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Minerals Engineering 78 (2015) 3237

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Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

The link between froth surface grade and otation feed grade
K. Hadler
Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In froth otation, particles that are recovered to the concentrate comprise those attached to bubbles and
Received 4 August 2014 unattached particles, which include entrained material and particles that have become detached from
Revised 10 March 2015 bubbles in the froth phase, but that are carried into the concentrate. The grade of the particles remaining
Accepted 26 March 2015
attached to bubbles at the froth surface is of interest as it offers information on the selective nature of the
froth phase and has been shown to indicate the maximum mineral grade that can be obtained for a given
feed. In this paper, the grade of particles attached to bubbles at the froth surface is shown as a function of
Keywords:
cell feed grade down a bank of cells, and is linked to variation in mineral liberation and otation kinetics.
Flotation froths
Froth stability
The grade of attached particles at the froth surface is measured by touch sampling; touching an indi-
Flotation kinetics vidual bubble with a microscope slide and collecting the solids. Data from two surveys carried out over
the rst four cells of the rougher bank at the same copper concentrator have been analysed. It has been
shown previously that the surface grade measured in this way does not vary with operating conditions
such as air rate, and here it is shown that when plotted as a function of cell feed grade, the attached par-
 
ticle grade exhibits a clear trend that can be modelled empirically by the equation x 1  exp aGbv f ,
where x is the inferred liberation, taken as the attached particle grade at a given feed grade as a fraction of
the maximum grade obtainable for the feed to the bank, and Gvf is the cell feed grade. The shape of the
curve, determined by the tted parameters a and b, is dependent on the mineralogy and liberation char-
acteristics of the feed. This relationship suggests that the variation in otation kinetics for particles of dif-
ferent liberation in a otation feed can be linked to attached particle grade.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction physical properties of the particles, such as size and density, and
the physical properties of the froth, such as viscosity in the
In froth otation, recovery of particles is generally characterised Plateau borders (the channels between bubbles) (Neethling, 2008).
as being by true otation, i.e. particles that attach to bubbles in Whether or not the froth phase is selective in the rejection of
the pulp phase and are subsequently recovered to the concentrate, particles of lower grade has been the subject of several studies at
or by non-selective entrainment, carried into the concentrate unat- both laboratory and industrial scale (Ata, 2009; Gourram-Badri
tached to bubbles in the Plateau borders (Warren, 1985). Recovery et al., 1997; Rahman et al., 2013; Seaman et al., 2004; Yianatos
by true otation is described using a rst order rate constant to et al., 1988, 2014). At laboratory scale, Ata (2009) studied the
account for the collection of particles in the pulp phase and a froth detachment of particles during the coalescence of two bubbles
recovery term, which accounts for particles arriving at the pulp with one or both bubbles coated with silica particles of different
froth interface attached to bubbles, and which are subsequently size and with varying concentrations of surfactant. Experiments
recovered to the concentrate. Froth recovery does not distinguish showed that increasing surfactant concentration resulted in a
between particles remaining attached through the froth phase decrease in the detachment of particles during coalescence, and
and those becoming detached during coalescence events, but while the surfactant adsorbed both at the surface of the particles
which are recovered unattached. During coalescence in the froth and at the airwater interface, it was suggested that the presence
phase, particles may become detached, whether through loss of of particles increases the rigidity of the bubble shell, reducing
bubble surface or the vigorous nature of the event itself, particu- the effect of the turbulent oscillations that occur during coales-
larly near the pulpfroth interface (Ata, 2012). The rejection of cence that can lead to detachment. The results agree with ndings
unattached particles from the froth is strongly dependent on from laboratory experiments carried out by Gourram-Badri et al.
(1997), who studied selectivity during bubble coalescence for a
mix of sphalerite and chalcopyrite particles from an industrial
E-mail addresses: k.hadler@imperial.ac.uk, kathryn@grindingsolutions.com

