Posted by Paul Moore on sixth July 2024
Barrick says it’s ‘revolutionising’ copper focus via the usage of Woodgrove Applied sciences’ Direct Flotation Reactor (DFR) expertise on the MBCC Jabal Sayid copper mine in Saudi Arabia, including: “This expertise contains a smaller footprint, higher effectivity, and unparalleled selectivity, enabling the transition from rougher focus to closing focus in a single stage.”
The Jabal Sayid underground copper operation is positioned 350 km north-east of Jeddah within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It’s a 50/50 three way partnership operation with Saudi mining firm Ma’aden. In Q1 2024 the mine produced 17,000 t of copper and for the complete 12 months 2023 it produced 64,410 t (each 100% foundation). Mining and improvement is carried out by Australia-headquartered Byrnecut whose contract at present runs to 2028.
The DFR expertise has been deployed as a part of the brand new Jabal Sayid Lode 1 venture. The scope of this venture is to develop and mine a brand new orebody, positioned lower than a kilometre from the prevailing lode at Jabal Sayid. The venture design consists of underground capital improvement in addition to air flow, paste plant and underground mining infrastructure upgrades the place stoping commenced through the third quarter of 2023 and improvement was working forward of schedule and was 98% full by finish Q1 2024.
The up-cast air flow elevate bore shaft had additionally been absolutely geared up and the reaming of the recent air air flow shaft had been accomplished by finish March. A brand new reagent plant and the DFR had been commissioned in Q1 2024 with ongoing optimisation. Civil and mechanical development on the paste plant had additionally been accomplished with electrical development nearing completion. Commissioning of the paste plant was scheduled to begin through the second quarter of 2024.
DFR flotation cells have been deployed at different operations globally, together with at Copper Mountain in BC, Canada, now owned by Hudbay Minerals and Lundin Mining’s Chapada gold mine in Brazil. It has additionally been earmarked for Technology Mining’s Marathon palladium-copper venture in northwestern Ontario which is within the closing phases of acquiring allowing and approvals.
Woodgrove says that Direct Flotation Reactors present as much as a 50% footprint discount plus contain decreased capital funding and working value utilizing as much as much less 50% energy and bringing 90% air financial savings. DFR additionally permits for decreased transportation prices with much less piping, wiring and smaller MCCs plus use single stage staging with no step peak.
In additional element, the corporate states: “The Direct Flotation Reactor (DFR) is a flotation cell that works on the precept of stopping the formation of a froth and froth slurry interface. Impartial bubbles are faraway from the gathering zone in a gasoline section/slurry section. The flotation cell has a particle assortment regime within the decrease half of the vessel and the loaded bubbles are recovered on the prime of the vessel.”
The entire unit is a pressurised system. The DFR has a really low footprint as a result of absence of a froth section, the mass pull doesn’t dictate tank measurement and the set up is on a single stage (elevation) with no step peak between cells. “Being a low air system, the DFR has enhanced selectivity and just like the SFR has decreased energy and air consumption. No mist, mud or off-gases because the system is completely enclosed! The system performs equally effectively in each rougher and cleansing circuits with equal or higher efficiency than typical flotation expertise.”
Just a few different cited advantages of the elimination of the froth zone are not any coalescence of bubbles when froth kinds (coalesced bubbles are as much as 20x bigger than when they’re fashioned), plus mineralised particles ‘compete’ for the decreased floor space whereas ‘losers’ drop again into the slurry.
