Scholarly record
INVESTIGATION ON THE CORRELATION OF DEGREE OF WEATHERING TO PIT DEPTH ON PLATINUM GROUP METALS RECOVERY BY FLOTATION
Abstract
Processing of weathered material from UG2 ore for recovery of Platinum group minerals (PGMs) is a challenging task due to poor recoveries and high chromite grade in the flotation concentrates. The flotation behaviour of the weathered and non-weathered ores of Middle Group 4 (MG 4) was investigated at different mining pit depths using sodium isobutyl xanthate as a collector, Sendep 30D as depressant and Senfroth 200 as a frother. The milling tests work were conducted prior to flotation. The results depicted that, the weathered ore is relatively soft and contained less chrome content as compared to non-weathered ore. The head grades of the surface ore and at a pit depth of 918 m was relatively the same assaying at 2.49 and 2.62 ppm respectively for the 4Es (Platinum, Palladium, Rhodium and Gold). The recovery and grade of PGMs at the rougher flotation cell was increasing with the increase in pit depth with the concentrate from surface weathered ore assaying 22.40 ppm and 47.07 ppm for the ore from 918 m depth for 4 Es. High chromite content in the flotation concentrate is due to blending of pristine ore and oxidized ore. Therefore, the correlation between degree of weathering, pit depth and recovery can be drawn for MG4 ore.
Publication Impact Profile
Publication details
References9
Noble, C.A, Laboratory-Scale Analysis of Energy-Efficient Froth Flotation Rotor Design, Doctoral dissertation, Virginia Tech, 2012.
Hochreiter, R.C., Kennedy, D.C., Muir, W., Wood A.I, "Platinum in South Africa (metal review series no. 3).," Journal of the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, vol. 85, no. 6, pp. 165-185., 1985.
Letseli, M., Nheta, W. and Steinmuller, A, Characterisation and Flotation of a Weathered Platinum Group Metal Ore, Proceedings of the 4th World Congress on Mechanical, Chemical, and Material Engineering (MCM'18), Spain, 2018.
McLaren, C.H., De Villiers, J.P., The platinum-group chemistry and mineralogy of the UG-2 chromitite layer of the Bushveld Complex., Economic Geology, vol. 77, no. 6, pp. 1348-1366, 1982.
Goodall, C.M., Milling and flotation circuits for the processing of platinum group metals in Southern Africa, Mintek and SAIMM Randburg, Johannesburg, 1995.
Mondal, S.K., Mathez, E.A., Origin of the UG2 chromitite layer, Bushveld Complex., Journal of Petrology, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 495-510, 2006.
Evans, D.M., Potential for bulk mining of oxidized platinum-group element deposits., Applied Earth Science, vol. 111, no. 1, pp. 81-86., 2002.
Ramonotsi, M., Characterisation of the effect of alteration on the PPM platinum ore and evaluation of selected strategies to improve metallurgical performance, Doctoral dissertation, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, 2011.
Pease, J.D., Curry, D.C., Young, M.F., Designing flotation circuits for high fines recovery., Minerals Engineering, vol. 19, no. 6-8, pp. 831-840, 2006.
View or Download full articleAccess options
SWS access login
Login as SWS Scientific CommitteeLogin as SWS Scientific PartnerLogin as SWS AuthorAuthors and approved SWS contributors will read and export their own linked papers after identity matching by SWS profile, email and SGEM GlobalID.
For librarian assistance: [email protected]
Purchase Instant Access
- Article can be downloaded after successful payment.
- Article may be used according to SWS library access terms.
- Article cannot be redistributed.
