Minerals Engineering, Vol. 4, Nos 7-11, pp. 1057-1069, 1991 0892-6875/91 $3.

00 + 000
Printed in Great Britain © 1991 Pergamon Press plc

THE PRACTICE OF PYRITE FLOTATION IN SOUTH AFRICA AND AUSTRALIA

C.T. O'CONNOR§ and R.C. DUNNEI

§ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town,

Rondebosch 7700, South Africa
t Newmont Australia Ltd, 179 Great Eastern Highway,
Belmont, W.A. 6104, Australia

ABSTRACT

The flotation of pyrite is of great importance to the gold mining industry in

South Africa and Australia. The flotation plants fall into a number of
categories, viz. flotation after milling, flotation of current residues and
reclaimed residues, flotation of refractory ores and the flotation of gold-
copper ores. This paper discusses each of these processes with particular
attention being given to the differences in the physical and chemical operating
parameters, the different circuits used on existing plants and the application
of new cell technologies and flotation reagents.

Keywords
Pyrite, arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, copper, gold, flotation, South Africa,
Australia

INTRODUCTION

The flotation of auriferous sulphides, particularly pyrite, is of great importance on gold

mines in South Africa and Australia. In South Africa the primary flotation of gold-bearing
pyrite is carried out on a large scale as opposed to many other operations worldwide where
pyrite is the dominant gangue sulphide in base metal flotation processes [ 1]. In South Africa
more than 60 million tonnes of dry ore are processed annually in flotation plants to recover
auriferous pyrite. One of the main reasons for floating the pyrite is to produce a feedstock
for the manufacture of sulphuric acid. In South Africa this acid is mostly used for leaching
uranium which is also present in Witwatersrand gold-bearing conglomerates. The calcines
produced from the roasting of the pyrite are cyanide-leached to recover gold. In many
instances this is clone in conjunction with the leaching of freshly milled gold ores. In
Australia and most other countries it is mainly the refractory nature of the gold-bearing
ores which requires them to be treated by flotation. In Australia the practice of pyrite
flotation to produce acid occurs mainly on base metal flotation plants. The pyrite is first
depressed and then, as the last step in the process, reactivated by decreasing the pH to a
value of 8 to 9 with sulphuric acid and finally floated with a xanthate collector. This is
common practice on many base metal plants that sell pyrite as a by-product for acid
manufacture.

PLANT PRACTICE

Before discussing the details of auriferous sulphide flotation some background discussion
on the different flotation operations in South Africa and Australia is presented.

1057
1058 C . T . O'CONNOR and R. C. DUNNE

South Africa

The flotation process in South Africa can be broadly categorized into two areas, namely
auriferous pyrite flotation and refractory gold ore flotation. The former is the most
important and accounts for more than 95 per cent of the gold ores treated in flotation
plants.

The auriferous pyrite flotation processes involve either the treatment of residue, both
current and reclaimed, or the treatment of freshly ground ores, both from within the milling
circuit and/or from cyclone overflow products. Table 1 presents details of conditions
obtaining on the different flotation plants surveyed in this paper.

Australia

The Australian gold ores can be categorized as follows: copper - gold ores, refractory gold
ores (requiring oxidation of the concentrate), partially refractory gold ores (only requiring
fine grinding of concentrate) and pyritic gold ores. A list of the mines and details of the
conditions under which their flotation plants operate is presented in Tables 2 and 3.

MINERALOGY

The mineralogy of the gold-bearing conglomerate deposits of the Witwatersrand Basin in

South Africa has been comprehensively reviewed by Auhauser, et al. [2]. Table 4 gives a
brief description of the mineralogy of the pyritic and refractory gold ores in Australia.
The copper mineralogy on all but one mine, Mt Lyell, is predominantly chalcocite with
some digenite and oxide copper minerals. At Mt Lyell the major copper mineral is
chalcopyrite.

PROCESS ROUTES

Flotation in the milling circuit (e.g. Hartebeestfontein)

In this instance flotation takes place within the milling circuit. This enables an increased
plant capacity to be achieved without loss of gold. The flotation is followed by separate
leaching of the high grade concentrates and the low grade tailings. Moreover, in this process
a coarser grind is possible resulting in considerable capital savings.

