Flotation Optimisation Studies of the Perilya Broken Hill Lead

Circuit
S Schwarz1 and B Kilgariff2

ABSTRACT and to smelters overseas. The ore treated contains approximately

12 per cent combined lead plus zinc, however, the feed grades
Flotation has been in use at Broken Hill for nearly 100 years, and the
process has gone through many different optimisation studies over that can vary from one to nine per cent for lead and three to 21 per
time. This paper reviews the current flotation practice at the Perilya cent for zinc as there is no real blending of ore from
Broken Hill Mine, and details one of the recent optimisation studies underground. This emphasises the requirement for close
conducted using mathematical modelling and simulation tools. monitoring of the feed grade within the plant and strategies to
The optimisation study consisted of surveys of the lead and zinc circuits, blend ore as far back in the mining process as possible.
mapping of the floatability components of the ore and developing models Galena is the principal lead mineral, containing approximately
of the lead and zinc circuits. The models were then used to conduct 86.3 per cent lead. The lead minerals cerussite and anglesite are
simulations to simplify the circuit. The study allowed plant personnel to also found in the ore in small amounts. Tetrahedrite, the main
identify optimum operating conditions for their current flotation cells, as silver mineral, is preferentially associated with galena, which it
well as possible improvements in circuit configuration and cell capacity.
follows very closely in flotation behaviour. Silver is also present
in galena through ex-solution argentite and other minor silver
INTRODUCTION minerals including argentite, pyrargyrite and stephanite. The zinc
is present as marmatite containing 54 per cent zinc with 11 per
In 1883, Charles Rasp, David James and James Poole pegged out
cent iron and minor amounts of manganese and cadmium locked
a claim on a ‘broken hill’, contained on the Mount Gipps sheep
within the lattice. The gangue minerals are principally quartz,
station, believing this area to contain tin oxide. A syndicate of
feldspar, rhodonite, fluorite, calcite and garnet. Other sulfide
seven men was formed, including the original three members,
minerals also contained in the ore are chalcopyrite, arsenopyrite
and pegged a further six leases, in total covering approximately
and pyrrhotite.
3 km. After 16 months had passed with little encouraging finds,
high grade silver chlorides were discovered.
In the early years, processing of the Broken Hill orebody Grinding circuit
varied from simple smelting, gravity concentration and magnetic Grinding is performed in three parallel lines. Ore from the three
separation, through to the now worldwide separation technique concrete fine ore bins feeds No 1 grinding line and ore from the
of differential flotation. James Lyster, Mill Superintendent of the steel catenary bin feeds No 2 and No 3 lines. The three grinding
Zinc Corporation Limited, is credited with the discovery of the lines are of identical configuration and each has a capacity of
first selective flotation process to attain commercial reality in the 130 gross tonnes per hour. This equates to an annual capacity of
early 1900s (Hart, 1983). 2.85 million tonnes in continuous operation.
Since this time, the flotation process at Broken Hill has gone Primary cyclone overflow gravitates to the primary lead
through many optimisation and improvement studies. This paper flotation units to recover approximately 70 per cent of the
details current operating practice at the Broken Hill flotation galena. The primary flotation tailings are pumped to three
plant, and reviews the results of a recent optimisation study Linatex 375 mm cyclones (the No 3 section is sent to a battery of
carried out by JKTech (the commercial division of the Julius five 380 mm cyclones – the number in operation depends on the
Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, JKMRC) in conjunction feed pressure), in all cases they are in closed circuit with a
with Perilya Broken Hill. 2.44 m × 2.74 m Dominion secondary ball mill (with overflow
discharge). The cyclone overflows are combined and pumped to
the secondary lead flotation circuit with an 80 per cent passing
CURRENT OPERATING PRACTICE
size of approximately 212 µm.
Overview
Lead flotation circuit
Perilya purchased the Broken Hill mining operations from
An outline of the flow sheet of the lead flotation circuit at Perilya
Pasminco in May 2002. After a shutdown to carry out essential
Broken Hill is given in Figure 1.
maintenance, operations recommenced under the Perilya
management on 8 July 2003. The reagents used are sodium ethyl xanthate (collector),
methyl iso-butyl carbinol (frother) and sodium metabisulfite
The south concentrator (formerly the NBHC concentrator) was
(zinc depressant). The pH of the lead circuit is controlled at 9.0.
built in 1952. Metallurgical operations have undergone a
considerable rationalisation program since 1986 (Thorne et al, Primary lead rougher flotation is carried out in three two-cell
1983; Tilyard, 1991), to the point that in the 1999/2000 financial units in parallel. Over 70 per cent of the lead is recovered in
year, it treated 2.8 million tonnes per year. The current operation these units as the galena is fast floating and well liberated. One
now treats 2.1 million tonnes per annum, at a feed grade of unit is a two-cell Wemco 120, whilst the other two are two-cell
3.7 per cent lead and 8.2 per cent zinc. The lead concentrate is OK8’s (eight cubic metres/cell), retrofitted with Wemco 120
sold for treatment in Zinifex’s lead smelter in Port Pirie whilst mechanisms. The secondary lead rougher flotation unit
the zinc concentrate is sold to both Zinifex’s Risdon operations comprises three four-cell units in series, two of which are
Wemco 120 (8 m3 capacities) and the other is an OK8 (8 m3
capacity), fitted with booster plates.
1. JKTech, Isles Road, Indooroopilly Qld 4068.
Email: [email protected] There are two stages of cleaning on the lead circuit with cleaner
tail recycled to the secondary lead rougher bank and the recleaner
2. MAusIMM, Perilya Broken Hill Mine, Wentworth Road, Broken tail recycled to the head of the cleaner bank. The lead cleaner and
Hill NSW 2880. Email: [email protected] recleaner cells are both four-cell OK3 (3 m3 capacity each).

