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By van der Walt TJ, van Deventer JSJ, Reuter MA

Owing to their complexity, many metallurgical processes are difficult to model fundamentally, and as a result more attention has been focused on the use of artificial intelligence techniques to simulate these processes. In this paper recent advances in the use of neural nets to model processes not amenable to conventional methods are discussed. These include the application of a new modelling methodology based on the use of neural nets for the dynamic simulation of metallurgical processes, the use of conventional techniques in conjunction with neural nets to simulate gravity separation circuits, as well as the detection of gross errors in variable measurements by means of a neural net representation of the relation between measurement and constraint residuals.

Jan 1, 1993

The 1990s present many challenges, not the least of which is in the area of health and safety. Integrating of safety and health into the management process to suit the overall needs of a company will require commitment. Organisations which consistently perform to high success levels do so because they plan it that way. By using tools of total quality management, the potential to continually improve all safety processes exists. The successful integration of total quality measurement principles used in the improvement of safety processes, and the measurement of performance-based activities allow for prevention of accident causing scenarios and performance improvement.

Jan 1, 1993

By J B. Holman, P A. Weber, P Lindsay

Underground and opencast coal mining has occurred since 1896 on the Stockton Plateau, West Coast, New Zealand. Acid Rock Drainage (ARD) from historic and current mine workings has had an adverse environmental impact on the surrounding aquatic environment. The two main catchments affected by ARD from historic and current mine workings are the Mangatini and St Patrick Stream catchments. Solid Energy New Zealand Ltd (SENZ) is using active (e.g. alkali dosing) and passive (e.g. engineered cover) technologies to mitigate the adverse environmental effects associated with ARD contaminated waterways. This paper discusses the passive technologies. Principal strategies include the capping of high capacity potentially acid-forming volumes of overburden. The mudstones were found to generally have the highest sulphur levels compared to other overburden lithologies. Areas with high mudstone volumes are prioritised to be encapsulated and 390 Ha is planned to be capped in the Mangatini catchment in the near future.   Monitoring beneath granite, cement kiln dust and coal combustion product covers show oxygen can be reduced to less than 10% of atmospheric levels. Laboratory column leach tests that were subjected to oxygen flux rates of 10 % showed reducing oxygen ingress into acid-forming material can result in significant acid load reductions.   The oxygen content below the cement kiln dust cover was generally lower than 5% and water quality measured in lysimeters beneath this cover improved after 50 weeks of emplacement. Column leach tests containing saturated samples were undertaken to determine the most appropriate water medium in preventing pyrite oxidation. The sample saturated with ARD (pH ~ 3) had a negligible acid production rate and leached very minor Al concentrations although Al is soluble at low pH. This indicated saturating waste rock dumps with ARD can be an effective method in mitigating ARD formation.

Jan 1, 2007

By T A. Carter

In 2010 Agnew Gold Mine (AGM) struggled to produce the required tonnages from its stopes. The longhole rises used to create void in stopes were unreliable and often failed to gain the designed rise height. The number of firings per stope was having an adverse impact on the ground conditions at the stope brows, impeding stope productivity.Through practical experimentation with longhole drill rigs, box hole rigs and development drill rigs as well as trialling new methods in conjunction with reviewing drill hole data, drill hole accuracy was observed to be an issue on-site. Innovative dragging methods such as the reverse drag, combined with a slope instead of a vertical face on the rear of stopes, have improved dragging and a reduction of firings per stope, enabling larger production blasts.The methods trialled and subsequently implemented at AGM have facilitated the mine achieving budgeted targets for six consecutive quarters. This paper documents the use of these methods in a key lode of AGM’s operations to improve drill and blast practices in order to achieve production targets.CITATION:Carter, T A, 2014. Improving production drilling and blasting in the Kim South orebody at Agnew Gold Mine, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 251–258 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Mar 24, 2014

