Jean Nesset
Transcript of Jean Nesset
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100 Years of Blowing Bubbles for Profit(With an Emphasis on the Bubbles)
Jan E. Nesset
CIM Distinguished Lecturer 2008-9
Original presentat ion
sponsored by
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Outline...
What is flotation and why this talk now?
Lets step back 100 years
The Inventors
The Implementers
Lawsuits (always a good sign)
The Chilean and Canadian perspectives
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...Outline
The next 70 years people forgotabout the bubbles in the process
Renewed interest 1990s Last word to the historians
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What is froth flotation?
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Consider 2 different types of
mineral particles in water
The desired mineral particles are
selectively coated with a hydrocarbon
chemical collector making them
hydrophobic (water-hating)
UNDESIRED
MINERALS
DESIRED
MINERAL
IN
WATER
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Consider 2 different types of
mineral particles in water
Approaching gas
bubble
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Consider 2 different types of
mineral particles in water
rising gas bubblecollects
hydrophobic
particles only
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Role of Frother controls bubble size created
and prevents coalescence of bubbles
Courtesy of McGill University, Materials Engineering
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Modern plants
use large
capacityequipment
38 ft diameter SAG mill
160 m3 flotation cells
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Flotation is widely used
(examples) Base metals: Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni, Mo, Fe, Sn, Ti
Precious metals: Au, Ag, Pt, Pd
Industrial minerals: graphite, potash,phosphate, even diamonds
Environmental: Waste water treatment,contaminated soil remediation
Recycling: ink from paper, plastics from scrap
Energy: coal, bitumen from oil sands, uranium
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Lets step back about
100 years...
Comminution and Mineral
Separation Circuits at the end
of the 19th Century..
...not much change over the
previous 300 years
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Stamp Mills
Deadwood, South
Dakota gold mill, 1888
mid-1500s
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Hand Sorting of Ore
Sullivan Mine, BC,
circa 1910mid-1500s
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Gravity jigs, sluices and
tables
mid-1500s
Sullivan
Mine, BC,circa 1940
Jig, early
1900s
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Gravity methods and handsorting prevailed
Metal recoveries weretypically 50-70% at best
Recovery of smaller particles(slimes) and concentration oflower density materials was not
possible
Mineral Processing was at
an impasse....
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The example of Broken Hill, Australia,
at the turn of the 19th Century
+6 million tonnes of zinc
rich tailings in huge piles
An enormous Pb-Zn-Ag
deposit in New South
Wales (20%Pb, 18%Zn
300 gpt Ag)
new BHP ore
dressing plant, 1899
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0
200
400
600
800
1886 1888 1890 1892 1894 1896 1898 1900 1902
Year of Production
Production,kTonnes
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
Dividends,A
$x1000
Annual Ore Production
Bonuses & Dividends
At the BHP mine the mineral processing
methods could not treat the sulphides
efficiently
Profits plummeted as the mining moved
from the upper oxides to the lower
sulphide ore
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1. Britannia Beach coppermine in British Columbia.
2. Sullivan lead, zinc, silvermine in south-eastern B.C.
3. Porphyry copper mines inthe U.S. mid and south-west
and in Chile (Braden)
Other mines were running into
similar problems
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Bri tann ia Beachcopper m ine on Br i t ish
Columbia coast
Other mines were running
into similar problems
Discovered in 1888
Relatively fine-grained Cu
finally began production
in 1904. Used hand-sorting
Gravity circuit was a
disaster
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Sull ivan lead,zinc , si lver m ine in
Br i t ish Columbia
Other Mines were running
into similar problems
Discovered in 1892
direct smelting of ore
1898-1907
grades decreased from43%Pb, 600 gpt Ag to
16.5%Pb, 230 gpt Ag
High zinc contamination
Hand-sorting kept
the mine operating
from 1910-1914
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The U.S. Copperpo rphyry m ines
Other Mines were running
into similar problems
Feed grades 1-2% Cu
Cu recoveries only 60-70% with gravitymethods
Unable to treat slimes
0
10
20
30
40
50 60 70 80 90 100
Cu Recovery, %
ConcentrateGrade,%Cu
Utah
Chino
Ray
Nevada
Early 1900's
Modern
porphyry plants
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Braden Copper Co.