Centenary of Flotation Symposium Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 1

S SCHWARZ and B KILGARIFF

Plant Feed Secondary Grinding

Primary Grinding Secondary Rougher Scavenger
Primary Rougher

Cleaner Deleaded Tail

Recleaner

Final Concentrate

FIG 1 - Perilya Broken Hill lead flotation circuit flow sheet.

EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM (five samples per cell). The results from these surveys enabled a
‘snapshot’ of the flotation circuits to be obtained.
A methodology for analysing flotation circuit performance has Samples collected from each survey were weighed wet and dry
been developed by the flotation research groups at the Julius to determine per cent solids and sent for assay to determine lead,
Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre in Australia, the University zinc, silver, sulfur, iron and copper. Each survey was mass
of Cape Town in South Africa and McGill University in Canada. balanced using all available data to give the best estimates of mass
This methodology is an outcome of the Australian Minerals flows around the circuit. Least squares minimisation techniques
Industry Research Association (AMIRA) P9 Project, titled ‘The were used to estimate the flows and assays in each stream,
Optimisation of Mineral Processes by Modelling and Simulation’, ensuring all data were consistent.
which is a multi-national project currently sponsored by more than
30 companies.
Batch test procedure
The methodology captures actual plant data and applies a
semi-empirical subprocess model to represent these data for useful To map the floatability components, standard laboratory rate
simulations. The model has been described in detail previously tests were conducted on every stream in the circuit. The
(Alexander and Morrison, 1998; Alexander et al, 2000; Harris et following conditions were used in the tests:
al, 2002) and is briefly discussed later in this paper.
• Tests were conducted in the five litre JKTech flotation cell.
Individual flotation circuit models were developed for the lead
and zinc circuits at Perilya Broken Hill, with the capability to • Air rate and impeller speed were fixed for each test.
link the circuits and determine the overall flotation performance. • Six concentrates were taken over various times according to
An extensive on-site test program was conducted by site and their floatability.
JKTech personnel that included:
• Froth depth was maintained throughout each test at 1 cm.
• down the bank surveys (one in each of the lead and zinc The shallow froth depth was used to ensure the froth
circuits), recovery was approximately 100 per cent.
• batch flotation tests, • No collector, activator, pH modifier, or depressant was added
• hydrodynamic measurements, and in any test.
• froth performance measurements. • The froth pull rate from the cell was constant at six pulls per
minute.
This paper is focussed on the model developed for the lead
circuit, and as such, the results and development of the zinc • Other measurements included:
circuit model will not be discussed here. • wet weights of each concentrate,
• water addition rate during each concentrate,
Survey procedure
• cell operating impeller speed, and
Each flotation survey was planned and conducted using the
guidelines outlined by Mosher and Alexander (2002). Prior to the
• cell operating air pressure.
start of each survey, shift operating data was investigated to
determine the stability of the flotation circuit, and no operating Hydrodynamic measurements
parameters were changed during the survey period, including Hydrodynamic measurements including gas hold-up, bubble size
reagent addition rates, grinding throughput rates, cell levels, etc. and superficial gas velocity are widely considered important
The down the bank surveys conducted on each circuit were not parameters when modelling flotation cells (Alexander et al,
typical of metallurgical surveys, in that only one cut was taken of 2000). These measurements are used to calculate the bubble
each stream, and the survey period was between eight and ten surface area flux, which has a strong relationship with cell
hours. This was due to the large quantity of samples required recovery (Gorain et al, 1997).