By D Kentwell

IGO Ltd’s (IGO) Nova Operation (Nova) is 160 km east-north-east of the town of Norseman in Western Australia (WA). Discovered by Sirius Resources NL (Sirius) in 2012 and acquired by IGO in 2015, the Nova-Bollinger Deposit (Nova-Bollinger) occurs within the Fraser Zone of the AlbanyFraser Orogen. Nova-Bollinger is a complex nickel-copper-cobalt (Ni-Cu-Co) magmatic intrusive sulfide deposit, which is characterised by high-grade folded and undulating breccia lodes that host the bulk of the payable metals. Significant sulfide mineralisation is also found in several magmatic intrusive styles including net-textured, disseminated and blebby styles. A smaller but material volume of sulfides has also been remobilised into the deposit’s footwall rocks as ‘stringer’ bands in metasediments, or as discrete massive sulfide lenses. When interpolating Mineral Resource estimate (MRE) block grades in the presence of locally varying grade connectivity trends, such as folds or undulations, the sample search neighbourhood, which is used to identify the composites subset that is used for each block estimate, should be oriented to match the local trends. In theory, the most robust method of estimation where locally varying angles (LVAs) are applied to search neighbourhoods, are techniques where the composites and the blocks to be estimated are transformed to an unfolded coordinate system (UCS). However, UCS methods can be tedious to implement and require subjective decisions to be made that cannot always be fully defended. An alternative LVA method commonly used in the industry is dynamic anisotropy (DA), which is much simpler to implement and is often assumed (but not that often demonstrated) to result in similar results to UCS-style estimation. In 2018, Nova’s Mine Geology team (MGT) estimated the grades and density of the Nova-Bollinger MRE using the UCS approach. For the 2020 MRE update, Nova’s MGT tested and compared the USC grade interpolation method with the DA approach. As applied to the Nova-Bollinger’s 2020 MRE, the comparison, advantages and disadvantages of the two estimation methods are the subject of this paper

Mar 22, 2022

By S DeKruijff

The Mount Isa Mines Copper Mine in Mount Isa started producing copper in 1966. The Copper Mine gradually increased production rates to nearly six million tonnes per year. Over the last three years the mine has been in a gradual ramp down due to the reduction of primary ore sources and head grade. The majority of ore sources are predominantly in pillar retreat sequences bounded by multiple fill masses. There also a substantial lower grade resource delineated to the south of the main orebody. These remaining ore sources present significant engineering challenges to obtain a safe and cost-effective extraction. Stope designs have become increasingly complex and require additional engineering and operations input and analysis. This paper describes the major planning and operational challenges and issues associated with the stope design and extraction of an orebody in the later stages of mine life.

Jan 1, 2000

By W D. Erskine, M J. Saynor

Ranger Uranium Mine, surrounded by Kakadu National Park is located in the Alligator Rivers Region (ARR) in the wet-dry monsoonal tropics, 250 km east of Darwin, Northern Territory. A trial landform (TLF), measuring approximately 200 m by 400 m (8 ha) was constructed during late 2008 and early 2009 by Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), adjacent to the northwestern wall of the tailings storage facility at the Ranger Mine. A collaborative research program involving the Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist (eriss) and ERA, has been underway to measure long-term (five to ten year) rainfall, run-off, sediment and solute losses, seepage and vegetation establishment on the TLF (Saynor et al, 2012; Lowry et al, 2014). This paper reports on bed load losses from four erosion plots built on the TLF. These were achieved by physically isolating approximately 30 × 30 m areas from the surrounding landform on three sides with sidewalls along with an open polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe on the downslope side. Each plot was instrumented with a range of sensors. Two plots, 1 and 2 were constructed on waste rock material, while plots 3 and 4 were constructed on waste rock mixed with approximately 30 per cent lateritic material. Plots 1 and 4 had tube stock planted in early 2009, and plots 2 and 3 were initially planted by direct seeding in July 2009 and were infill planted with tube stock in January 2011.CITATION:Saynor, M J and Erskine, W D, 2016. Bed load losses from experimental plots on a rehabilitated uranium mine in northern Australia, in Proceedings Life-of-Mine 2016 Conference , pp 168–171 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jun 28, 2016