El Tenien te m ine (1906)
Other Mines were running
into similar problems
Feed grades 3.4%Cu, 250 tpd
Cu recoveries 45-55% with gravity methods
High costs, barely economic, tried Elmore cells
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1. The su lphide problem asox ide deposi ts depleted
2.The porphyry prob lem oflow Cu recover ies
3.The zinc p rob lem of no/lowrecovery and contam inat ion
(poo r d ifferen t ial separat ion
of lead from zinc )
The Industry Faced
Immediate Challenges
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1891 1st 60-cycle AC power distribution system
1892-3 GE and Westinghouse formed
1900 Max Plancks Quantum Theory
1900 - U.S Gold Standard Act 1901 1st Nobel prizes
1903 - Ford motor company founded
1903 Wright brothers 1st powered flight
1903 electric washing machine and vacuum cleaner
1905 Einsteins Theory of Relativity
1909 Plastic is invented
1913 electric refrigerator
What else was happening
in the World?
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Demand for metals (Cu, Pb, Zn, Au )was inc reasing rapid ly wh i le the
supply was becom ing scarcer
Techno logy was at the forefront .Peop le expected eng ineers/scient ists
to f ind the solut ion
The Result
DEMAND
SUPPLY
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The Inventors
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In 1860 William Haynes (Britain) patented a process forseparating sulphides from ground ore by mixing with oil
(1-10%) and separated in water. He called it bulk-oil
flotation. There was no commercial application. The
agglomeration of oil/sulphides likely had a density less
than water so floated to the top.
In 1877 the Bessel brothers, Georg and Adolph(Germany), owners of a graphite business making
crucibles, patented a process for mixing oil and graphite
and then boiling the mixture in water to produce highgrade graphite (90%) in the froth. The process was a
commercial success.A modified patent in 1886
substituted lime and acid to produce the bubbles. The
first true commercial application of froth flotation
The Europeans
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In 1885, Rebecca (Carrie)Everson (U.S.), wife of a
physician who had invested in a
failed mining enterprise that she
wanted to help, patented a
process for separating sulphidesby mixing with small quantities of
oil and adding water and
sulphuric acid. Entrained gas in
the agglomerated mixture likelyresulted in flotation. Attempts to
commercialize on several ore
types failed. She was unable to
raise further funding.
An American Woman
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In 1898 Francis and AlexanderElmore (Britain) patented a bulk oilflotation process involving intimate
mixing of oil and lead sulphide ore in
mixing drums before adding to a
water-filled separation vessel.Entrained air resulted in flotation of
the agglomorated mixture. The
process was successfully applied at
the Glasnir lead mine in Wales. Thisbulk oil flotation process was
widely applied. A second
successful patent (1904) involved
applying vacuum to generate small
bubbles.
More Europeans...
Vacuum process
1898 Patent
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In 1902 Alcide Froment (Italy) patented(UK) a process for the use of any kind of
gas bubbles to float sulphide particles
treated with a minute quantity of oil/fatty
substance. His was the first link betweenoil flotation and gas flotation but he failed
to specify that the bubbles be generated by
air.
The British engineering firm MineralsSeparation bought Froments patent in1903 and it became the basis for their
string of patents covering froth flotation
...Still More Europeans
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It took over 40 years to make the linkthat both minute quantities of oil
and small gas bubbles were needed
for successful froth flotation of sulphides
It would take only another 10 years forthe implementers to make an effective
flotation machine and sort out most
of the key operational issues
In Summary
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The Implementers
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Back to Broken Hill, NSW, Australia,
where zinc tailings were piling up
and profits had disappeared
There wereseveral competing
companies: Zinc
Corporation,
Broken Hill
Proprietary (BHP),De Bavay
Company, British
Broken Hill Total estimated value of tailings,
(Ag, Zn, Pb) over 33 million
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BHP was first out (1903) with the
Delprat process (later Potter-Delprat)
They added acid or sodium sulphate (salt
cake) to hot tailings
pulp to generate CO2bubbles, no oil added
directly (residual ?)
Used until 1923
1st 50 tons of zinc
concentrate produced
from tailings (1903)
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Each Plant used different patented
device to avoid licence fees
Potter-Delprat
Used at BHPuntil 1923
Elmore vacuum
Used at ZincCorp. until 1917
De Bavay
Used at hisplant until
1913
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The Mineral Separation Co.
The true developers of froth flotation
A British company formed in 1905 toexploit flotation for separation of
sulphide ores
They bought up patents and chargedroyalties
Alcide Froment (1903) gasbubbles and oil together
Sulman, Picard, Ballot (1905 U.S.)- pneumatic cell
Constructed a new cell design for useon zinc tailings at Broken Hill Sulman, Picard, Ballot
patent
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The Mineral Separation Co.
The true developers of froth flotation
The key was to add avery small quantity of
oil (
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The Hoover Brothers...