2 Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 Centenary of Flotation Symposium

 FLOTATION OPTIMISATION STUDIES OF THE PERILYA BROKEN HILL LEAD CIRCUIT

The bubble surface area flux is a measure of the rate of bubble

surface area rising up through the cell per unit cross-sectional TABLE 1
area, and can be measured directly from Equation 1: Overall plant performance results.

Plant performance measurement Lead circuit

6J g
Sb = (1) Feed (tph) 332.7
d32
Feed Pb grade (%) 3.5
Overall Pb recovery (%) 79.3
where:
Final concentrate Pb grade (%) 71.6
Sb is the bubble surface area flux (m2/m2 s)
Overall Ag recovery (%) 69.3
Jg is the superficial gas velocity (m/s) Overall iron recovery (%) 4.06
d32 is the Sauter mean bubble diameter (m) Overall mass recovery (%) 3.84
The bubble surface area flux (Sb) was calculated in each of the
flotation cells from data collected using a superficial gas velocity
(Jg) probe and a UCT bubble sizer. The measurement procedure cent Pb. Some general observations from these mass balances
of both instruments has been documented elsewhere (Gorain et include:
al, 1996; Tucker et al, 1994). • Lead recoveries and final concentrate grades were within the
The air hold-up probe (Gorain et al, 1995) was used to range of typical plant performance at the time of the surveys.
measure the proportion of air in the pulp (ε g). The full procedure • There were significant recirculating loads observed for the
has been described by previous authors, including Gorain et al cleaner tail (Table 2). In addition, subsequent surveys
(1995) and Power et al (2000). conducted on this circuit on nominally the same feed tonnage
rate showed a wide variation in the flows of this stream
Froth performance measurements (variation from 13.1 tph to 23.7 tph). This impacted the
residence times in the rougher and scavenger section of the
The overall recovery of the floatable mineral in a flotation cell is circuit, as shown in Table 3.
a function of both pulp phase recovery and the froth phase
recovery. Froth recovery is mathematically represented by
Equation 2 (Engelbrecht and Woodburn, 1975; Laplante et al, Hydrodynamic results
1983; Feteris et al, 1987; Vera et al, 1999): A summary of the hydrodynamic results is given in Table 4.
The average superficial gas velocity (Jg) measured in each cell
k
Rf = (2) varied from 0.7 cm/s to 2.8 cm/s. These values compared well
kc with published Jg data obtained at numerous flotation plants
(Power et al, 2000), although the cleaners and recleaners were
where: significantly lower than the average range. This indicated that
these cells could be operated at higher air rates and possibly
Rf is the froth recovery (per cent) show improvement in performance.
k is the overall first order rate constant (min-1) The average air hold-up (ε g) varied between 1.6 per cent and
14 per cent. These values are within the typical range of
kc is the collection zone rate constant (min-1)
operation of six per cent and 25 per cent (Power et al, 2000) and
Froth recovery is defined as the recovery of attached particles do not indicate any significant issues with pulp viscosity (often
across the froth phase. A technique developed by Alexander et al characterised by gas hold-up values greater than 30 per cent).
(2003) was used, which involves taking samples of feed, The bubble sizes ranged from 0.7 mm to 1.4 mm. These were
concentrate and tail, as well as a ‘top of froth’ and air hold-up again within typical ranges for these types of cells. The
sample for each operating cell and conducting a mass balance of calculated bubble surface area flux values were also within
attached and entrained particles. typical ranges for these cells (Power et al, 2000), although the
primary rougher cells had significantly lower Sb values than the
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION other cells in the circuit. Increases in the bubble surface area flux
has been shown to improve the recovery rate of particles in the
Survey results collection zone (Gorain et al, 1997). This indicated the potential
to improve flotation performance in these cells by either
Mass balancing of all available survey data was conducted and a increasing air rate (difficult to control in Wemco cells) or by
summary is given in Table 1. The overall recovery for the lead increasing impeller speeds to decrease bubble size. Caution is
circuit was 79.3 per cent at a final concentrate grade of 71.6 per required when increasing impeller speed as this may also

TABLE 2
Selected mass balanced stream flows.

