Applied Mineralogy and Materials Balancing Procedures. Evaluations of Flotation Concentrators

Quantitative mineralogical analysis combined with materials balancing of the mineral data provide a reliable method for evaluating the behaviour of a concentrator with respect to a specific ore. The quantitative mineralogical analysis involves determining size distributions of minerals in unbroken ore pieces to predict the grind for liberating the minerals and determining quantities, sizes, and degrees of liberations of the minerals in mill products from a concentrating unit. The materials balancing calculation determines recoveries of each type of mineral-bearing particle at each point in a flowsheet. Factors that affect recoveries by flotation of Zn, Cu, Pb, Ag, Au and Sn from volcanogenic base metal ores have been evaluated by this technique. Recoveries are discussed for sphalerite from the Brunswick No. 12 deposit in New Brunswick, Canada; for chalcopyrite, galena, silver and gold from several Canadian deposits; and for Sn from the Kidd Creek deposit in Ontario, Canada.