GOOD CHOICES FOR MINING & METAL

Haarla Americas | 365 118th Avenue SE, Ste. 100 | Bellevue, WA, USA | 98005 www.haarla.com

For complete quality control

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS

GOOD CHOICES FOR MINING & METAL

High-quality chemicals to improve your processes

BENEFICATION CHEMISTRY

Dust suppression for gangue and tailings handling, crushing and haul roads

DUST CONTROL

Angle of repose improvement

TAILINGS CONTROL Balls and Rods in various sizes

GRINDING MEDIA

Bio-Polymer solutions for water treatment processes

WATER PURIFICATION

Getting the most out of your Raw Materials

HAARLA ZRI CONCEPT

Mining & Metal CONCEPT

HAARLA ZRI

Surface impurities (oxidation, gangue minerals, clay, oils) occur on all metal mineral grain surfaces and/or within interlayered grains.

Surface impurities reduce flotation selectivity and diminish recoveries.

THE ZRI AIMS TO IMPROVE FLOTATION SELECTIVITY THROUGH SURFACE CONDITIONING …

THE CHALLENGE

Slurry (20%-40% density) introduced into ZRI chamber.

Slurry passes through specially tooled blades (rotating at high RPM).

THE METHOD

SURFACE CONDITIONING / DELAMINATION

Ultrasonic Energy Micro-cavitation Nano-bubbles

Nano-bubbles develop and “implode” (energy).

Grain surfaces are “polished” through detachment processes.

Layered minerals are delaminated exposing more surface area.

Little if any reduction in particle size.

Impact, shear and attrition between mineral grains and rotating blades.

PARTICLE SIZE DISTRIBUTION

0

10

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30

40

50

60

70

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100

0.1 1 10 100

Cum

ulat

ive

volu

me

[%]

Particle size (um)

ZRI feed (steel)ZRI feed (PU)After ZRI (steel)After ZRI (PU)

• ZRI treatment using steel, tungsten-carbide or polyurethane blades had no significant effect on particle size.

• Tests on large-flake graphite resulted in some destruction of larger flakes – looking at blade configuration and/or blade material and/or blade teeth spacing to resolve issue.

Efficiently treat oxidized and/or “dirty” ore by ultrasonic conditioning

Increase flotation yield (↑ recovery)

Maximize flotation selectivity (↑ grade)

Reduce flotation reagent usage

Reduce electricity costs (↓ kWh/t; pumping effect)

Improve valuable metals recovery from tailings

Reduce tailings waste

Lower viscosity – increased pumpability

BENEFITS

INCREASE RECOVERY & GRADE REDUCE COSTS & ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

INSTALLATION Traditional Flotation Circuits

Example Process Flow from Test Environment

INSTALLATION AFTER GRINDING AND BEFORE FLOTATION

‹- or -›

*in place of re-grinding

Results for Mining & Metal

TESTED & VERIFIED

Sulphide Ore/Tailings: • Ni-Cu-PGE (ore) • Cu-Zn-Py (ore) • Cu (tailings) • Cu-Mo-Fe (ore)

Gold Ore Concentrate: • arsenopyrite

Gold Tailings: • Au, AuAg, AuBiTe

ZRI ORE TREATMENT TEST RESULTS WITH VARIOUS ORE TYPES:

Silicate Ore/Tailings: • apatite (ore/tailings) • talc (ore)

Graphite Tailings/Concentrate: • large flake • fine flake

Future Tests: • coal • potash • biomass

Further Work: • Sulphide flotation after cyanidation. • Flotation of tarnished gold from weathered deposits. • Surface Science – detailed grain characterization.

• For PGEs, ZRI treatment increased their flotation selectivity.

• Lowest Energy consumption with ZRI and highest for ultrasonic:

Case: Sulphide Ore

Case: Gold Ore Concentrate • In sulphide flotation,

kinetics are a bit slower. • Several %-units improved

yield and selectivity.

No ZRI ZRI ZRI Opt. Change

Yield (%) 65 72 82 +17%

P2O5 Grade (%) 30 32 35 +5%

Fe2O3 (%) 1.6 1.5 1.0 -0.6%

MgO (%) 2.6 2.4 1.5 -1.1%

Case: Apatite

↑ recovery (+17%) and grade (+5%) ↓ deleterious elements (↑ purity)

Case: Gold Tailings • Gravity Tails: native gold, electrum and gold bismuth tellurides.