Stream TPH % sol ppm Ag % Pb % Zn % Fe %S % Cu

Plant feed 332.7 60.6 52 3.5 6.6 4.1 5.4 0.13
Final concentrate 12.8 59.6 945 71.6 6.5 4.4 18.5 2.26
Deleaded tail 319.9 38.1 17 0.7 6.6 4.1 4.9 0.04
Secondary rougher feed 345.4 45.0 48 3.2 7.8 4.4 6.2 0.19
Cleaner tail 23.7 26.9 324 22.9 24.9 9.3 21.6 1.85
Recleaner tail 9.1 17.0 264 21.1 20.0 8.5 17.6 1.62

Centenary of Flotation Symposium Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 3

S SCHWARZ and B KILGARIFF

TABLE 3
Non-floating fraction
Changes in residence time for rougher and scavenger sections. The non-floating fraction for each mineral in the ore was
estimated using the batch test results of the tails from each
Bank Residence time (mins) circuit. The batch test results are given in Figure 2 for the lead
Survey 1 (332.7 tph) Survey 2 (330.3 tph) circuit tail.
Primary rougher 1 11.8 9.6 Although there may have been slight increases in recovery
Primary rougher 2 10.4 8.8 with further flotation time, the maximum recovery of each
mineral was calculated after 11 minutes of flotation, and related
Primary rougher 3 10.3 8.5 to the mass balanced values of these streams to give the
Secondary rougher 8.0 7.0 non-floating fractions. The non-floating fraction of galena in the
Scavenger 4.1 3.7 lead circuit was estimated to be 11 per cent.

increase the gas hold-up in the cell, and cause disturbances to the 70
froth phase (thus reducing the froth recovery). The calculated Sb 60
values were used in developing the models for this circuit.

Recovery (%)
50
40
Froth recovery results 30
20
The experimental measured froth recovery values are given in
10
Table 5. In some of the flotation cells, unstable froths and/or low
0
bubble loads prevented this technique being used. The froth
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
recovery values for these cells were fitted to experimental data in
the model development stage. Also included in this Table is the Time (mins)

froth retention time (FRT), which is calculated from Equation 3 Galena Sphalerite Chalcopyrite Pyrrhotite NSG
(Mathe et al, 2000):

(1 − ε g )Vfroth FIG 2 - Recovery versus time profile for deleaded tail.

FRT = (3)
Qconc
Nodal analysis
The froth recoveries ranged from 0.1 per cent to 24 per cent. In determining the floatability parameters for the flotation
The very low froth recoveries (less than three per cent) observed circuit, an assumption that the mass fractions of each flotation
in many of the cells were mainly due to cells operating at deep rate are conserved is required. In other words, the summation of
froth depths, causing little or no froth to reach the concentrate the floatability components of the concentrate and tail of a
launder. These results indicated potential overall improvements flotation cell or bank must be equal to the feed. Nodal analysis
to the performance of both circuits by increasing froth recovery. was performed on the results from the batch tests conducted on
Froth recovery can be increased by decreasing froth depth, or by samples collected around the circuit and selected graphs are
manipulation of air rates, pulp density, frother type or addition given in Figure 3.
rate. However, these operating parameters also increase the degree Figure 3 shows the flotation response of the recalculated
of entrainment and other methods of reducing entrainment, eg stream is similar to the actual stream, indicating that floatability
froth washing, may be required. Simulations (using the simulator was conserved across these nodes. Nodal analysis was conducted
described later in this paper) can be used to estimate the impact of around other sections of the flotation circuit, and it was
various froth levels on overall circuit performance. concluded that floatability was conserved around the majority of
nodes, except where reagents were added or regrinding occurred.
Batch test results
The main objective of conducting batch tests on all major Effect of reagent addition and regrinding
streams within the circuits was to obtain sufficient data to As discussed previously, the assumption that each floatability
estimate the floatability parameters of the feed to the circuit. component has the same flotation rate constant throughout the
Additional tests were performed to determine the non-floating circuit does not hold if reagents are added. Batch tests were
fraction (or ultimate recovery), the effect of reagent addition and performed on the lead recleaner tail before and after reagent
regrinding, and to conduct nodal analyses after Runge et al addition and these results are given in Figure 4.
(1997).

TABLE 4
Hydrodynamic results.