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2015.03.024
0892-6875/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
K. Hadler / Minerals Engineering 78 (2015) 3237 33

concentrate. They showed that the particles of lower hydrophobic- being recovered, which is in turn linked to otation rate and
ity, indicated using induction time measurements, tended to recovery. In this paper, the link between cell feed grade and
become detached during coalescence. It should be noted, however, attached particle grade is explored further, and an empirical
that the experimental systems in both studies, consisting of two model describing the link between feed and attached particle
bubbles submerged in solution, is more representative of the pulp grade is described.
phase, or the region of the pulpfroth interface, rather than
towards the froth surface, where the liquid content is lower and 2. Experimental methodology
the bubbles are more polyhedral in structure.
Rahman et al. (2013) scaled up a laboratory device that allowed The data presented in this paper are taken from two separate
the collection of particles dropping back through the froth, in addi- periods of experimental work, carried out at the same copper con-
tion to those reaching the froth surface, and tested it at a copper centrator 5 years apart, the aim of which was to investigate the
concentrator. The results showed that the grade of the particles effects of operating conditions of froth stability and otation per-
collected in the drop back chamber was signicantly lower than formance. Details of the ndings with respect to this aim can be
the concentrate grade, although higher than the tails grade, sug- found in Hadler et al. (2006, 2010).
gesting that the froth selectively rejects particles as a function of The copper concentrator comprises a bank of four rougher cells
grade, in addition to size. The authors conclude that the particles and four scavenger cells, with a cleaner circuit, the tails of which
dropping out of the froth were more likely to be middling particles. recycle into the scavenger row. In addition to samples of feed, con-
Industrially, Yianatos et al. (1988) showed that mineral grade in centrate and tails for each cell being sampled, air recovery was
the froth increased towards the froth surface by taking samples at measured using image analysis to determine the overowing froth
different heights in a otation column froth, however they found velocity, and manual measurements of the overowing froth
little difference in grade in shallower froths. Using in-pulp and height. The effects of various operating conditions on air recovery
froth surface sampling techniques, Seaman et al. (2004) found that and otation performance were tested, including air rate. For each
there was little difference in the grade of attached particles operating condition, samples were also taken of the attached mate-
between the pulp and the froth surface in cleaner cells and col- rial at the froth surface and in the pulp (Survey 2 only).
umns at a zinc concentrator, however in the retreatment circuit
(cleaner-scavenger), the surface grade was higher than the grade
of particles attached to bubbles in the pulp in the mechanical cells, 2.1. Surface sampling method
but not in the nal cleaner column. This suggests that for cells with
higher feed grades (i.e. cleaner cells), there is little upgrading avail- There are two key methods reported for collecting froth surface
able within the froth possibly due to particles having similar liber- samples; touch sampling individual bubbles to collect only
ation and/or size, however in cells where there is a lower feed attached material (Sadr-Kazemi and Cilliers, 2000) and bulk top-
grade, or a greater range of particles of different liberations, then of-froth sampling; collecting material from the top layer of froth
there is selective rejection of lower grade particles. Mineral libera- only using a shallow scoop (Yianatos et al., 2014). While the bulk