Flotation of cyclone overflow product (e.g. Loraine)

This approach is the same as that used on base metal sulphide mines. The flotation rates are
slower than for flotation within the milling circuit and consequently flotation residence time
is longer. More cleaning stages are also required to produce acceptable concentrates for
roasting.

Flotation of current cyanidation residues (e.g. Vaai Reefs)

In South Africa the feed to this circuit is usually cyanide-uranium plant residue. The major
motivation for such a process is often the production of a pyrite concentrate for sulphuric
acid production. The recovery of refractory gold present in such a residue can be enhanced
by ultrafine grinding but it has been estimated that this would cost an equivalent value of
about 1 g/t of gold thus making it generally uneconomical.

Flotation of reclaimed residues (e.g. ERGO)

As a result of pyrite oxidation occurring on slimes dams occluded gold may be liberated in
these residues. Since this oxidized pyrite responds slowly to flotation it is customary to
condition the pulp in acid for long periods prior to flotation.
 TABLE 1 Pyrite flotation plants in South Africa
MINE FEED' HEAD GRADES RECOVERIES FINAL ~ . FEED PARTICLE PULP DENSITY RESIDENCE COLLECTORS ACTIVATORS DEPRESSANTS FRO l Viler pH
,% S Au(g/t) ' ,% S Au ,% S Au ~ t SIZE ,% < 7 5 ~ ,% (MIN) (g/t) (~I~
Ergo R~-!-i~ed residue 1 ~56 77 40 29 &3 73 45 22 NaMBT (85) CuSO4 (35) Aerol J2P 350 Dow 200 3.8
DTP (10) (8) (17)

Free State Geduld Reclaimed residue 1 0.45 85 42 33 7.5 75 37 29 NaMBT (85) CnS04(30) Acrol J2P 350 Senfroth 3.8
(40) (21)

President Brand Reclaimed residue 1 0.35 85 46 30 6.5 70 40 19 NaMBT (85) COS04 (40) Acrol J2P 350 Senfroth 3.8
(40) (35)

pr~idpnt Steyn Reclaimed residue 1.2 0.3 80 42 30 4 57 40 25 NaMBT (95) c.so4 (55) Acrol J2P 350 Dow 200 3.8
(40) (25)

Simmergo Reclaimed residue 0.8 0.8 82 52 60 31 29 SNPX (60) Scntroth 6.5-10

(2O)

Crown Mines Reclaimed residue 0.5 0.55 60 20 40 15-20 10 45 24 NaMBT (30) Senfroth 3-6
(sand) (10)
10 NaMBT/DTP (56) CuSO4 (29) TPD 36 (15) Dow 200 3.8 l:m
Vaal Reefs East Current residues 0.85 0.48 99 47 15 5.5 70 35 O
(23)
O
Vaal Reefs West Current residues 0.76 0.43 92 41 60 37 10 NaMBT/DTC (79) CuSO4 (47) Dow 250 3.8
(17)

Buffelsfontein Zurrent residues 1.2 0.32 72 36 31 13 73 37 15 NaMBT/Xanthate CuSO4 (34) Senfroth 3.4
(110) 600(32)

Hartebeestfontein ~d'ter milling 1.5 11 90 88 10-20 120 60 29 20 SNPX (130) CuSO4 (96) 11
No (2) DTP (15)

~lartebeest fontein After milling 1.5 6 86 84 9 56 64 34 16 SNPX (95) CuSO4 (9O) 11

No (7) DTP (13)

Agnes After milling 4 3.5 95 86 23 14 31 21 SIBX (200) CuSO4 (190) Acrol J2P 350 TEB (250) 8.5
(15)

]Loraine Mter milling 1.4 6 86 92 52 32 10 SEX (107) CuSO4 (95) AFg0 11

(42)

Venterspost ~M-termilling 1 3.7 76 36 33 144 35 49 11 Fatty amine Dow 200 11

acetate (20) (8)
Fairview ~dter milling 0.6 8.2 97 88 23 139 74 37 19 SIBX (29) CuSO4 (24) Aerol (35) R55 (18) 6.2
AP2O8 (47)

~o
 T A B L E 2 P y r i t e f l o t a t i o n p l a n t s in A u s t r a l i a .