...Key Connection to Flotation
Herbert Hoover, miningengineer (1895,Stanford)
Managed mines in Australia
and China made a fortune Founder of Zinc Corporation
(Broken Hill) 1906
Brought MS to Australia tosolve zinc flotation problem
Theodore Hoover, miningengineer (1901,Stanford)
Managing Director of MineralSeparation, 1906-1910
Wrote one of first texts onflotation, 1916
Prof of Mining/Met - Stanford
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At last...Pneumatic Flotation Machines
Circa 1915
Callow machines Air blown in through
a permeable cloth
on bottom
Mineral Separation sub-aeration machines
Air introduced with stirredmechanical agitator
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Leslie Bradford
Developer of Activators and
Depressants for Differential Flotation forLead and Zinc at Broken Hill
Use ofCuSO4 as activatorfor zincflotation (1912)
Use ofSO2 and sulphite asdepressants for zinc mineral (1913)
Implemented close air control, alkalineflotation circuits
Mineral Separation introduced asub-aeration flotation cell by 1916
True differential flotation fully implementedby 1916 at the Broken Hill mines
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Froth Flotation moves
to North America.
Th B i R d ti C Pl t B i
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The Basin Reduction Co. Plant, Basin
Montana (Butte and Superior Copper
Company), 1911
James Hyde running
a flotation test
Retreatment of zinc tailings in alead-zinc operation
Ultimate objective was to apply toporphyry copperrecovery
James Hyde was a MineralSeparation employee until 1910
when he left at the urging of
Herbert Hoover to implementflotation at the Basin plant
Hyde was a classmate of TheodoreHoover, who also left MS in 1910
Th B i R d ti C Pl t B i
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The Basin Reduction Co. Plant, Basin
Montana (Butte and Superior Cooper
Company), 1911
Start-up in Aug, 1911 onzinc recovery from lead
tailings
Used a modified celladapted from Mineral
Separation
1st application of arougher-cleaner circuit
A lawauit with MS shutthe mill down after 6
months
The Basin Plant
Rougher cells above,
cleaner cells below
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The Lawsuit (Hyde vs Mineral Separation)
Mineral Separation
Patent
June 28, 1910
T. Hoover Patent
April 5, 1910
Hyde countered with
a 2nd patent
Applied Nov 10, 1911
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The Judgement (U.S. and Britain)
(Dec 11, 1916)
The evidence of infringement is clear
the patent must be confined to the results obtained bythe use of oil within the proportions often described in thetestimony and in the claims of the patent as 'criticalproportions,' 'amounting to a fraction of 1 per cent on theore,'
This was the final litigation battle
Mineral Separation claimed royalties from manyoperations for the use of a froth flotation licence
provided the oil use was below 1% of the ore
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The Canadian andChilean Connections
Braden Copper Mine (El Teniente)
Bri tann ia Beach Copper Mine
The Su ll ivan Lead-Zinc -Silver Mine
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The Application of Froth Flotation at
Bradens El Teniente mine -1912
Mineral Separation cells
at Sewell concentrator
The first Chilean application offroth flotation (on gravity tailings)
30% increase in Cu Recovery Revolutionized Chilean copperindustry
First productionof copper byfroth flotation?
5
10
15
20
25
30 50 70 90
CuConcentrateGrade(%)
Cu Recovery (%)
Pre-1911
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915
1916
1917
1918
1919
Pre-flotation
gravity only
Flotationstarted Nov 16,
1912
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
MillFeed,MillionTPY Flotation started
Nov 16, 1912
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The Britannia Beach Copper Mine
West Coast of B.C., 1912
The original Britannia
flotation mill with
gravity mill behind,
1912.
The first NorthAmerican application of
froth flotation to copper
(gravity tailings feed)
Used Mineral Separationcell technology
Cu recovery improved
dramatically to 94% andthe mine became
profitable for the first time
First Canadian froth
flotation mill
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The Porphyry Problem Solved
..At the Britannia Mine inBritish Columbia where theplant has been in operationfor many months,recoveries of over 94 per
cent are being regularlyobtained, .
The Brittania Beach float
plant was operating
before any of the U.S.
Copper plantsTimes of London
June 18, 1913
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Solving the metallurgy of the highly
complex Sullivan Pb-Zn-Ag deposit
Differential Pb-Zn flotation used in Australia didnot work: high pyrrhotite, very fine grained
Mineral Separation offered little help. Other oreswere far easier and more plentiful
The Sullivan mill started
operation in 1923
The impact on Cominco
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The impact on Cominco
(Consolidated Mining & Smelting Co.)
