| Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 233166 | Minerals Engineering | 2014 | 6 Pages |
•We modelled a rougher bank modelled in JKSimFloat using a three mineral system.•We created six bank profiles to compare gangue recovery by true flotation and entrainment.•Simulations support the effect of bank profile on separation efficiency.•A balanced recovery profile provides the best separation efficiency against floatable gangue.•A balanced mass profile provides the best separation efficiency against entrained gangue.
Various authors have discussed methods of optimising a bank of flotation cells. In this paper, JKSimFloat is used to investigate the effect of recovery profiling and mass pull profiling (i.e., mass distribution to cells in a bank) on the separation efficiency between floatable minerals and against entrained gangue.In the case of two floatable minerals, a balanced recovery profile was found to be optimal: supporting and extending previous analysis. In the case of separation of a floatable mineral from entrained gangue, the entrainment model that links water overflow rate to solids overflow rate was employed. When the value of b in the entrainment model is greater than one, a balanced mass pull profile was found to be optimum. The evidence for b > 1 is briefly reviewed; no example has been found where b < 1. Most of the profiles were controlled in the software by altering the bubble surface area flux distribution; a sensitivity analysis was performed using other variables.Recovery profiling was tested as part of a bank optimisation campaign at a talc operation in Timmins, Canada. Using air and frother as manipulated variables, it was found that as the rougher bank was moved toward a balanced profile the final plant product showed improvement in grade and yield.