'dINE !HEAD GRADES CONCENTRATE GRADES IRECOVERIES GRIND FEED RESIDENCE ,H COLLECYrOR ACTIVATOR FROTHER
Au (g/t) ~s %As Au (g/t) %S %As %Au %S SIZE %SOLID l I M E (rain) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t)
Paddington 2.1 0.34 0.2 17 0.8 0.4 58 44 80% < 75]~rn 20 6.5-7.0 PAX(435; SIBX (575 CuSO4 (1107 DOW 400 (55
3477(10)

Harbour Lights 3 to 4 0.7 0.5 40-50 20-25 8-10 50-60 65-70 80% < 7 5 ~ 35 27 70 PAX(30) CUSO4(90) MIBC(15)
AF238(5)
Ox
o Fimiston 2.5 to 3.5 2.0 30-70 30-35 - 85-90 91 70%<75~ 41 18 7.0 SEX(35) CUSO4(50) NALFLOTE(20)

Drova-Fimiston 3.5 1.6 - 2.0 60- 80 32- 36 85-90 88-93 70-75% <7Sure 42 20 7.2 PAX(20) CUSO4(655 TERRIC(20)

Oroya-Mt Charlotte 3.0 3.0 30 - 50 15 - 30 93 94 60% < 751~m 42 20 7.2 PAX(10) CUSO4(75) NALFLOTE(20)
i

three Mile Hill 2.7 N/M N/M 17 N/M N/M 60% <75~n 30-45 35 7.3-7.6 SEX(755 CUSO4(85) IF56 (10-205
t
PAX(505
Lance field 7.5 4.5 0.32 35 24 1.4 89 35-40 70 8-8.2 PAX(1505 CUSO4(116) TERRIC(20)

White Range 3.5 N/M 40 - 50 N/M 87 N/M PS0-12.~f.an 48 - 50 19 7.5-8 SEX(400) DOW 400(100)

N / M - not m e a s u r e d
 T A B L E 3 C o p p e r - g o l d f l o t a t i o n plants in A u s t r a l i a .

MINE TONNAGE HEAD GRADES RECOVERIES (%) CONCENTR ATE GRADES ZOLLECTOR SULPHIDIZER bROTHER
ANNUAL) Au (g/t) % Cu %S %Ag Au S Ag Cu Au (g/t) % Cu %S Ag (g/t) !(g/t) (g/t) (Wt)
Horsehoe Lights 30,000 1.1 1.8 2.0 25 87 96 90 88 13 20 26 288 AP238(34) 1500 Na2S w5qso)
PAX(50)
BrowmCteek 2,700 3.8 0.3 (low) 90 92 92 250-300 20-35 15-20 50-500 PAX(E0) IF50(50)

Red Dome 5,000 to 2.0 0.56 (low) N/M 65 85-90 102 28.5 25 300 A3894(40) 750-1000 MIBC(40)
7,000 A238(20) NaHS MIBC(40)
o~ 750-1000NariS DOW 400(20)
Seiy,~2m N/M 3.6 1.3 (low) 88-90 80-90 80-90 30 A238(70) 0.5 Na2S MIBC(40)
DOW 400(10.)!
Olympic Dam 18,000 0.84 3.2 (low) 17 70 58 91 9 46 18-25 159 SEX(50-100) MIBC(60)
CMS46
Mt- L~Teu(1) 27,000 0.4 1.6 5 3 65 50 56 93 6.00) 27 35 35 CYANAMID 5415
SHELL SF323 IF56(35)
or
Mt. Leyell (2) 80,000 1.o(~) 0.3 5.o 5o SIPX MIBC

Telfm" 10,000 15-20 3-4 3-6 93 94 90 90-100 20 3O-4O 20-30 PAX(250) 1000-4000Na2S MtBC(Z00)
A238(120)

(i) Copper Float [ref. 13]

(ii) Pyrite Float [ t e l 13]
1062 C T. O'CONNORand R. C. DONNE

T A B L E 4 M i n e r a l o g y of the pyrite and refractory gold ores in Australia.

