ABSTRACT

The aim of this work was to study the true flotation process and entrainment contamination along flotation banks. For this purpose, a new approach for characterizing the recovery and grade profiles down the industrial flotation banks was developed and tested in two industrial rougher banks, of nine 130 m³ and six 250 m³ cells. The procedure consisted of feed, top-of-froth (TOF) and concentrate grades measurement together with mineralogical analysis down the bank. These data are useful for the assessment of liberation and association of floatable particles recovered into the concentrate (true flotation) and gangue entrainment. Results allowed for the quantification of the decrease of Cu grade in concentrates and TOF samples along the banks, due to the relative increase of middling minerals and gangue entrainment. The liberation coefficient of Cu sulfides significantly decreased down the banks, because of preferential flotation of middling particles after exhaustion of the free Cu sulfide minerals. The main difference between concentrate and TOF samples was the entrainment content, while the composition of floatable minerals was similar. Therefore, the TOF measurement and mineralogical analysis provides a simpler way to assess the flotation process down the industrial flotation banks. This knowledge is relevant for process diagnosis and for selecting control strategies for flotation banks operation and optimization (e.g., froth depth and gas flowrates profiles).

摘要

这项工作的目的是研究真正的浮选过程和沿浮选堤的夹带污染。为此，开发了一种新方法，用于表征工业浮选滩下游的回收率和品位曲线，并在两个工业粗矿滩（9 个 130 m ³和 6 个 250 m ^{3 ）中进行测试}细胞。该程序包括进料、泡沫顶部 (TOF) 和精矿品位测量以及沿河岸的矿物学分析。这些数据可用于评估回收到精矿中的可漂浮颗粒的释放和结合（真正浮选）和脉石夹带。由于中等矿物和脉石夹带的相对增加，结果允许量化沿岸的精矿和 TOF 样品中铜品位的降低。由于游离铜硫化物矿物耗尽后中颗粒的优先浮选，铜硫化物的释放系数显着降低。浓缩物和 TOF 样品之间的主要区别是夹带含量，而可浮矿物的组成相似。所以，TOF 测量和矿物学分析提供了一种更简单的方法来评估工业浮选库中的浮选过程。这些知识与过程诊断和选择浮选组操作和优化的控制策略（例如，泡沫深度和气体流量分布）有关。