By L Lorenzen, H Muller

"Every year a large number of projects are evaluated by small listed and unlisted mining companies that are hoping to find the ideal project, which will catapult them from a mining junior status to that of a mid-tier mining company. Usually this includes finding the æidealÆ or ærightÆ orebody and then developing a process which will allow cost-effective recovery of the valuable metals and the production of a saleable product. These dreams are seldom realised and there are a number of good and obvious reasons for this. Issues that are generally high up on the agenda for the smaller companies are: cost of developing a project before the feasibility study stage finding a suitable, or optimum processing technology financing of the project dealing with risk.The most expensive part of the development process for the small miner is often the exploration side of the business and finding the æidealÆ orebody. However, finding the right orebody will not be discussed in this paper. The æidealÆ orebody does not necessarily solve the problems of the mining junior, as much of the uncertainty lies in the process required to recover and produce the final metal product. Once a mineralised deposit has been identified and the grade at least reasonably qualified, the development of a suitable process becomes the driver to convert the deposit into an orebody. This paper proposes that a small exploration company has a very limited opportunity to succeed if it does not do sufficient homework before it identifies the æidealÆ orebody. The risk profile for the small mining company, by its very nature, has to be different to that of a major company and as a result the opportunities often lie in managing different and often new process options, which may be the key to bring such projects on line successfully.CITATION:Muller, H and Lorenzen, L, 2012. Project selection and process development for mining juniors, in Proceedings Project Evaluation 2012, pp 149-158 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne)."

May 24, 2012

By Holcombe R. J, Dobos S. K, Little T. R

Blue amphibole-bearing rocks in the North D'aguilar Block of southeast Queensland occur either as relict pods and lenses within regionally extensive greenschist facies phyllites and schists or as blocks entrained in serpentinite-matrix melange. Epidote + crossite-bearing varieties predominate and formed under conditions consistent with underplating and high P:T metamorphism in a subduction-related tectonic environment. Neither lawsonite nor jadeite has been observed and metamorphic conditions are estimated at 380-4500C for pressures of 0.5-0.8 GPa. High P:T metamorphism occurred during the earliest stages of deformation and was superimposed upon protoliths of inferred Late Devonian - Early Carboniferous age, including mafic volcanics, tuffs and coarse volcaniclastic breccias as well as pelagic and henipelagic sediments, all of which have undergone varying degrees of over-printing to the greenschist facies. Greenschist facies metamorphism occurred during the second phase of deformation and was associated with the formation of mainly flat-lying or subhorizontal structures; it followed the cessation of subduction and occurred in response to either thermal relaxation during uplift or the imposition of regional heating induced by crustal thickening and/or synkinanatic granite emplacement. Uplift and cooling of the high P:T rocks was completed by 260-265 Ma and may have occurred in response to the same extensional processes which gave rise to the onset of rifting in the adjacent Esk Trough.

Jan 1, 1990

By G Davison, C Rossimel, M Bouazza

Expanding rock bolts anchor within a rock mass more efficiently than non-expanding varieties. This is of great importance in weak ground conditions, where grouted friction bolts perform less efficiently than in good ground conditions. Filling a Split Set with demolition concrete has been shown to double the load-carrying capacity when compared to conventional use of Split Sets. This report details verification of these results by installing and pull-testing 14 Split Sets of varying grout conditions within in a fault zone. These Expanding Split Sets achieved loads double and triple that of ungrouted and normally grouted conventional Split Sets. A literature review and chemical analysis were conducted to understand the expansion process better. It was found that 20 per cent more calcium is included in expanding cement, which is responsible for its growth. Factors most affecting the expansion process were identified. Furthermore, the expansion rate of a bolt outside a borehole was measured and 6 mm of expansion across its diameter was found. The compressive properties of the cement were compared with other types, due to expanding cement becoming uncohesive after the expansion process is complete. When confined within a Split Set, compression testing demonstrated that this grout is just as strong and rigid as normal grout. Finally, the bolts were tested by shear and it was found that the Expanding Split Set (ESS) has a similar shear capacity to grouted Split Sets, which is 70 per cent higher than that of ungrouted Split Sets. These results enabled the mechanism for improved performance in weak ground conditions to be verified. Expanding grout will expand the Split Set into its borehole of varying diameter and lock it into place, creating increased friction and resistance to pull-out. This paper shows that ESSs can be a useful reinforcement technique in weak ground conditions.CITATION:Rossimel, C, Davison, G and Bouazza, M, 2014. An investigation of expanding split sets in weak ground, in Proceedings 12th AusIMM Underground Operators’ Conference 2014 , pp 159–170 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Mar 24, 2014