MINE STATE SULPHIDE GOLD ASSOCIATION

MINERALS

Paddington WA Arsenopyrite Gold on grain boundaries of

Pyrite arsenopyrite

Harbour Lights WA Arsenopyrite Gold occluded in pyrite and

Pyrite as solid solution in
Gersdorffite arsenopyrite

Fimiston WA Pyrite Gold teUurides and gold finely

Telluride disseminated
in pyrite

Oroya-Fimiston WA Pyrite Gold tellurides finely

Telluride disseminated in pyrite

Oyroya-Mt Charlotte WA Pyrite Gold easily liberated

Pyrrhotite

Three Mile Hill WA Pyrrhotite Gold disseminated with

Arsenopyrite arsenopyrite and pyrite
Pyrite relativelyeasily liberated

Lancefield WA Pyrrhotite Gold associated with

Pyrite pyrrhotite and pyrite and
Arsenopyrite in solid solution

White Range NT Pyrite Relatively easily liberated

New England QL Antimony

Pyrite
Arsenopyrite

WA - Western Australia
NT - Northern Territory
QL - Queensland

Refractory Gold Ores - Oxidation Required (e.g. Agnes, Lancefield)

Ores that fall into this category usually contain arsenopyrite, stibnite, tellurite a n d s u l p h u r
salts. O x i d a t i o n by roasting, pressure oxidation and bacterial leaching is required to liberate
the gold f r o m the sulphides prior to c y a n i d e leaching. The sulphides in most instances are
p r e c o n c e n t r a t e d by flotation before the oxidation step.

Partially Refractory Gold Ores (e.g. Three Mile Hill)

Some ores require only finer grinding of the sulphide to liberate the gold prior to cyanide
leaching (e.g. Paddington sulphide ores). For other ores containing pyrite-pyrrhotite,
arsenopyrite, or all three minerals, it may be advantageous to depress the pyrrhotite,
especially if it is very reactive and contains little gold. The gold and other sulphides are
then floated for further grinding and/or cyanide leaching of this concentrate. In this way
cyanide consumption and aeration requirements can be reduced and gold recoveries
enhanced.
 Pyrite flotation 1063

Copper-Gold Ores (e.g. Red Dome)

These ores contain reasonable quantities of gold associated with copper and are different to
the porphyry copper and mixed base metal sulphide ores which usually contain only small
quantities of gold i.e. < 0.5 g/t. No ores of this nature are currently being processed in
South Africa. Cyanide leaching of these copper-gold ores is uneconomic as large quantities
of cyanide are required. A bulk copper-gold or copper-pyrite-gold flotation concentrate,
depending on the ore mineralogy, is produced from these deposits and the concentrate is
presently sold to copper smelters.

FLOTATION PARAMETERS FOR AURIFEROUS SULPHIDE

Chemical Parameters

The most important chemical parameters in the flotation of auriferous sulphides are the pH
value and the reagent suite.

pH Value

Pyrite and arsenopyrite float well in the pH range of 3 to 10. This excludes the addition of
an activator such as copper sulphate. Pyrrhotite floats best in acid circuits. The copper
minerals found in the copper-gold ores are floated in alkaline circuits for obvious reasons.
There is a preference to float chalcocite at high pH values, usually above 10.5, since its
flotation reponse is better in this region. As shown in Table 1, 2 and 3 there are some
interesting trends as regards the effect of pH on flotation. For the residue treatment plants
the pH is usually below 4 since the residue comes from the uranium acid leach circuit (e.g.
Vaal Reefs) or from an acid treatment circuit to destroy the cyanide (e.g. Buffelsfontein).
For reclaimed residues the pH of the reclaimed material is low because of either long term
pyrite oxidation in the old residue dams or because long conditioning times are required
in an acid environment in order to clean the pyrite surfaces. It is only at Simmergo that
flotation occurs at intermediate to high pHs such as 6.5 to 10.0. This can be attributed to
the fact that the sand residue treated in this flotation plant is milled prior to flotation and
presumably the grinding step produces clean fresh pyrite surfaces for flotation. The
flotation of auriferous pyrite ores within the grinding circuit in South Africa all take place
at pH values of about 11.0. Although in this range pyrite is normally depressed, the addition
of copper sulphate promotes the flotation of pyrite. Flotation at high pH is carried out since
this favours the depression of talcaceous minerals such as pyrophyllite and hence avoids the
use of expensive depressants. This depression is particularly favoured at pH higher than
10.5. Selective flotation of pyrite at Venterspost with the amine acetate is only achieved at
pH values greater than 11. Should the pH fall below 11 then a non-selective flotation of
pyrite and quartz occurs.