Plant bank Jg (cm/s) ε g (%) d32 (mm) Sb (m2/m2 s)† Residence time (min per cell)
Primary roughers 0.7 - 1.5 1.9 - 6.5 1.4 29 - 61 5.1 - 5.9
Secondary roughers 0.9 - 1.8 1.9 - 4.7 1.0 56 - 111 0.9 - 1.0
Scavengers 1.7 - 2.8 5.9 - 7.2 1.4 73 - 119 0.9 - 1.0
Cleaners 0.8 - 1.3 1.6 - 14 0.7 66 - 106 2.8 - 3.3
Recleaners 1.3 - 1.5 7.8 - 10 1.2 66 - 76 4.0 - 4.6

† calculated from Equation 1

4 Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 Centenary of Flotation Symposium

 FLOTATION OPTIMISATION STUDIES OF THE PERILYA BROKEN HILL LEAD CIRCUIT

( Pi ⋅ S b ⋅ R f ⋅ τ )(1 − Rw ) + ENT ⋅ Rw
TABLE 5 Recovery = ∑ mi (4)
Froth performance results. (1 − Pi ⋅ S b ⋅ R f ⋅ τ )(1 − Rw ) + ENT ⋅ Rw

Plant bank Rf (%) Froth depth (cm) FRT (mins) where:

Primary roughers 0.5 - 17 10.2 - 16.5 0.3 - 4.7 mi is the mass fraction of floatability component i
Secondary roughers 2.1 - 24 12.7 - 25.4 0.2 - 1.9 Pi is the floatability rate of component i
Scavengers 0.3 - 5.1 12.7 - 20.3 1.4 - 8.6
τ is the residence time of the cell or bank
Cleaners 0.1 - 0.5 25.4 - 33.0 2.1 - 3.0
Rw is the recovery of water
Recleaners 0.9 - 3.4 30.5 - 33.0 0.2 - 0.9
ENT is the degree of entrainment (Savassi et al, 1997)

100
The other parameters (Sb and Rf) have been defined previously.
Note that entrainment was not included in this model as sizing
galena recovery
Cumulative %

80
information was not available at the time of this paper.
60
A combination of the down the bank survey data, batch test
40 data, froth recovery measurements, bubble surface area flux
20 measurements and residence time estimates were used as inputs
0 to the model. The water recovery values were obtained from the
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 survey data, and are shown in Table 6, along with the other
Time (mins) parameters required for the development of the model. The
Secondary Rougher Feed Recalculated Feed
floatability rates (Pi) and mass fractions (mi) were estimated
Secondary Rougher Concentrate Secondary Rougher Tail
using a linear least squares fitting routine on this data (Alexander
and Morrison, 1998).
In modelling flotation circuits it is important to model the
FIG 3 - Nodal analysis for the lead secondary rougher bank. mineral flows around the circuit and not the element flows.
Previous studies on the Broken Hill ore (Runge and Manlapig,
1998) included an element-to-mineral conversion table, which
was also used for this analysis (Table 7).
Cumulative % galena recovery

120

100

80
Floatability parameters
60 The model parameter estimates for each mineral are shown in
40
Table 8.
20
Table 8 shows that the ore feeding the flotation circuit can be
characterised by three floatability components – fast, slow and
0
non-floating. It should also be noted that most of the fast floating
0 2 4 6 8 10
minerals had similar flotation rates for this ore type.
Time (mins)
The majority of the galena present in the feed (67 per cent)
Before reagent After reagent was relatively fast floating with 22 per cent slow floating and
11 per cent non-floating. Interestingly, the chalcopyrite appeared
to follow the galena in terms of flotation rates and mass fractions
FIG 4 - Recovery versus time profile for galena using the recleaner
in the feed.
tail stream before and after reagent addition.
Most of the sphalerite (94 per cent) was either slow or
non-floating with a small amount of fast floating material (six
Figure 4 shows that addition of reagent (xanthate) to the per cent), similar to the pyrrhotite. Most of the non-sulfide
recleaner tail increased the recovery of the fast floating galena, gangue was non-floating (97 per cent), although three per cent of
shown by the increased recovery for times less than two minutes. the gangue in the feed was slow floating. Any recovery of
It should be noted that the ultimate recovery of galena was the gangue (pyrrhotite or non-sulfide gangue) will primarily be due
same for both before and after reagent addition, indicating that to entrainment, which will be incorporated into the size by
the reagent addition increased the floatability of the slow floating floatability model (at a later date).
material, but did not affect the non-floating material. This
The model fit results for galena are shown in Figure 5 and
reagent addition point was therefore included in the model
development to account for the change in floatability by show an excellent agreement (correlation coefficient greater than
redistributing the mass fractions across the floatability 99 per cent) between model-fitted recoveries and experimental
components. recoveries. Similar fits were also observed for the other minerals.
It should be noted that the plant recovery data had a closer
It is also known that regrinding will affect the floatability of a
correlation than the batch test data. This was due to the higher
particular stream. Unfortunately no batch tests were performed
standard deviations placed on the batch test data during the
on the combined primary rougher tail to enable comparison of
model fitting procedure.
before and after the secondary grinding stage in this circuit.
However, this change in floatability was incorporated in the It should be noted that this model was developed on an
model development process, using the mass balanced results to un-sized basis, and no entrainment has been included.
fit the floatability parameters around this node. Size-by-size analysis is currently being conducted to develop a
more detailed model, including entrainment; however, Table 9
shows a very good comparison between the overall recovery
MODEL DEVELOPMENT results for each of the minerals.
Harris et al (2002) proposed that the overall recovery can be The reagent and regrinding nodes were incorporated in the
represented by the following equation: model development, with a redistribution of the mass fractions of

Centenary of Flotation Symposium Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 5

S SCHWARZ and B KILGARIFF

TABLE 6
Parameters and data required for development of model.

