Abstract
The aim of this study is to diagnose and optimize a closed multistage gold ore flotation circuit in an operational industrial plant. Linear circuit analysis (LCA), a partition-based model, and a mass balance model using flotation first-order kinetics are employed to diagnose the current process. The result shows that the current circuit operates with high recovery but the gold grade of the final concentrate is low owing to the low buoyancy ratio. Hence, several alternative circuits with different streamlines and cell arrangements are proposed and simulated using LCA and a mass balance model. The result suggests that if the current process is changed to an alternative circuit in which the floated product stream of the rougher bank is changed, then the gold grade of the concentrate can be improved by 128%. Finally, the current circuit is optimized by changing it to an alternative circuit. This study provides a methodology for adapting the simulation of optimization for the flotation circuit of an industrial plant via LCA and mass balance simulation.
Highlights
IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
According to a geological survey, the Gasado gold ore used in this study is a hydrothermal deposit formed by volcanic activity at the end of the Cretaceous period, and that gold is a pyritic gold ore coexisting with pyrite [30,37,38,39,40]
Mineral analysis revealed that the gold ore contained primarily quartz, muscovite, the mineral compositions measured via XRF analysis and the gold grade from fire-assay analysis
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Flotation is the final step that determines the efficient recovery of the concentrate, which is the final product of beneficiation [10,11,12]. Noble and Luttrel [26] proposed a linear circuit analysis (LCA) as a process diagnosis and optimization model This methodology is a partition-based separation model for estimating the arrangement and interconnection of unit processes in a circuit. The flotation process of a beneficiation plant during operation was diagnosed and optimized using LCA and mass balance simulations. The target circuit was that of a flotation process in an industrial gold ore beneficiation plant in Jeollanam-do province, Korea. The flotation circuit information, such as the mineral composition of ores, throughput, and cell size, was used in a mass balance simulation to calculate the gold grade of the concentrate and the recovery. The circuit was optimized by adopting the process that afforded the best separation efficiency
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