پرعيارسازي اوليه خوراك مدار فلوتاسيون سرب و روي لكان به وسيله سيكلون واسطه سنگين

Pre-concentration of Flotation Feed by Heavy Media Cyclone in Lakan Pb/Zn Plant

Heavy media cyclones have found a wide application in gravity separation of minerals. In this research, the initial separation of gangue minerals of the Lakan lead and zinc flotation feed was investigated. The results of float-sink experiments using 1-10 mm feed material, indicated that, the gravity separation is possible. Therefore a pilot-scale heavy media cyclone was designed and established. Optimization of this cyclone, using the design of experiments technique, was investigated. It was shown that at certain levels of effective parameters, including; inlet pressure of 3 psi, cyclone inclination of 10 degree, the ratio of media to feed of 2.8, the recovery of 83.9% and 88.4% for lead and zinc, respectively, was achieved. The assay of lead and zinc in the concentrate were 2.86% and 8.66%, respectively. As a result around 44% of the flotation feed, as low assay tailings, was removed. Therefore, by removing a part of siliceous gangue from the flotation feed, in this stage, the plant capacity could be increased twice as its present capacity.