For refractory gold ores and partially refractory gold ores in both South Africa and
Australia, the pH range for flotation is generally between 7 and 9. pH values above 10 are
found in some of the copper gold ore flotation plants because of the use of sodium sulphide
or an equivalent sulphidizer.

Collectors

In all but one case, viz., Venterspost, sulphydryl collectors are used for the flotation of
pyrite, pyrrhotite and arsenopyrite. At alkaline pH the collectors used on South African
flotation plants are usually short chain length xanthates such as SNPX and SIBX. At pH of
11 dixanthogen is not stable and it is the xanthate ion which is the active species. Typical
dosages are about 120 g/t and in some instances the conditioning times are as long as 1 hour.

In Australia there is a trend to use the stronger and longer chain xanthate PAX. From a
plant performance viewpoint this appears to give slightly higher recoveries and better
concentrate grades than the shorter chain length xanthates.
1064 C.T. O'CONNOR and R. C. DUNNE

The most widely used collector in acid flotation circuits is sodium mercaptobenzothiazole.
Acid circuits are not used in Australia. For the copper-gold ores floated in Australia the
primary collector is either a xanthate, a thionocarbamate or a mixture of these. Recently in
South Africa collectors such as dithiophosphates and dithiocarbamates and mixtures of these
with mercaptobenzothiazoles and/or xanthates are being used more widely in the flotation
of pyrite.

Promoters
A number of different flotation promoters are used in South Africa and Australia to
enhance gold and/or sulphide recovery. In South Africa the use of promoters at low addition
rates (10 to 20 g/t) is made in both the current residue circuits (dithiocarbamates (DTC) and
dithiophosphates (DTP)), within the milling circuit (DTP), and also on reclaimed residues
(DTP). Most flotation plants use only a single collector and this is the case on most
Australian plants treating refractory and partially refractory gold ores. In the treatment of
copper-gold ores, mixed collector systems appear to be the norm.

Activator/Froth Modifier
Copper sulphate is widely used on South African and Australian flotation plants and
especially when treating pyritic and refractory gold ores. Addition rates range from 30g/t
to 100g/t for most of these mines, whilst a high addition rate is used in the case of
refractory ores in South Africa, e.g. Agnes.

The role of copper sulphate appears to be mainly that of a froth modifier since it has been
shown that it does not appear to change the surface characteristics of the ore [3]. Recently
Bradshaw et al. [4] have shown, in an extensive study of the role of mixtures of
dithiophosphates and dithiocarbamates as pyrite collectors, that the addition of copper
sulphate can be disadvantageous. The conditioning time for the copper sulphate is usually
less than 1 minute on South African mines whilst in Australia it can be a couple of minutes.
In this process adequate grades are obtained without using gangue depressants such as guar
gums.

Depressants
Gangue
In view of the natural floatability of pyrophyllite at intermediate and low pHs, it is
necessary to add a depressant such as guar gum or a modified guar gum. These depressants
are increasingly becoming the most expensive reagent on flotation plants in South Africa
even to the point of making some plants uneconomical. Very short conditioning times of
about 1 minute are used. In the case of circuits treating current residues dithiophosphates
are being more widely used and depressants are seldom required. Although no depressants
are presently used on Australian flotation plants, there may be some scope for their
inclusion. A CMC was used for some time at the Harbour Lights mine during 1988 to 1989
to depress the floatable gangue constituent. This depressant has also recently been
successfully tested on a South African flotation plant as a cheaper alternative to the more
widely used guar gums.

