull factor set at zero),
pull rates, the ash cell has the ability to recover larger the model predicts the total solids recirculating load to
pyrite particles, and the pyrite distribution becomes be 261%. The eect of increasing the ash mass pull
coarser (Fig. 12). This eect is not as signicant though, factor is shown in Fig. 13. Grinding eciency reaches
because a high degree of pyrite recovery is already optimal conditions at a ash mass pull factor of ap-
achieved, and the change is fairly marginal. proximately seven (1.7% solids recovery), beyond which
there is a gradual increase in recirculating load. The
4.5.2. Eect on recirculating load eect is not merely a case of displacing part of the re-
The eect that the ash cell has on the recirculating circulating load to the ash concentrate, as for the 0
load is an important trend to consider, as one of the 8.83 tph range of concentrate mass pull rates there is a
primary aims of ash otation is to reduce the valuable corresponding change in recirculating load from 621.8
component of the recirculating stream so that the ten- to 608.5 tph. This indicates that the ash cell does have a
dency to overgrind is reduced. Simulation of the circuit benecial eect on both grinding and classication e-
S. Mackinnon et al. / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 11491160 1159
100
90
60
50
40 Flash Co nc. O/F
1.24% full bypass
30 1.61% 0.61%
2.00% 1.61%
20
2.15% 2.15%
10
0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600
)
Particle Size m)
Fig. 12. Eect of mass pull rate (solids recovery) on ash concentrate and cyclone overow pyrite size distribution.
270
250
Recirculating Load (%)
230
Total Solids
Pyrite
210
190
170
150
0.50 .7 0.91 .1 1.31 .5 1.71 .9 2.1 2.3
Total Solids Recovery (%)
ciency in the circuit. This is also evident in the pyrite is designed for residence times that are determined from
recirculating load, which at a ash mass pull factor of a given pyrite content. The other major eect that the
zero, is predicted to be 318%. The fact that this value is ash cell has on the cyclone overow is the pyrite dis-
higher than the corresponding total solids recirculating tribution. While the total solids size distribution does
load emphasises the tendency of the cyclone to enrich not change signicantly, the pyrite component does
the underow stream with the pyrite, and partly justies become marginally ner at higher ash concentrate pull
the treatment of this stream by otation. There is a rates, and this is due to the recovery of coarse pyrite by
much greater change in the pyrite recirculating load with the ash cell. Under these conditions, the exposure of
a variation in concentrate mass pull rates, as the pyrite is the pyrite to grinding is minimised. This could be ex-
more favourably recovered by the ash cell. pected to give a coarser cyclone overow pyrite distri-
bution, due to the reduction in overgrinding, but it is
4.5.3. Eect on cyclone overow apparent that the ash cell must recover a signicant
The inuence of ash recovery on the cyclone over- proportion of pyrite that is close to the pyrite cut size of
ow is reasonably straightforward, as the grade of the the cyclones. The recovery of this near-size material in
cyclone overow will decrease as more of the pyrite is the ash cell concentrate is more signicant to the
recovered in the ash cell. This has implications for the overall cyclone overow pyrite distribution than the
performance of the conventional otation circuit, which reduction in the amount of pyrite slimes produced by
1160 S. Mackinnon et al. / Minerals Engineering 16 (2003) 11491160
overgrinding. The lesser production of pyrite slimes is alterations to the ash cell operation on the rest of the
evident when looking at overall recoveries, but it can be circuit, including grinding and classication eciencies,
inferred that it only takes a minor amount of valuable recirculating loads and the degree of pyrite exposure to
slimes to give signicant tails losses. However, the sim- grinding can be simulated.
ulation of the circuit demonstrates that the cyclone A successful model design has been developed that
overow pyrite distribution becomes distinctly ner represents ash otation in closed-circuit grinding, and
when recovering no ash concentrate or with the ash this design can accommodate further renements that
cell in bypass (Fig. 13). Full ash bypass results in a will ultimately yield a circuit model that can be used to
cyclone overow 90% passing size of 140 lm, compared represent all processes that occur in the circuit and to
with 170 lm for typical plant operation. This can be predict the circuit performance with precision.
interpreted as conditions under which the pyrite is likely
experiencing overgrinding and overall plant recovery
would be expected to suer as a result of this. Acknowledgements