• ZRI treatment prior to rougher flotation (Actlabs, Thunder Bay, Ontario).

• ZRI treatment vastly improved the flotation.

• Recovery increased by 6.3% and gold grade nearly tripled.

Sample Cumulative Recovery (%)

Cumulative Grade (g/t Au)

No ZRI 56.9 43.2

After ZRI 63.2 127.6

Change: +6.3% +84.4

*curve: 2nd time interval concentrate grading higher than the initial interval concentrate.

Case: Graphite

ZRI NO ZRI

light areas = oxidation ZRI treatment = cleaner

• ZRI treatment may also have the effect of delaminating layered minerals. • results could be lower costs in production of higher purity concentrates.

Case: Graphite • Rougher Tailings: flakes in all sizes up to +600 µm (super jumbo).

• ZRI treatment prior to scavenger flotation stage (Actlabs, Thunder Bay, Ontario).

• Recovery was reduced but grades were significantly higher in all fractions (except the finest) at >90% graphite.

• Original process required a polishing/re-grind stage and an additional cleaner stage to reach equivalent ZRI grades.

• ZRI could reduce number of flotation stages required to achieve saleable grades.

Sample Cumulative Recovery (%)

Cumulative Grade (% Cg)

No ZRI 91.8 73.9

After ZRI 88.8 80.8

Change: -3.0% +6.9

• Power Inverter : • (30%=160Hz/ to 60%=210Hz).

• Mechanical Seal Water Pressure Gauge: • minimum detectable pressure is adequate.

• Motor: • 380V-500V,8.6A, 3,000-3,600 rpm).

• Outflow Line (moveable).

• Feed Tank (8L max.).

• ZRI Reactor (slurry chamber/mechanical seal).

• Cleanout Line.

• Backbone (supports Inverter).

ZRI LAB UNIT: COMPONENTS Inverter

ZRI

Feed Tank

Outflow Line

Motor

Seal Water

Backbone

Steel Plate

Cleanout Line

• Grain Size: <500µm (important).

• Sample Material: slurry – pumpable.

• Treatment Consistency: 20%-40% density (solids).

• Charge: typically 2L-4L (can be ~1L).

• Sample Run: <10 minutes (incl. staging & cleaning).

• Process: batch (~2-4L) or continuous (~500L/hr).

• Treatment: single (<1 min.) or multiple passes.

• Power Consumption: 4kWh/tonne.

• Blades (current): RI+RII steel, RIII+RIV tungsten-carbide.

ZRI LAB UNIT: SAMPLES Inverter

ZRI

Feed Tank

Outflow Line

Motor

Seal Water

Backbone

Steel Plate

Cleanout Line

• Stator: forms a series of concentric rings containing gapped “teeth”.

• Rotor (blades): embedded gapped “teeth” on concentric rings seated and rotating within the stator rings.

THE ZRI REACTOR CHAMBER

• Operation: fluid is fed through the centre of the stator and forced to flow outwards through the teeth filings (slots) and rotating slots of the blades.

• Result: ultrasonic energy and strong viscous shear forces into the fluid, interact with mineral grains/surfaces.

• Configuration: blades can be configured with different slot sizes (typically ~1mm) and mediums (i.e., steel, tungsten-carbide, polyurethane) depending on the mineral of interest.

rotor (blades)

stator

ZRI chamber

ZRI COMMERCIAL UNITS • Commercialized in paper fibre industry

(de-inking).

• Range from 5m3/hr to 250m3/hr – can be customized.

• Pilot units range from 7-12m3/hr.

• Can be installed in parallel to handle higher volumes.

• Can be installed in series for multiple passes.

250m3 ZRI Reactor

Efficiently treat oxidized and/or “dirty” ore by ultrasonic conditioning

Increase flotation yield (↑ recovery)

Maximize flotation selectivity (↑ grade)

Reduce flotation reagent usage

Reduce electricity costs (↓ kWh/t; pumping effect)

Improve valuable metals recovery from tailings

Reduce tailings waste

Lower viscosity – increased pumpability

BENEFITS

INCREASE RECOVERY & GRADE REDUCE COSTS & ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

GOOD CHOICES FOR MINING & METAL

Haarla Americas | 365 118th Avenue SE, Ste. 100 | Bellevue, WA, USA | 98005 www.haarla.com