An alternative option seldom considered and which is being successfully applied at the
Harbour Lights Mine in Western Australia is the so called 'talc prefloat'. Difficulties in
maintaining satisfactory talc depression as a result of large fluctuations in talc content in the
feed led to the adoption of a process whereby small quantities of frother are added to the
pulp and the talc is floated in the rougher column cell. A richer bulk sulphide concentrate
is floated after this. The talc concentrate, which contains reasonable values of gold, is
recombined with the sulphide flotation tailing prior to cyanide leaching. The refractory
sulphide concentrate, containing arsenopyrite and pyrite, will be treated in a bioxidation
plant which is to be constructed in 1991. A similar 'talc prefloat' process was used in the
early seventies at Loraine Gold Mine in South Africa. However, problems associated with
 Pyrite flotation 1065

pumping, batch leaching and filtering of the dilute viscous talc concentrate, led to it being
abandoned in favour of the high pH-copper sulphate activation flotation route.

Sulphide Depression
Differential flotation of the iron sulphides, pyrite and pyrrhotite, and the arsenic iron
sulphide, arsenopyrite, is a unique process in the gold-sulphide flotation arena. There is
scope on some mines for the differential flotation of pyrite from arsenopyrite or vice versa.
This is due to the fact that gold in the pyrite portion is non-refractory, the gold being
particulate and liberated on finer grinding, whilst the arsenopyrite is finely disseminated
or in 'solid solution'. This is the situation at Harbour Lights Gold Mine and for a short
period during 1987 and 1988 a differential float, separating pyrite from arsenopyrite, was
in operation. The process [5] involved the selective depression of arsenopyrite from a bulk
pyrite-arsenopyrite concentrate with potassium permanganate at a controlled redox potential
of between 400 and 500 mV. Unfortunately the separation on the plant was not as efficient
as that achieved in the laboratory and the process was abandoned. In another new
innovation a process has been developed for floating arsenopyrite from pyrite by adding
dithiophosphates in the first stage at a pH of I 1 and copper sulphate and a mixture of
cyclohexyl and n-propyl dithiocarbamate in the second stage [6].

The presence of 'active' pyrrhotite can cause immense problems in gold cyanide leach
circuits resulting in a combination of high cyanide consumption and slow gold leach rates
which usually impact on gold recovery [7]. To overcome these particular problems a
flotation circuit which incorporates a pre-aeration step, using sparged air in a stirred tank
for 20 minutes ahead of cyanide leaching, was included ahead of flotation at the Three Mile
Hill Gold Mine in Western Australia. The preparation step allows for a preferential float of
arsenopyrite and pyrite from pyrrhotite, i.e. depression of pyrrhotite [8]. The flotation
tailing contains very low gold values and it is pumped to the tailings dam. The flotation
concentrate is milled prior to cyanide leaching.

Controlled Potential Sulphidization

Another interesting innovation that is being used on some Australian copper-gold ore
flotation plants is the so called 'Controlled Potential Sulphidisation' (CPS) process [9,10].
Two mines,viz. Telfer Gold Mine and Red Dome, have incorporated this into their flotation
circuit to improve the recovery of both the oxide copper minerals and chalcocite. CPS will
also be installed into the flotation circuit currently being built at the Boddington Gold
Mine. In this process sodium sulphide or sodium hydrogen sulphide is added after a sulphide
prefloat. The potential is controlled at about -450 mV using a sulphide electrode, and the
quantities of sulphidiser used on the three mines that add it are shown in Table 3.

Frothers

For pyritic and refractory gold ores there appears to be a preference for the polyglycol ether
based frothers. As for many of the base metal mixed sulphide flotation operations the
preferred frother for the copper gold ores is MIBC. However in most instances a blend of
frothers is used.

Physical Parameters
Flotation circuit configuration can be divided into a number of categories, viz., open
circuits with no cleaning at all, and open and closed circuits with single stage and two stage
cleaning. Figures 1 and 2 show typical examples of semi-open and open circuit cleaning
as practiced at Hartebeestfontein and Ergo plants respectively. Open circuits have the
advantage of avoiding the feedback of the effects of non-steady state operation and thus
the operation is more stable and quickly recovers after a circuit upset. If cyclone overflow
from a milling circuit forms the flotation plant feed, then an open circuit configuration also
results in an increase in rougher cell residence time because of the elimination of the

ME 4 : 7 / 1 1 - B B
1066 C.T. O'CONNOR and R. C. DUNNE

dilution effect of the cleaner tails and scavenger concentrate. This increase in residence time
usually has some metallurgical benefit [1 ].