All elements ofcomplex sulphide differential flotationwere developed: 3-stage grinding, regrinding middlings,stage/starvation reagents, multi-stage cleaning, heated pulp
The successful flotation plant at Sullivan changed the
fortunes of the Trail Smelter and Cominco
Flotation Began
Production by year
from the Sullivan Mine
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Smelting Practices had to change to
accomodate more fine concentrates
instead of lump ore
Open roasting of lump ore gave way to multi-
hearth roasters and large reverberatory furnaces
Victoria Roast Yard,
Sudbury, 1890s
Multi-hearth
roaster
Reverberatory
furnaces,
Anaconda 1915
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The Impact on World Pb, Zn, Cu Production
It is clear that Pb, Zn and Cu production increasedrapidly following the introduction of flotation
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
1800 1820 1840 1860 1880 1900 1920
Year
Output
,million
tonnes
Zinc
Lead
Copper
Advent of Flotation
1905 - Australia
Trends in World Lead, Zinc and Copper Output
1800 to 1920
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The Insight of Thomas. A. Rickard
Mining engineer (RSM, 1885)
Friend of the Hoovers Historian, writer and publisher of
Mining & Engineering Press
we know that the key to the flotationprocess is to be found, not in the oil, notin the acid, or in the apparatus, but inthe bubbles. The man who understands
the mystery of a soap bubble hasmastered the chief mystery of flotationThe Flotation Process (1916)
Key Role in Technology Transfer
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For the next 70 years people forgot
about the bubbles in the process
In 1910, the true role of bubbles in flotation wasmisunderstood
By 1920, the significance of the bubbles andhow to make them was understood
Mechanical, sub-aeration flotation
machines Need forfrothers separate from collectors:
Pine oil, pine-tar oil, cresylic acid, eucalyptus
oil were still in use 60 years later
1990s: The Study of Gas Dispersion
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1990 s: The Study of Gas Dispersion
and Cell Hydrodynamics
Gorain (JKMRC) validated
the key k-BSAFrelationship
Finch and Gomez (McGill) developed industrialsensors now used in plants all over the world
Jim Finch and
Cesar Gomez
Gas Hold-up(Conductivity) Bubble Size
(Imaging)Gas Velocity
(Pressure)
Barun
Gorain
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What do the
Technology Historians
Have to Say ?
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The development offlotation was the greatestsingle metallurgical improvement of the
modern era.....it is not overstating the case to
claim that flotation was of central importance
to the smooth functioning of the global
economy Jeremy Mouat (1996)
both the internationalism of the mining industryand the nature of its technology transferblurr
the lines between invention, innovation and
adaptation. Mining machinery, techniques and
people were all highly mobile. Hence attributing
national origins to mining technology often
seems irrelevant. Diane Menghetti (2005)
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Final Thoughts (mine)
The development of flotation took a long time
because it involved physical and chemicalconcepts that were entirely new
Flotation was the enabling technology for modern
mining business. The economical processing ofnew ores by flotation created companies that
became mining giants, many of which are still
here today, and changed global business
Rickard was right, understanding the bubbleswas, and continues to be, the key to improving
the flotation process
Acknowledgements....Many Thanks to
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Acknowledgements....Many Thanks to Canadian Mineral Processors
Robertina Pillo and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Bob Hartzell, U.S. National Mining Hall of Fame
Prof. Jeremy Mouat, University of Alberta
Frances Noone, Teck Cominco Archives, Trail BC
Jo-Anne Colby, CP Archives, Montreal
Dr. Phillip Mackey, Xstrata Process Support
Don Wilson, Crowsnest Highway Project, BC Prof. Mike Nelson, University of Utah
Dr. Peter Koh, CSIRO, Melbourne, Australia
Michael Allan, Teck Cominco
Dr. Michael Fairweather, Consultant
Prof. Jim Finch, Dr. Cesar Gomez, McGill University, Montreal
Dr. Alban Lynch, Rick West, Angie Spry, AusIMM, Australia
Dr. Glenn Dobby, SGS-Minnovex
Diane Mitchell, B.C. Mining Museum
Canadian Mining Hall of Fame
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Acknowledgements....Many Thanks to
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Acknowledgements....Many Thanks to Canadian Mineral Processors
Robertina Pillo and the Canadian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
Bob Hartzell, U.S. National Mining Hall of Fame
Prof. Jeremy Mouat, University of Alberta
Frances Noone, Teck Cominco Archives, Trail BC
Jo-Anne Colby, CP Archives, Montreal
Dr. Phillip Mackey, Xstrata Process Support
Don Wilson, Crowsnest Highway Project, BC Prof. Mike Nelson, University of Utah
Dr. Peter Koh, CSIRO, Melbourne, Australia
Michael Allan, Teck Cominco
Dr. Michael Fairweather, Consultant
Prof. Jim Finch, Dr. Cesar Gomez, McGill University, Montreal
Dr. Alban Lynch, Rick West, Angie Spry, AusIMM, Australia
Dr. Glenn Dobby, SGS-Minnovex
Diane Mitchell, B.C. Mining Museum
d ll f