Diagnosing And Controlling Release Of Antimony To The Process Water Within A Sulfide Flotation Plant

Abstract:

In sulfide minerals flotation the effects of grinding media as well as pulp chemistry/electrochemistry have been found to be very effective in metal recoveries. Except that, the release of different anionic and/or cationic chemical species in the process water results from interactions among different mineral species, process water and the grinding media. In fact grinding mill acts as an electrochemical reactor which affect the flotation performances of different value minerals as well as the quality of the tailing products. Investigations have revealed that different grinding media create either reducing or oxidizing environment which in turn results in releasing different cationic and/or anionic chemical species in the process water. Therefore it is needed to control the water effluent within the process plant to avoid environmental pollutant and determination in recovering value minerals. This paper describes the regular monitoring and controlling of different chemical species according to the environmental regulations and attempts to control the level of antimony in water discharge within the flotation plant. Different strategies, including electrochemical controlling of the milling section, Fenton process, and application of Bauxsol in treating the process water have been tested which are described herein.

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