Significant savings in flocculant consumption could be made
When an Australian copper-gold mine needed to replace a worn feedwell in one of its tailings thickeners, it initially requested a like-for-like replacement. But FLS knew things could be improved. FLS ultimately worked with the mine to introduce an innovative feedwell design that delivered significant operational and environmental benefits.
The mine has been in commercial operation since the late 1990s, when the original feedwell had been supplied. It’s a large-scale, long-life asset with production of around 65,000 oz gold and 50,000 t copper in 2023. Copper and gold are recovered using a conventional single-line grinding and flotation circuit to produce a bulk copper-gold sulphide flotation concentrate. Tailings from the process are thickened and deposited in a tailings dam.
The tailings thickener operated a bifurcated feedwell design, which had become corroded beyond repair after more than two decades of service.
The mine initially requested a like-for-like replacement. But here’s where the project got interesting. FLS knew it could do better and were able to demonstrate this when the mine agreed to allow us to perform comparison testing of the existing design with that of its E-Volute™ feedwell with E-DUC® autodilution mechanism. Testing demonstrated that significant savings in flocculant consumption could be made with the newer design. Underflow density could also be increased to improve water recovery.
Given these findings, the mine agreed to implement the E-Volute feedwell design.
