Float to the top – energise your flotation performance

By A Okely, A Rinne, A Peitola*
Increasingly, larger sites, greater throughputs, shortage of experienced personnel and a greater focus on water and energy consumption have placed high demands on minerals processing suppliers. Against this arena, many mine owners are now recognising the importance of looking at the total life cycle cost, not just the initial outlay in technology and equipment.
In flotation, for example, research shows that roughly 60-80 per cent of the total life cycle costs are spent on energy, while the initial investment comprises less than 10 per cent. As a result, if a small saving in investment is achieved by compromising energy efficiency, it can quickly turn into big losses in operational costs.
The relevant cost factors for a flotation plant are investment, energy, reagent consumption, and maintenance. Diagram One shows the breakdown of these factors, based on typical ownership costs of a large mechanical flotation machine (100-200 m3) over a 25 year lifespan. Investment costs have been based on the purchase of flotation technology only since the variation in infrastructure, installation and assembly costs is significant.

For full article, please click here.