tion is typically described as being the fraction of particle that is top-of-froth (TOF) sampling has the benet of allowing greater
constituted by the mineral of interest. quantities of material to be collected over shorter time periods,
More recently, Yianatos et al. (2014) compared the grade and enabling size-by-size analysis for example, it does not give a reli-
size distribution of particles attached to bubbles in the pulp with able measure of only attached particles. Typical otation froths
the top-of-froth (TOF) grade down a bank of Cu rougher cells. operate with air recoveries (the fraction of air entering the cell that
They found that there was some upgrading between pulp and overows in unburst bubbles) of 50% or lower, often around 20%
froth for the coarser size fractions, but that there was insigni- for rougher cells (Hadler et al., 2006). These low values mean that
cant selectivity for the ner fractions. It should be noted that the majority of particles recovered to the concentrate are unat-
the method of collection of the TOF sample involves a shallow tached (Hadler, 2006; Ventura-Medina and Cilliers, 2002). On the
scoop that skims off the top surface of the froth. This will collect other hand, the touch sampling method is laborious, and, with each
not only attached particles but also unattached particles at the sample collecting in the order of 10 mg solids, time-consuming to
froth surface, which may be the reason for the contradictory collect sufcient material for assay.
results to Seaman et al. (2004), who use a more targeted sam- In the studies presented here, the touch sampling method was
pling approach that collects material from an individual bubble used. The technique is described in detail in Ventura-Medina
surface. Yianatos et al. (2014) also show that the TOF grade et al. (2004), and requires precision as collecting too much mate-
decreased down the bank, which they attribute to the recovery rial from the Plateau borders can reduce the measured grade of
of particles of lower liberation. The decrease in attached particle the solids. Slower owing and more highly coated bubbles are
grade at the froth surface down the bank was also reported by easier to sample in this way, and accurate sampling becomes
Hadler et al. (2006), who showed additionally that the attached more difcult further down the bank, where the loading of parti-
particle grade (or lamellae grade) was not affected by variations cles on bubbles decreases and air recovery drops (Hadler et al.,
in operating conditions such as air owrate. This observation 2006). For this reason, only the four cells of the roughers were
had also been noted by Ventura-Medina et al. (2004) and sampled in this way. In order to collect sufcient sample, around
Barbian et al. (2005) suggesting that the attached particle grade 100 bubbles were sampled (Ventura-Medina et al., 2004). As each
is more closely linked to the mineralogical characteristics of the bubble print had a mass of approximately 10 mg at the head of
feed. Yianatos et al. (2014) conclude that the TOF measurement the bank, decreasing to 2 mg by the fourth cell, there was insuf-
allows for an indirect identication of the liberation effects on the cient sample for size-by-size analysis. A typical bubble print is
otation process. shown in Fig. 1.
Although there is some contradiction in the literature on the In addition to the surface samples, in during the second survey,
selective nature of the froth in rejecting particles of poorer liber- samples were also taken of the attached material in the pulp using
ation and lower grade, the properties of the particles that remain the Anglo Platinum Bubble Sizer, which is based on the design of
attached at the froth surface, such as grade and size, can give an Hernandez-Aguilar et al. (2004). The reliability of this measure is
indication of the mineralogy and the liberation of the particles discussed in more detail later in the paper.
34 K. Hadler / Minerals Engineering 78 (2015) 3237