Sb (s-1) Rf (%) τ (min) ENT Rw (%)

No 1 primary rougher cell 1 49.9 1.7 5.9 0 7.1
No 1 primary rougher cell 2 57.8 0.5 5.9 0 0.7
No 2 primary rougher cell 1 53.9 2.4 5.2 0 1.1
No 2 primary rougher cell 2 61.2 1.1 5.3 0 0.5
No 3 primary rougher cell 1 43.0 17.1 5.1 0 7.2
No 3 primary rougher cell 2 28.9 2.8 5.2 0 0.5
Secondary rougher cell 1 71.9 6.0 1.0 0 1.8
Secondary rougher cell 2 102.2 2.1 1.0 0 0.5
Secondary rougher cell 3 111.2 7.6 1.0 0 1.8
Secondary rougher cell 4 105.9 3.2 1.0 0 0.3
Secondary rougher cell 5 56.3 23.7 0.9 0 1.2
Secondary rougher cell 6 67.8 6.3 1.0 0 0.8
Secondary rougher cell 7 100.0 7.3 1.0 0 0.5
Secondary rougher cell 8 96.1 3.9 1.0 0 0.3
Scavenger cell 1 98.5 4.7 0.9 0 0.2
Scavenger cell 2 91.5 0.0 1.0 0 0.0
Scavenger cell 3 73.3 5.1 0.9 0 0.1
Scavenger cell 4 119.4 0.3 0.9 0 0.0
Cleaner cell 1 67.9 0.1 3.3 0 0.4
Cleaner cell 2 69.1 0.4 3.1 0 0.5
Cleaner cell 3 65.9 0.5 2.9 0 0.5
Cleaner cell 4 106.1 0.3 2.8 0 0.6
Recleaner cell 1 65.7 3.4 4.0 0 9.1
Recleaner cell 2 65.8 0.9 4.0 0 2.3
Recleaner cell 3 67.2 3.1 4.5 0 5.5
Recleaner cell 4 76.2 2.0 4.6 0 2.1

Note that scavenger cell 2 was not operating at the time of the surveys

the various floatability components across each of these nodes.

TABLE 7 This is shown graphically in Figure 6 and Figure 7. Points of
Element to mineral conversion. note from these figures include:
Pb Zn Cu Fe S • a small amount of non-floating galena was transferred into the
Galena 86.6 13.4 fast and slow floating components during secondary grinding;
and
Sphalerite 56.5 10.0 33.5
Chalcopyrite 34.5 30.5 35.0
• all the slow floating galena was transferred into the fast
floating component during reagent addition.
Pyrrhotite 60.4 39.6
SIMULATION RESULTS
120
The models developed (and the parameters estimated) for the
100
lead circuit survey outlined in the previous section was used to
simulate scenarios using JKSimFloat V6. This simulator has the
capabilities of estimating the flotation performance from changes
Model Fitted (%)

80
in:
60
• feed throughput (assuming that floatability remains constant
40 and residence time varies);
20 • bank residence time;
0 • cell operating parameters, eg air flow rate, froth depth, etc;
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 and
Mass Balanced (%)
• circuit stream destination.
Plant data Batch test data
In this study, the simulations conducted involved changes to
the stream destinations and operating parameters. The flotation
FIG 5 - Lead flotation circuit model fit results for galena. performance was estimated from these changes. There was also a

6 Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 Centenary of Flotation Symposium

 FLOTATION OPTIMISATION STUDIES OF THE PERILYA BROKEN HILL LEAD CIRCUIT

TABLE 8
Lead circuit model floatability parameters.

