ПРИМЕНЕНИЕ СТРУЙНОЙ СХЕМЫ И РЕЖИМА ФЛОТАЦИИ ПАРОВОЗДУШНОЙ СМЕСЬЮ ПРИ ОБОГАЩЕНИИ ЗОЛОТОСОДЕРЖАЩИХ РУД

Abstract

Increasing the economic efficiency of enrichment of refractory gold-bearing ores is possible by reducing the cost of opening sulphide gold-bearing concentrates by reducing the yield of flotation concentrate sent to pyro- or hydrometallurgical processing. It is important to maintain the achieved level of gold recovery into concentrate with a lower concentrate yield. In order to achieve this goal, the gold content in the main flotation operation is increased by mixing the rough concentrate separated from ½ part of the ore feed with another ½ part of it. Mixing in the flotation operation of products with a high level of wash ability (ability to separate) – initial feed and rough concentrate – is identical to an increase in the content of the extractable component in the original ore. In accordance with the new regime of flotation, the process is carried out in cold slurry with bubbles filled with hot steam. The physical basis of the new flotation regime is the dependence of the surface properties of air bubbles and surface forces that determine the stability of the liquid film separating the bubble and the particle on the temperature, which increases due to the heat of the vapor-liquid phase transition. Radial oscillations of the bubble surface as a result of pressure pulsations during condensation and vapor evaporation and surface thermal flows of liquid in the wetting film are factors that provide an increase in the completeness of gold recovery and the selectivity of flotation adhesion obtained in ore flotation experiments. In laboratory conditions, a comparison was made of the indicators obtained during the dressing of gold-bearing ores according to the factory and new schemes. It was revealed that the use of the developed technology allows, with a lower concentrate yield, to obtain an increase of 7.06% abs. extraction of gold into a concentrate of the best quality. A decrease in gold losses with flotation tailings is a consequence of an increase in the number of particles reaching the bubble surface due to radial oscillations of its surface and a weakening of the stability of the wetting film by the thermo-capillary mechanism. An increase in adhesion selectivity can be interpreted using the concept of surface forces of structural origin – an increase in the forces of hydrophobic attraction and hydrophilic repulsion with increasing temperature. The interaction of vapor bubbles with nanobubbles on the surface of the solid phase (wetting by the Cassie-Baxter mechanism) ensures efficient particle recovery by the coalescence mechanism of flotation.