I
i
>C
Fig. 1 Flowsheet of Hartebeestfontein flotation plant.

rL-->T

Fig.2 Flowsheet of Ergo flotation plant.

Closed and open circuit cleaning is used on mines where high grade concentrates a r e
required for roasting and smelting. In these instances it is difficult to maintain very high
gold and sulphide flotation recoveries whilst also producing an acceptable grade of
concentrate. In contrast mixed base metal mines that float pyrite for sulphuric acid
production are not too concerned about recovery and generally produce high grade
concentrates containing 40 to 50 percent sulphur.
 Pyrite flotation 1067

Where constraints of concentrate quality do not exist, such as at Three Mile Hill, Mt
Charlotte and Paddington, very high gold flotation recoveries are achievable and a
discardable gold flotation tail can in some instances be obtained. This is the situation at
Three Mile Hill and Oroya - Mt Charlotte. Recently there has been a growing effort in
South Africa to produce a discardable tail (< 0.15 g/t of gold) from the flotation of freshly
ground ores in the milling circuit.

Cleaning circuit design, i.e. single or two stage, and cleaner residence time is very much a
function of the sulphide particle size in the flotation feed and the presence or absence of
floatable gangue components. In South Africa one stage cleaning with short residence times
both in the rougher and cleaner are only found at the Hartebeestfontein and Venterspost
flotation plant. Two stage cleaning and longer cleaner and recleaner residence times are the
norm on other South African pyrite flotation plants. It is also noteworthy that at the Oroya
plant the grind for the Mt Charlotte ore is relatively coarser than for all the other gold
plants in Australia.

FLOTATION PERFORMANCE

Gold flotation performance is usually gauged by the gold recovery. The constraint of
producing concentrates of high enough sulphur or copper grade for roasting or smelting will
obviously impede this recovery. Consequently it is extremely difficult to produce a
'discardable ' gold flotation tail in this situation. An alternative flowsheet that has been
proposed to partially fulfil this ideal for pyrite ores is the 'two concentrate' flowsheet in
which two concentrates of high and low grades are produced. The former concentrate is
roasted whilst the latter concentrate can be milled and cyanide leached thereby reducing
both operating and capital costs.

Inspection of the tables which give details of the flotation performance on the different
mines (Tables 1, 2 and 3) show some interesting trends. For the residue flotation plants, gold
recovery is usually less than 50%, whilst sulphur recovery, an indicator of pyrite recovery,
is normally about eighty percent. Only one plant has lower recoveries than those stated
above and this is at the Crown Mine Sands operation.

It is obvious from the recovery data that the gold remaining in the flotation tailings is not
primarily associated with pyrite. Diagnostic leaching has shown that the remaining gold is
occluded in silicates. It is noteworthy that the highest gold recovery is obtained on the
Simmergo plant where the residues are milled. This suggests that an improvement has
occurred due to liberation of gold from silicates.

Both the gold and sulphur flotation recoveries for the 'milled ore circuits' are, with the
exception of Venterspost, in the mid-eighties. Previous work has demonstrated that 'free
gold' recovery with amine collectors at Venterspost is not as good as with xanthates.
However, the amine is preferred as it does not inhibit the gold leach rates in the subsequent
cyanide leach process.

With the exception of Red Dome, Mt Lyell and Olympic Dam, the flotation gold recoveries
on all the other gold-copper flotation are in the upper-eighties. The lower gold recoveries
at the other three mines in this category can be attributed to the low gold values in their
feeds. Gold recoveries at Red Dome are expected to improve with time as the gold head
grade improves.

