The Coalition for Minerals Efficiency (CEEC) has awarded the 2022 CEEC Medal for Operations to a group of researchers for their paper on the commissioning of an Eriez HydroFloat® Separator in a copper concentrator. The writers of the paper; Karina Arburo, Jaime Zuniga; Adrian McDonald and Felipe Valdes, all of Anglo American, along with Jose Concha from Eriez and Eric Wasmund, the Eriez Global Flotation VP, published their research in the proceedings of the Copper 2022 Conference, which took place in November 2022 in Santiago.
Their paper, ‘Commissioning a HydroFloat® in a Copper Concentrator Application,’ describes the successful installation and operation of a HydroFloat in a copper concentrator circuit in a gangue rejection capacity. The HydroFloat technology separates particles based on their hydrophobicity and buoyancy, resulting in a more efficient and eco-friendly extraction process.
The CEEC Medal for Operations recognises contributions to the optimisation of comminution performance, energy consumption, water utilisation, tailings management and other mineral processing operations. The Medals Committee was impressed by the authors use of coarse particle flotation technology and the successful implementation of the process in Anglo American’s operations. Coarse particle flotation (CPF) is one of the strategies employed to reduce energy consumption in mineral-processing circuits. The HydroFloat technology has previously been successfully applied in the coarse flotation of industrial minerals and sulphide middlings, notably at Newcrest’s Cadia mine in NSW where it is employed in a scavenger configuration. CEEC says it commends both Anglo American and Newcrest for their ground-breaking work in the area of CPF and energy and water consumption reductions.
The winning paper highlights a full-scale application of sulphide mineral processing technology and exemplifies Anglo American’s commitment to FutureSmart Mining™ technology innovation through the development and commercialisation of sustainable process designs. This enables its operations to significantly reduce energy and freshwater usage per unit of copper produced. While this case – the El Soldado mine in Chile – was applied in copper, Anglo American is extending the learnings to other commodities. The paper also showcases the benefits of close collaboration across corporate groups, nations, and between owners and vendors.
One of the writers of this award-winning paper, Karina Arburo said: “It is wonderful to have industry recognition as testimony of the successful delivery of this full-scale application of Coarse Particle Recovery (CPR) in gangue rejection mode, thanks to the combined team effort of many different teams within Anglo American, in Chile and globally.”
The CEEC Medal for Operations is awarded annually and the Awards Ceremonies will take place at the 2023 SAG Conference in Vancouver, on 24-28 September and the MetPlant 2023 conference in Adelaide, Australia on November 6-8.