Mineral Flotation rates Feed floatability mass fractions

1 2 3 1 2 3
Galena 2.10 × 10-3 2.99 × 10-4 0 0.67 0.22 0.11
Sphalerite 1.61 × 10-3 9.03 × 10-5 0 0.06 0.15 0.79
Chalcopyrite 2.98 × 10-3 4.05 × 10-4 0 0.61 0.26 0.13
Pyrrhotite 1.76 × 10-3 4.68 × 10-5 0 0.03 0.08 0.89
NSG 6.10 × 10-5 1.97 × 10-5 0 0.00 0.03 0.97

120 TABLE 9
100 Lead circuit model recovery results.
Mass fraction (%)

80
Mineral Overall recovery (%) Overall grade (%)
60
MBal Calc MBal Calc
40 Solids 3.84 3.95 12.8 13.1
20 Galena 79.3 79.4 82.7 80.4
0 Sphalerite 3.79 3.76 11.6 11.2
Chalcopyrite 68.4 67.9 6.5 6.3
na

ite

G
ite
r it

NS
er
e

ot
py
al

r rh
ha
G

co

Pyrrhotite 1.64 1.61 2.0 1.9

Py
Sp

al
Ch

NSG 0.00 0.01 0.0 0.2

Fast Slow Non-floating

FIG 6 - Change in floatability component distribution across the TABLE 10

secondary grinding node – solid columns indicate mass fractions Reduced tonnage lead circuit simulated results.
prior to grinding, dotted columns indicate mass fractions after
regrinding. Experimental Simulated
Pb grade Pb rec Pb grade Pb rec
120 (%) (%) (%) (%)
100 Base case (330 tph) 71.6 79.3 69.0 82.4
Mass fraction (%)

80 Reduced tonnage (300 tph) 64.8 83.4 68.8 83.7

Change -7.2 +4.1 -0.2 +1.3
60

40

20 results are given in Table 10, as well as the experimental results

0
obtained at the reduced tonnage rate. Please note that this model
was on an unsized basis, and the changes in sizing distribution
na

ite

G
ite

known to result from changes to mill feed rates were not

r it

NS
er
e

ot
py
al

r rh
ha

accounted for (although the sizing effects are currently also

G

co

Py
Sp

al
Ch

being investigated). Note also that the base case results were
slightly different to those reported in Table 9 as the water
Fast Slow Non-floating
recovery was calculated based on the concentrate solids-water
flowrate according to Equation 5:
FIG 7 - Change in floatability component distribution across the
reagent addition node – solid columns indicate mass fractions
Qwater = a × Qsolids
b
(5)
prior to reagent addition, dotted columns indicate mass fractions
after reagent addition.
Both the simulated and experimental results indicated that
operating at the reduced feed rate should increase the lead
large scope to continue the study at Perilya Broken Hill in
recovery with a slight decrease in final concentrate lead grade.
investigating the effect of optimising cell operating parameters,
This was due to the increased residence times throughout the
as well as reducing the recirculating loads. However, this cell
operating optimisation was beyond the current project scope and circuit. A series of simulations can be conducted to estimate a
has not been included in this paper. range of feed throughput rates and generate a grade-recovery
curve on an unsized basis.
Reduced feed tonnage There was good agreement between the experimental trends
and simulated trends. However, although the trends are similar,
The model was developed based on a feed flow rate of there was a difference between the concentrate recoveries and
approximately 110 tph per grinding line. Plant personnel were grades. The main reason for the different results was because the
interested in investigating the effect of operating the circuit with feed grade (and hence floatability) changed between the two
a feed flow rate of 100 tph per grinding line. Simulations were surveys, with 3.5 per cent Pb in Survey 1 (330 tph) and 2.6 per
performed using JKSimFloat V6 for both feed tonnages, and the cent Pb in Survey 3 (300 tph). There was also a change in circuit

Centenary of Flotation Symposium Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 7