To enable ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (AN-FO) to be used on an equal weight basis with nitroglycerine explosives, smaller diameter bore holes became necessary with consequent modifications to drill steel and burden on holes. Detonation of AN-FO in small diameter holes proved successful both with and without primer charges but some alterations were required to adapt anoloders to the smaller holes.Important factors in training all operators in the new charging method were the retention of improved fragmentation, avoidance of excessive overbreak and keeping wall rock dilution to an absolute minimum. The successful storage of ammonium nitrate in climatic conditions with daily temperature fluctuations above and below the critical 90°F has been achieved.INTRODUCTIONTechnical aspects of ammonium nitrate-fuel oil (AN-Fa) blasting agent are well covered in recent literature. This paper deals primarily with the manner of its introduction as the principal explosive underground at Great Boulder Gold Mines Ltd. and with the many problems encountered in the process. Following reasonably successful experimental firings in June 1962', using granular ammonium nitrate and an anoloder, permission was granted by theWestern Australian Mines Department to carry out test work in selected areas of the mine. The permit allowed for fuse firing only, and for a mixture of AN-Fa containing between 5t and 6 per cent fuel oil, with an adequate primer.The use of AN-Fa on an equal weight basis with nitroglycerine explosives, involved smaller diameter holes with alteration to ground burden and modification to drill steel.Initial tests indicated that it was apparent that AN-Fa could not replace gelignite on an equal weight basis if the...

Jan 1, 1965

By Stump NW

Until a year ago all isotope on-stream analysis utilised flow cells similar to those designed for conventional X-ray on-stream analysis. These systems incorporated a fairly complex sampling system necessary to present a representa- tive air-free sample of the main process to the flow cell. Maintenance costs and capital costs associated with flow cells and sampling systems have been generally high. Costs can be greatly reduced and reliability greatly increased, by using isotopes incorporated in immersible on-stream analysis probes which actually dip into the main process stream eliminating the need for sampling. A bonus of other advantages associated with immersible probes includes temperature stability and ease of calibration. This paper discusses details and results of the probe systems, justifica- tion for installing on-stream analysis, comparison of conventional X-ray and isotope techniques, and a brief survey of methods of analysis using radio- isotopes in on-stream elemental determinations.

Jan 1, 1971

Classification within the Inferred Resource category is based on geological judgement and the balance of extrapolation versus interpolation that the Competent Person is prepared to accept. These resources are typically drilled at spacings well in excess of the geostatistical range and at a density that is non-uniform. In many cases, a substantial proportion of the available data will be historical, and should be considered with more recent data sources. The provision of a robust geological model will increase the confidence in any resource estimate, and should be viewed as a critical component. The definition of Inferred Resources is of great importance to vein gold projects, since Indicated and Measured Resources generally require costly underground development for delineation. Indeed, many gold vein operations possess substantial quantities of Inferred Resources (>75 per cent) in their resource inventory both at project start-up and during production. This contribution explores a number of the key issues when using the Inferred Resource category and presents four recent case studies.

Jan 1, 2006

By H Asche

The Melbourne Metro project has evolved from the Victorian Transport Plan. MM1 is the second major phase of the proposed separation of Melbourne’s radial railway system, creating a line that will operate independently across the metropolitan region. The central section will run beneath the inner suburbs and the central city. The initial project comprises nearly 8 km of twin bore tunnels, three cavern stations and two cut and cover stations, as well as a dive structure and connections with the existing rail system. This paper describes the development of the geological model, a modification of the rock mass classification system derived during the EastLink project and the influence of the geology on the design of the tunnels and stations for the Department of Transport’s business case.The majority of the tunnelling will be in the siltstone and sandstone bedrock. This material has been extensively folded, sheared and intersected by igneous intrusions. A revised rock mass classification system has been developed for the Melbourne Formation to assist in identifying the important engineering properties of the rock and to rationalise the support types required.The Metro’s tunnel alignment crosses the Yarra Delta deposits in the lower reaches of the Moonee Ponds Creek and again at the Yarra itself near Princes Bridge. These deposits vary in extent and thickness over very short distances. The investigation of these materials has been carried out using conventional drilling techniques in conjunction with sonic drilling methods.Over the central section of the Metro, the positions of the new station are determined largely by transport planning requirements and urban development opportunities. However, the stations, and the tunnels, have been the subject of studies, optimising exercises, and selection processes to arrive at the concept design. This paper describes the influence of the varied geology on the development of the design, and the identification and management of the risks in tunnelling under the centre of Melbourne.

