Gold Flotation Circuit Operation

 

The main objective of the gold flotation circuit is to maximize the recovery of gold-bearing minerals using a flotation process. The flotation product is called concentrate and is usually thickened, filtered, and shipped. Other option is to treat the gold concentrate by a cyanidation process such as Carbon-in-Pulp (CIP) or Carbon-in-Leach (CIL) to produce a Dore bar. The basic objective of the gold flotation circuit must also be achieved while maintaining the health and safety of the plant personnel, protecting the environment, and preventing damage to the plant equipment. The mode of operation of the gold flotation circuit depends on the amount of gold content, type of gold-bearing minerals and type of gangue minerals. Basically,   the gold flotation circuit comprises two stages, rougher and cleaner flotation. The first one produces a rougher concentrate that is sent to the cleaner circuit.

It is important to mention that the grade of the gold rougher concentrate produced in the first stage is of secondary importance because the material is subjected to further downstream processing to improve the grade concentrate quality. The rougher flotation process is accomplished in one row of mechanical or conventional flotation cells. The concentrate is directed to the cleaning stage. The objective of the cleaner circuit is to produce a gold concentrate of acceptable grade. The rougher concentrate grade is improved by cleaning in column cells or mechanical cells arranged in cascade. Column cells offer a potential advantage over mechanical cells, eliminated undesirable materials easily without much trouble and to produce high grade concentrates. Cleaning circuit comprises two or three stages of column cells. The concentrate from each stage is fed to the next stage. The tailings from each stage are returned as feed to the previous stage. The concentrate from the third stage is the final concentrate. Depending on the gold operation, this slurry stream is directed to either the gold concentrate thickener or the cyanidation circuit. The first cleaner tailings is sent back to the rougher flotation circuit or a cleaner-scavenger circuit for removal of any gold-bearing mineral. In order to achieve these objectives, the flotation operator must be aware of the general and special process conditions, which are specific for each gold flotation circuit configuration.

Gold Flotation Circuit