S SCHWARZ and B KILGARIFF

configuration, with the concentrate from cleaner cells three and

four recycled back to the cleaner feed in Survey 3, as well as a TABLE 12
change in reagent addition rate to the recleaner tail. This Simulated results of open circuit cleaner tails (simulation 2) and
simulation was performed using the feed conditions, circuit increased cleaner residence time (simulation 3).
configuration and reagent effect from Survey 1 (330 tph).
Simulations accounting for the changes in feed parameters, Plant performance measurement Base Simulation Simulation
circuit configuration and reagent addition rates produced very case 2 3
similar results to those achieved experimentally. Overall Pb recovery (%) 82.4 69.7 80.8
Final concentrate Pb grade (%) 69.0 75.1 74.2
Reducing recirculating streams Overall sphalerite recovery (%) 4.00 1.80 2.24
The flotation circuit at Perilya Broken Hill has the capability to Overall pyrrhotite recovery (%) 2.05 0.98 1.18
send almost any stream to almost any other part of the circuit, Overall mass recovery (%) 4.14 3.21 3.73
and therefore has many recirculating streams. A standard
operating practice, at the time of the surveys, was to recirculate
the concentrate from the last two cleaner cells back to the head zinc circuits, with maintenance to the air intake valves a priority
of the cleaner bank. Simulations were performed, to determine during shut-downs. The impeller speeds of the lead primary
the effectiveness of this practice and the results are given in rougher cells are also being investigated to determine the
Table 11. optimum operating range and ensure optimum gas dispersion for
these cells. Site personnel are also trying to operate the three
TABLE 11 lines of primary lead rougher cells under similar operating
Cleaner concentrate recirculation simulated results. conditions to produce a stable feed to the secondary lead rougher
circuit.
Plant performance measurement Base case Simulation 1 Since this study, the tonnage rate through the mills is closely
results results being investigated, with most shifts run at the reduced feed rate
Overall Pb recovery (%) 82.4 81.6 to attempt to improve the lead recovery. Also since this study, the
practice of recirculating the concentrate from the last two lead
Final concentrate Pb grade (%) 69.0 68.9
cleaner cells has ceased to increase the residence time of the
Overall sphalerite recovery (%) 4.00 3.99 cleaner bank.
Overall pyrrhotite recovery (%) 2.05 2.04 Further work is currently being undertaken by JKTech to
Overall mass recovery (%) 4.14 4.10 investigate the effect of changing grind size, and the subsequent
effect on the flotation circuit. This is through a similar process as
described above, with size by assay mass balances, and sized
Table 11 shows that recycling the concentrate from the last two models being developed for both circuits. JKSimFloat V6 will
cleaner cells back to the cleaner feed reduced the recovery by 0.8 continue to be used to conduct the simulations and enable a
per cent, with a slight decrease of 0.1 per cent in grade. This better understanding of the overall Perilya Broken Hill flotation
indicated that recirculating this stream was detrimental to the circuit.
overall lead circuit performance, and it was recommended that
this practice stop. Sending the cleaner concentrate to the
recleaner feed also increased the residence time available in the CONCLUSIONS
cleaner cells. A model of the Perilya Broken Hill lead circuit was created using
Open circuiting the cleaner tails (which were originally sent to a methodology developed by the AMIRA P9 project and data
the secondary rougher feed) significantly improved, which was collected from mass balanced site surveys, hydrodynamic and
shown by simulations to significantly improve the lead grade (to froth performance measurements and numerous batch flotation
75 per cent Pb), but decrease the lead recovery (to 70 per cent). tests. This model enabled simulations to be performed to allow
However, increasing the residence time in the cleaner cells rapid estimation of the flotation performance resulting from
three-fold restored the lead recovery (at approximately 80 per selected changes to operating conditions and circuit
cent) while slightly decreasing the lead grade (to 74 per cent Pb). configurations.
These results are shown in Table 12.
Site personnel have taken the recommendations from this
study, such as improving air dispersion, reducing recirculating
IMPLEMENTATION streams and reducing feed tonnage, and are currently in the
The main focus of the project was on the lead circuit recovery, as process of implementation. It is hoped that this study has
it was determined that improvements in lead recovery would identified both the relatively easy short-term gains as well as
improve the final zinc concentrate grade. This study identified providing direction for future long-term improvements.
that performance improvements (including lead recovery) could
be made by focussing on specific areas of the circuit. These ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
include developing on-site test work programs in the following
areas: The assistance of staff from Perilya, especially Jon Glatthaar,
George Zarmorski and Guttorm Sand in applying this
• air optimisation throughout the lead and zinc circuits; methodology at Broken Hill is gratefully acknowledged. In
• impeller speed optimisation, especially in the lead primary addition, the authors wish to thank Jonathan Worth, David
rougher cells; Collins and Juan-Luis Reyes-Bahena for their assistance in the
• feed tonnage rates to the grinding circuits; and test campaigns. Finally the authors would like to acknowledge
Prof J-P Franzidis, Dr Emmy Manlapig, Dan Alexander, the staff
• reducing recirculating streams. and students of the AMIRA P9 project and its sponsors for the
Currently, the site personnel are driving an improvement to the work and the funding, which developed the methodology and
air distribution to the individual cells throughout both lead and made the present study possible.

8 Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 Centenary of Flotation Symposium

 FLOTATION OPTIMISATION STUDIES OF THE PERILYA BROKEN HILL LEAD CIRCUIT

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Centenary of Flotation Symposium Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 9

10 Brisbane, QLD, 6 - 9 June 2005 Centenary of Flotation Symposium