mineralogy, but, as mentioned previously, is not dependent on


the operating conditions in a given cell. The results, therefore, sug-
gest a change in the mineralogy of the feed between the two
surveys.
In addition to Cu grades, for Survey 1, grades of S and Si are also
available, while for Survey 2, Fe grades were measured. The dom-
inant Cu minerals for this plant are chalcopyrite and bornite, with
minor pyrite (Albijanic et al., 2015). Assuming, therefore, that all S
and Fe present in the samples for Survey 1 and 2 respectively orig-
inate from either chalcopyrite or bornite, the proportion of the
sample that originates from Cu minerals can be estimated.
This is shown as a function of normalised feed grade in Fig. 3.
Fig. 1. Example of bubble print on touch sample. Comparison between the residual fraction (i.e. calculated gangue)
and the measured Si values for Survey 1 is given in Fig. 4, and
the strong linear correlation demonstrates the validity of the
50 assumptions used to calculate mineral content. It can be seen that
45 at higher feed grades, the proportion of Cu minerals in the attached
40 particles at the froth surface tends towards 100% for Survey 1, and
Lamellae Grade (%Cu)

35 90% for Survey 2, suggesting that these are more fully liberated
30 particles. Further down the bank, just 60% of the attached material
25
is Cu mineral. This is likely to be related to particles of poorer lib-
eration being recovered, however there may also be an increase in
20
the recovery of oatable gangue. The initial conclusion of a change
15
in mineralogy between the surveys is conrmed as the ratio of
10
chalcopyrite to bornite in the lamellae increases from an average
5 of 1.7 to 4.2 from Survey 1 to Survey 2. The higher proportion of
0 bornite in the feed in Survey 1 gives rise to the higher Cu grades
0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
shown in Fig. 2.
Feed Grade (%Cu)
Survey 1 Survey 2
3.2. Comparison with grade of particles attached in the pulp
Fig. 2. Relationship between lamellae grade and feed grade for the two surveys.
While the lamellae grade at the froth surface is an indicator of
the maximum grade obtainable at a given feed grade, some studies
3. Results and discussion (Rahman et al., 2013; Seaman et al., 2004) have shown that there is
a difference in grade between particles attached at or below the
3.1. Grade of attached particles at the froth surface pulpfroth interface and those at the froth surface. For Survey 2,
measurements taken using the Anglo Platinum Bubble Sizer, based
The grade of attached particles from Survey 1 has been reported on the design by Hernandez-Aguilar et al. (2004), allowed for
elsewhere (Hadler et al., 2006) as a function of cell position and material attached to bubbles in the pulp to be collected and the
operating conditions. A similar approach has also been shown by Cu content to be determined (note; in this case, no Fe assay was
Seaman et al. (2004) and Yianatos et al. (2014), who demonstrate carried out due to the small amount of material collected). A com-
variation in top of froth grade at different points in the otation parison between the grade of the attached material in the pulp and
circuit. An alternative approach is shown in Fig. 2, where the grade at the froth surface is shown in Fig. 5, along with the measured
of particles attached to bubbles at the froth surface is shown as a concentrate grades for Survey 2 only.
function of cell feed grade. For both surveys, samples were taken There is some uncertainty as to the selectivity of collection of
from the rst four cells of the rougher bank only, with no recycle material using techniques such as the Bubble Sizer, described by
streams or further reagent addition present. It has been shown both Montes-Atenas and Bradshaw (2010) and Moys et al.
both in the more detailed analysis of Survey 1 data (Hadler et al.,
2006) and in other lamellae grade data (Ventura-Medina et al.,
100%
2004) that lamellae grade does not vary with changes in operating
90%
Cu mineral in lamellae (%)

conditions such as air rate. This suggests that lamellae grade is 80%
dependent predominantly on the properties of the feed, which is 70%
conrmed by the data in Fig. 2. It should be noted that surveys 60%
were carried out over a number of air rates (Surveys 1 and 2) 50%
and two different froth depths and frother concentrations 40%
(Survey 1 only). 30%
While it can be seen that there is a clear link between cell feed 20%
grade and attached particle grade, it is not possible, using a single 10%
bulk assay value only, to prove that this is due to changes in the 0%
liberation of valuable particles moving down the bank. For both 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00
sets of data shown in Fig. 2, however, the lamellae grade Normalised Feed Grade
approaches a maximum value. For Survey 1, this maximum is
Survey 1 Survey 2
approximately 44% Cu, whilst for Survey 2, the maximum grade
is 35% Cu. This maximum grade represents the highest grade Fig. 3. Proportion of Cu mineral in lamellae sample as a function of feed grade for
obtainable for a given circuit feed, which will be dependent on Survey 1.
K. Hadler / Minerals Engineering 78 (2015) 3237 35

50% 100%
45% 90%
Calculated gangue grade (%)

40% 80%

Inferred Liberaon
35% 70%
30% 60%
25% R = 0.9803 50%
20% 40%
15% 30%
10% 20%
5% 10%
0% 0%
0 5 10 15 20
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00
Silica grade (%)
Normalised feed grade
Fig. 4. Comparison between calculated gangue in lamellae and Si grade. Survey 1 Survey 2 Survey 2 pulp