NEW DEVELOPMENTS

Column Flotation

Recently, especially in Australia, the flotation of pyrite in column flotation cells has been
shown to be particularly successful. The advantages of column flotation have been well
1068 C.T. O'CONNOR and R. C. DUNNE

documented [11]. In plant trials carried out on the flotation of cleaner cell railings at both
the Vaal Reefs plant and the President Steyn plant it has been shown that a column cell is
able to recover significantly more gold. This was achieved without any significant increase
in sulphur recovery illustrating that a selective float was being carried out. These results
were obtained using a new Karbochem collector, SK5, which appears from diagnostic
leaching studies to be a more gold specific collector. Increasing the aeration rate also
resulted in an increase in the recovery of gold. This may be due to the enhanced upward
momentum created by the increased aeration rate and thus the increased recovery of the
heavier gold bearing particles. In this same study the recovery of gold also increased when
the the column was run as a rougher cell. The President Steyn mine has recently successfully
commissioned a 1.2 m diameter by 12 m high column flotation cell operating as a rougher.
The cell uses the Cominco sparger system. The preliminary results are most encouraging and
it is expected that this will be the forerunner of a number of column cells in the near
future. Apart from the testing of column cells for the flotation of pyrite, Vaal Reefs has
recently tested a pneumatic cell as a rougher cell. The results of this testwork do not at this
stage appear promising. A Leeds-Wemco cell will shortly be installed on this same mine for
evaluation.

In Australia column flotation has been most successful especially as it has significantly
reduced flotation capital costs on new and existing mines that do not have large ore reserves.
At one stage the largest column cells in the world were operating at the Paddington Mine
[12]. An interesting feature of these columns is the froth crowder which was incorporated
to improve the froth characteristics since it was felt that the froth would be unstable given
the low sulphide content of the concentrate [12]. The dimensions of most of the columns are
approximately 12m x 3m. The cleaner cells are the same height but only about lm in
diameter. Rubber and filter cloth socks are still being used as spargers although the
Cominco and USBM spargers are being tried. The South African experience has been that
the rubber and filter cloth spargers are less than satisfactory.

Surprisingly skin-air (flash flotation) cells are not widely in use on gold plants in either
South Africa or Australia. Only the Teller mine in Australia and the President Steyn mine
in South Africa have used these cells.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge with thanks the outstanding co-operation which they
received from all the plants mentioned in this paper. They also thank all the mines for
permission to publish their results.

REFERENCES

. Broekman B.R., Carter L.A.E. & Dunne R.C., in The Extractive Metallurgy of Gold,
Vol. 1, Ed. G.G. Stanley, The South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Monograph Series M7, Johannesburg, 235-276 (1987).

. Anhauser C.R., Feather C.E., Liebenberg W.R., Smits G. & Snegg J.A., ibid. 20,
(1987).

. O'Connor C.T., Walls M.J. & Botha C., The role of copper sulphate in pyrite
flotation, Minerals Engng., 1,3, 203- 212 ( 1988).

. Bradshaw D.J., Upton A.E., & O'Connor, C.T., Karbochem Research Report,
(November 1990).

, Wong K.Y., Private Communication, Optimet Melbourne, Australia, November 1990.

6. O'Connor C.T., Bradshaw D.J. & Upton A.E., Minerals Engng.. 3,5,447-459 (1990).
 Pyrite flotation 1069

7. Bax A., Private Communication, Three Mile Hill Mine, November 1990.

8. Weiss N.L., SME Mineral Processing Handbook, A.I.M.E., New York, 5-26 (1985).
. Engelhardt D., Telfer Gold Mine sulphide ore treatment circuit, Randol Gold Forum,
Squaw Valley, California, (September 1990).
10. Lewis P.J., Treatment of oxidized and primary copper gold ores at Red Dome,
Queensland, Australia, ibid. (September 1990).

11. Column Flotation '88, Ed. K.V.S. Sastry, International Conference on Column
Flotation, SME Annual Meeting, Phoenix, Arizona (January, 1988).

12. Newell A., Gray D. & Alford R., The application of flotation columns to gold
recovery at Paddington Mine, 13th International Precious Metals Institute Conference,
Montreal, Canada (June 1989).
13. Jillett I.M., Copper ore concentration at the Mt Lyall Mining and Railway Co., Ltd.,
Queensland, Mining and Metallurgical Practices in Australia: The Sir Maurice M.
Awby Memorial Volume, Ed. Woodcock J.T., Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy, (1980).