Mar 8, 2011

By T Higuchi, L Lu

The quality of iron ore fines have been deteriorating, which has affected sinter quality and productivity adversely. New pretreatment and sintering technologies are therefore required to tackle the gradual change in the quality of iron ore fines. In the sintering process, iron ore fines are first granulated with fluxes such as limestone and coke breeze, and are then loaded and fired in a sinter machine. Sinter productivity and quality are heavily influenced by the reactions occurring in the sintering bed. Hence fundamental understanding of these high temperature properties of ores is urgently needed.Formation of initial sinter melt, penetration and assimilation of nucleus particles by the initial melt, and consolidation and final solidification of final sinter melt are believed to be the key sintering reactions. The assimilation and penetration phenomena have been studied separately in the literature with model particles and diffusion couples and are therefore difficult to relate to sinter quality. In addition, the effect of ore mineralogy has not been studied in detail.In this study, tablets consisting of coarse particles from various iron ore fines as nucleus particles and chemical reagents as adhering fines were made and fired under various sintering conditions to investigate the penetration and assimilation behaviour simultaneously. The degree of assimilation, pore structure, compressive strength of the resultant analogue sinters were evaluated and the relationship between sinter strength and ore characteristics was further discussed. The nucleus particles from Ores A and B were found to be more porous and assimilated more readily with sinter melt, resulting in a viscous melt and a macro-porous sinter structure. The nucleus particles from Ores C and D on the other hand, assimilated less readily with sinter melt, resulting in a fluid melt and a denser sinter structure. This is consistent with the results reported in the literature, suggesting that the present evaluation method can be utilised for studying sintering reactions and predicting sinter quality.CITATION:Higuchi, T and Lu, L, 2017. Evaluation of sintering behaviour based on ore characteristics, in Proceedings Iron Ore 2017, pp 303–308 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Jul 24, 2017

By Rao S. B, Baafi E. Y

A venturi based multi-scrubber air cleaning system has been developed for dust control along a longwall face in coal mines. The system consists of a number of scrubbers. strategically placed along the wall face which deliver cleaned air at high exhaust velocity into the middle section of the longwall cross-section thus dividing it into two zones. The aim is to maintain the walkway on the powered support side as a zone of relatively clean air. Laboratory studies have shown that the scrubber's average efficiency is 90 per cent. Field trials in three longwall faces have shown that. under normal operating conditions. 40 to 50 per cent average protection efficiency can be achieved within 3 m to 4 m downstream of the scrubber. A three-dimensional finite element computational fluid dynamic model. FIDAP. was used to simulate the airflow patterns the dust concentration and the scrubber dust control technique at a typical longwall face. Results of simulations tally very well with the field results.

Jan 1, 1995

By B Waldon, M Valastro

A coal dust explosion is one of the most significant risks in the harsh and complex environment of an Underground Coal Mine (UCM). Reviewing literature, regulations and existing systems surrounding explosive dust management shows that there have been few advancements in managing this risk over the past 90 years. Legislation has remained relatively stagnant and minimal systems are implemented in the real world that can simplify, standardise and improve the effectiveness of UCM explosive dust management. To help bridge this gap, Corehesion, in collaboration with an UCM has designed, developed and implement an Explosive Dust Risk Mitigation System (EDRMS) utilising components of Business Intelligence (BI) that is capable of real-world use in industry. To do this the existing explosive dust management process at the associated research mine was evaluated to form high-level and detailed design requirements, focusing on digitally simplifying the procedure, not replicating it. The system was then iteratively and incrementally developed and implemented at the research mine to commence real-world use. The developed BI platform is compared with the existing process to highlight the advancements in performance transparency, efficiency and optimisation of UCM explosion mitigation. This comparison and evaluation of the real-world system implementation at the research mine demonstrate its success in automating procedure steps, providing a readily accessible source of data and enabling a proactive approach to planning and managing explosion risk mitigation. In addition to improvements just for the research mine, this EDRMS created directly address many Queensland regulatory audit findings. By finalising the total system and making the highlighted changes for standardisation, this BI system will have the adaptable capabilities for implementation across the UCM industry. As accurate data availability improves at UCMs, further work can be done to improve the systems’ optimisation techniques and integration of other risks.

