Output Australia | December 2010 | Page 4

Maximise your recoveries in a flash

Author: Rob Coleman
Flash Flotation is the instantaneous flotation of liberated, high grade particles from the
recirculating load in the grinding circuit. The concept has been around for almost eighty years,
although it has only been recently that large scale Flash Flotation circuits have become a reality.
The process is widely known however not widely understood.
understood This article describes Flash Flotation
and its benefits, the various circuit options and how to determine if Flash Flotation will be suitable
for your ore.

Why does Flash Flotation work so well?

As valuable minerals are soft in comparison to the host rock, with a significantly higher solids
density, they tend to concentrate in the re-circulating load of the grinding circuit. This can lead to
the over-grinding
g
g of the valuable minerals until theyy report
p
to the cyclone
y
overflow, which in turn
can lead to lower recoveries in the flotation circuit. In comparison, the flotation conditions are
significantly better in the cyclone underflow stream than in the cyclone overflow (flotation feed) due
to the presence of fast-floating liberated particles in this stream. The cyclone underflow particles
also tend to have cleaner, less oxidised surfaces and are not too fine for flotation (i.e. less slimes).
Therefore, installing a specially designed flotation cell in the grinding circuit can significantly
improve plant performance.
There are various Flash Flotation designs in the marketplace, but as this process is quite complex to
get right, it is particularly important to chose a supplier with experience and a proven track record.
The typical design of Outotecs Flash Flotation, SkimAir is shown in Figure 1.

How does Flash Flotation work?

F d
Feed

Concentrate

Tails

Figure 1: Design of Outotec SkimAir

The feed to the SkimAir comes from a

distribution box which splits the cyclone
underflow. Typically, one-half to two-thirds of
the cyclone underflow stream is diverted into
the SkimAir, with the remainder of the
stream returning to the mill feed. Dilution
water is also added to the feed to reduce the
solids density to approximately 65%. Although
optimal flotation performance is at a lower
solids density, this would require more
dilution water, and as the majority of feed
reports to the
h tailings,
ili
the
h additional
ddi i
l water
returns to the mill, reducing the mill
throughput. Therefore, it is a balancing act
between mill throughput and SkimAir
performance.

The suitably sized particles in the feed are contacted with air in the mechanism the fast-floating
liberated particles are floated to the surface and then recovered to the concentrate. The mass pull to
concentrate is typically only 1-2% and can be of high enough grade to be directly mixed with the
conventional circuit final concentrate.

Output Australia | December 2010 | Page 5

The particles in the feed that are too coarse to suspend and float are segregated to the tailings via a
conical-shaped tank floor. These particles simply by-pass the SkimAir and return to the mill for
further grinding. Therefore, the size of the particles in the feed to the SkimAir can be as large as
10mm. In other words, the SkimAir acts as a flotation cell and a classifier.

Extensive experience required

The design of a suitable Flash Flotation cell requires extensive experience. There are many pitfalls
when treating such high solids densities and a wide particle size distribution. These include poor
solids suspension and sanding and inadequate mixing of water and solids in the feedpipe.
Additionally, the froth booster cone needs to be correctly sized to ensure the correct concentrate
flow and grade is achieved. A poorly operating Flash Flotation circuit can have a significant
detrimental impact on mill throughput and performance.

Benefits of Flash Flotation

It is now clear that the Flash Flotation can prevent the over-grinding of valuable minerals and the
generation of slimes.
slimes Another important advantage of using Flash Flotation is that the SkimAir
provides a buffer for the conventional flotation circuit when the feed grade is highly variable. When
feed grades are high, the SkimAir can recover the additional metal to produce a more stable feed to
the conventional flotation circuit. This advantage is often overlooked.
As the fast-floating liberated mineral is removed in the grinding circuit, the footprint of a greenfields
flotation circuit can also be reduced. The SkimAir concentrate particle size is also coarser than
conventional flotation so when added to the final concentrate it improves concentrate dewatering,
lowers filter costs and reduces final concentrate moisture.
moisture

Flash Flotation circuits

There are two main Flash Flotation circuit options depending on the ore characteristics. The first
method is conventional Flash Flotation, where the SkimAir unit is used as a stand-alone cell to
produce a high-grade concentrate (see Figure 2). The second main method, Flash Roughing,
unique to Outotec, comprises two stages, with the SkimAir as a rougher, operating at longer
residence times and higher mass pulls so as to produce a lower-grade concentrate at high
recoveries. The SkimAir concentrate is then treated through an Outotec TankCell Flash Cleaner
to produce a high-grade concentrate. If the SkimAir concentrate is high in free gold, a gravity
separation device is installed between the Flash Rougher and Flash Cleaner to recover free gold
directly to the gold room.
ToFlotation
WaterAddition
WaterAddition

SAG Mill
SAGMill
SkimAir

CycloneUnderflow
NewFeed

SkimAirConcentrate
SkimAirFeed

BallMill

Figure 2: Conventional Flash Flotation Circuit

Output Australia | December 2010 | Page 6

Is Flash Flotation right for me?
Flash Flotation technology has successfully been applied to the processing of many minerals. With
Outotecs SkimAir, for example, there have been significant successes in applications such as gold,
platinum group metals, copper, nickel, lead and silver. So, how do you know if your process will
benefit from Flash Flotation? Firstly, you need to perform laboratory flotation tests. With Outotecs
specially designed test procedure, if the laboratory float shows high recoveries for the valuable
mineral (40% to 80%) with low overall mass yields (less than 5%) then Flash Flotation will most likely
be suitable.
suitable Secondly,
Secondly a good understanding of the ore mineralogy in the cyclone underflow is also a
necessity. Lastly, if required, pilot-scale units can be used. Outotecs pilot-scale units can treat
between 250 kg/hr and 3 tph of solids. The results can then be modelled using computer simulation
software, such as Outotecs HSC Sim, from which full-scale performance can be predicted.

The results speak for themselves..

There have been over 200 SkimAir units installed in operations world-wide. Some recent case
studies are as follows:

Flash flotation Gold application

Flash flotation Gold application

Output Australia | December 2010 | Page 7

Flash flotation - Copper/gold application

Summary
Flash Flotation is not new. The Flash Flotation process is highly complex, so an experienced supplier
with a proven track record can make all the difference. It is an exact science to optimally design
Flash Flotation cells to handle such coarse particles with high solids densities, yet still keep them
running with high availabilities. However for a minimal investment, the performance improvements
can be
b staggering.
i
____________________________________________________________________________________________

Dr Rob Coleman is currently Technology Leader Flotation for Outotec Pty Ltd in Australia. He has a
Chemical Engineering degree and a Doctorate in Minerals Processing. Rob has over 15 years
experience in the operation, modelling and optimisation of flotation circuits.

If you would like more information, click here to contact

rob.coleman@outotec.com