Fig. 7. Inferred liberation (lamellae grade/max grade) as a function of normalised


feed grade.
40

35 the particles that remain attached; that is, during coalescence, par-
30 ticles of lower grade, or attached gangue particles, are more likely
to become detached from the bubble lms. As the technique for
Grade (%Cu)

25 sampling the top of froth is more selective than other methods


(e.g. Yianatos et al., 2014), there is a more marked difference
20
between the froth surface and pulp grades, particularly further
15 down the bank as feed grade drops. It is also noticeable that the
Aached grade in pulp pulp bubble grade follows a similar trend with feed grade as does
10
the lamellae grade.
Aached grade at top of froth
5 It can be seen in Fig. 5 that the concentrate grades lie between
Concentrate grade the upper and lower bounds of the froth surface and pulp grades.
0
The variation observed in the concentrate grades is a result of
0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00
changes in operating conditions, in this case air rate, with those
Normalised Cell Feed Grade
concentrate grades lying towards the upper bound of the surface
Fig. 5. Concentrate grade shown as a function of feed grade, and compared to grade being measured at low air rates and lower concentrate
attached particle grade in pulp and top of froth for Survey 2. grades being measured at higher air rates.
Low concentrate grades associated with high air rates are typi-
cally attributed to an increase in the recovery of non-selectively
100% entrained particles. As the lowest concentrate grades recorded in
Survey 2 are not lower than the grade of attached material col-
Cu mineral in lamellae (%)

90% lected from the pulp phase, this suggests either that not all mate-
rial collected from the Bubble Sizer is that which is attached to
80%
bubbles, or alternatively that entrained material accounts for a
70% low proportion of the recovered concentrate for this plant.

60%
3.3. An empirical model for attached particle grade
50%

40% The relationship between attached particle grade and nor-


40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% malised feed grade shown in Figs. 3 and 5 exhibits a clear trend
Lamellae grade/Max grade that can be tted by an empirical model. There are two possible
Survey 1 Survey 2 parameters that can be modelled: Attached grade at a given feed
grade as a fraction of the maximum grade obtainable or the pro-
Fig. 6. Comparison between fractional Cu grade in lamellae and calculated mineral portion of attached particles that are Cu mineral (as shown in
fraction in lamellae. Fig. 3). Both can be used as an indicator of mineral liberation,
assuming that the maximum Cu grade obtainable at high feed
(2010), as unattached particles may also be recovered in the wake grades (as shown in Fig. 2) is that of fully liberated particles.
of the rising bubbles, however the downward ow of water from Using bulk assay data, rather than quantitative mineralogical data,
the collection chamber is intended to reduce this effect. While the calculation of the percentage of mineral shown in Fig. 3 is
the results must be viewed with an appreciation of the potential dependent on knowledge of the principal Cu-bearing minerals,
errors in the measurement, it is useful to give an indication of and of the gangue minerals, and more than one elemental assay
the variation of grade of particles in the region of, if not attached value (which becomes problematic when very low quantities of
to, bubbles below the pulpfroth interface. material are collected). Fig. 6 compares these two indicators of lib-
Fig. 5 shows the difference in grade between the particles eration, where for Survey 1, the fraction of Cu minerals has been
attached at the froth surface, and those assumed to be attached determined using assay values for Cu and S, whereas for Survey
in the pulp, suggesting that the froth has an upgrading effect on 2, Cu and Fe values have been used. It can be seen that there is
36 K. Hadler / Minerals Engineering 78 (2015) 3237

Table 1 size fraction and liberation. The term kc/kcmax therefore represents
Values of tted parameters a and b in Eq. (1) for the models shown in Fig. 7. the rate constant at a given liberation and size as a fraction of the
a b most liberated particles in that size fraction. Jameson (2012) con-
Survey 1 surface 3.9 0.8
cludes that the data in Fig. 8 shows that the rate constant of a par-
Survey 2 surface 9.5 1.0 ticle of a given liberation class is rstly determined by that of the
Survey 2 pulp 2.8 1.2 fully-liberated particle of the same size. A correction factor can then
be applied to allow for the effect of liberation. The attached grade
at the froth surface gives the maximum grade obtainable for a given
feed, and therefore it is postulated that the range of lamellae grades
down the bank are indicative of the range of particle liberation pre-
sent in the feed to that bank. The attached grade at the froth surface,
therefore, could be linked to the distribution of otation rate con-
stants for a otation feed.