Apr 16, 2024

By L Keeney

Cu-Au porphyry deposits are large tonnage low-grade resources dependent on processing large volumes of material. The ability to understand and predict comminution performance is critical, as it is frequently the rate-limiting step during processing. Parameters required from geometallurgical mapping and modelling of comminution performance are: A×b processing domains based on impact breakage variability, and BMWi processing domains showing grind response variability which lead to Mine throughput domains for a specific comminution circuit configuration. Due to the cost and/or large sample requirements of traditional comminution tests, insufficient data density and distribution of comminution indices commonly exist, making it difficult to model and map deposit scale variability. One method routinely applied to three dimensional domaining is to have an a priori zoning based on geological features (lithology, alteration, mineralogy, textures), and then apply to all material within a given domain the metallurgical values measured on a single sample or average of samples from that domain. The problem with this approach is that commonly the geological domains do not reflect comminution response, therefore compromising the quality of the average domain estimate. To resolve this problem an alternate integrated geometallurgical mapping and modelling method is applied to model and map comminution performance at Cadia East. This paper uses a data set of ~32 000 assay measurements and geological logging information, integrated with ~150 comminution measurements to analyse and develop proxy support models for comminution indices (ie A×b, BMWi, and throughput) based on inherent geological variability. Discrete downhole comminution processing domains are created, mapping orebody response while maintaining inherent variability.

Sep 5, 2011

By T Ireland, B Wright, S Weaver

All tunnels have unique characteristics that result in different fire and life safety risk. The fire safety systems for each tunnel also give different benefits at different costs. It is therefore neither pragmatic nor cost-effective to prescribe specific fire standards requirements for all tunnels. Each tunnel needs to be assessed individually but using a common process.The owner/client is normally the risk owner and needs to make the decision on what fire and life safety provisions will be provided within the tunnel. To make this decision they need to be appropriately informed. The low probability and high consequence nature of fire events creates a challenge such that traditional analysis processes, which tend to focus on a major event after it has happened, are not easily applied and do not give the best value for money. Therefore a process is required that provides the relevant information to the owner for decision-making.A quantitative risk assessment (QRA) provides a process and framework for the consideration of fire life safety risk when applied properly. This involves a risk assessment of the ‘do nothing’ option together with assessments of improvement options and their costs. It also involves consideration of benchmark safety levels for other tunnels and the open road.This paper will outline a QRA process for assessing fire and life safety risk in tunnels and how this has been used for three existing tunnels, Homer Tunnel, Lyttelton Tunnel and Mt Victoria Tunnel. Key challenges include determining an acceptable safety level, defining realistic inputs, providing sufficient complexity to get meaningful results but not so complex that transparency is lost and interpretation to enable decision-making by non-technical personnel.CITATION:Weaver, S, Wright, B and Ireland, T, 2014. A transparent and pragmatic quantitative risk assessment process for assessing fire safety in New Zealand tunnels, in Proceedings 15th Australasian Tunnelling Conference 2014 , pp 121–128 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).

Sep 17, 2014

By A J. Morrison, K Demir, J Kohmuench, K Runge, C Evans

The Eriez HydroFloat® is a flotation device capable of recovering significantly coarser and lessliberated particles than is possible using a conventional mechanical flotation cell. Originally developed for industrial and bulk mineral beneficiation, the HydroFloat® is attracting increasing interest as a means of increasing the required grind size for metalliferous ore flotation. Doing so would reduce the costs of processing complex ores, either by decreasing the energy required to grind the flotation feed or by increasing the throughput achievable with a given comminution circuit. Processing coarser particles would also result in coarser waste streams, potentially improving the mechanical and hydraulic performance of the waste dams that they are sent to. Recent work at pilot – and industrial-scale has proven the potential of the HydroFloat® technology to achieve these gains in metalliferous applications. However, in order to realise the full potential of the HydroFloat® technology, it is necessary to understand not just its performance but also the drivers for that performance. Doing so will allow the design and operation of HydroFloat® devices to be optimised for different ores and applications. For this work, a HydroFloat® pilot rig was deployed to a coppergold plant in Australia and was used to investigate the effect of stream and operating conditions for treating the tailings stream of one of the plant’s rougher flotation cells. Under each set of operating conditions, samples were taken of the HydroFloat® feed, tailings and concentrate streams, and processed to yield the grade and recovery achieved by the device. At the same time, the bubble size and bed behaviour inside the device were measured. This paper presents preliminary relationships observed between the operating conditions and the performance of the HydroFloat® cell, and thus suggests a range of possible drivers for the measured coarse particle flotation performance.

Aug 24, 2022