4. Conclusions

Mineral liberation is one of the key factors that determines


otation rate constant. In this paper, the grade of particles attached
to bubbles at the froth surface is related to cell feed grade, and it is
suggested that this can be used to infer mineral liberation for a
otation feed.
Analysis has been carried out using data from two surveys car-
ried out over the rst four cells of the rougher bank at the same
copper concentrator. Surface sampling was used to measure the
grade of particles attached at the froth surface, which was shown
to exhibit a clear trend when plotted as a function of cell feed
grade. The attached particle grade (or lamellae grade) is the highest
Fig. 8. Ratio of the rate constant k to the maximum rate constant kmax as a function
of the liberation class, for particles of the mean size shown. Taken from Jameson grade that can be obtained for a given feed grade, and at the head
(2012). of the bank, these particles can be assumed to comprise fully liber-
ated particles. This was veried by calculating the Cu mineral frac-
tion of the samples using additional elemental assay values. In any
good agreement between the fractional Cu lamellae grade and per- given cell, therefore, the lamellae grade as a fraction of the maxi-
centage of Cu mineral for Survey 1, however for Survey 2, the per- mum grade can be used as an indicator of particle liberation for
centage of mineral is lower than the fractional grade, indicating that cell. It is proposed that the relationship between inferred lib-
potentially higher error in using Fe grades to determine percentage eration (lamellae grade at a given feed grade as a fraction of max-
of Cu mineral. In the remainder of this study, therefore, fractional imum lamellae grade) and cell feed grade can be tted by the
 
Cu grade (lamellae grade at a given feed grade as a fraction of
empirical model, x 1  exp aGbv f where x is the inferred liber-
the maximum grade obtained) is used as the indicator of liberation.
The fractional grade of attached particles, or inferred liberation ation, Gvf is the normalised cell feed grade and a and b are tted
(x), can be linked to the normalised cell feed grade (Gvf) using Eq. parameters.
(1), as shown in Fig. 7 for surface samples and the pulp bubble Comparison between the lamellae grade, concentrate grade and
samples from Survey 2. The parameters a and b are tted, and have attached particle grade in the pulp for one of the surveys suggested
no physical meaning, however it is expected that they would be that there is selective detachment occurring in the froth of parti-
linked to changes in mineralogy, which consequently affects rate cles of lower grade. Additionally, the concentrate grade was gener-
constant. The values of the tted parameters are given in Table 1. ally between the upper and lower bounds of the surface and pulp
  grades respectively, suggesting minimal recovery of entrained par-
x 1  exp aGbv f 1 ticles for this operation.
This re-analysis of data suggests that the attached particle grade
at the froth surface measured down a bank of cells represents the
3.4. The link between froth surface grade and otation rate constant range of mineral liberations present in a otation feed, which can
be used subsequently to gain information on the otation kinetics.
The relationship between mineral liberation and otation rate
constant has been explored by several researchers, including the
Acknowledgement
recent study by Jameson (2012) using data from Welsby et al.
(2010), in which size-by-liberation data for a otation feed was
The author would like to thank Rio Tinto for funding this
used to demonstrate that the rate constant as a fraction of the max-
research.
imum rate constant for a given particle size is dependent on liber-
ation only, replicated in Fig. 8. Jameson (2012) suggests an
empirical model for this relationship (Eq. (2)). References

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