Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73

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Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

The role of a flash flotation circuit in an industrial refractory gold

concentrator
Bianca Newcombe ⇑, E. Wightman, D. Bradshaw
JKMRC, The University of Queensland, 40 Isles Rd., Indooroopilly, QLD 4068, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: In order to determine the contribution of the flash flotation circuit to the overall plant performance of the
Received 5 December 2012 Kanowna Belle concentrator, two survey campaigns both with and without the flash circuit in operation
Accepted 24 June 2013 have been conducted on two distinctly different ore types: a very high grade ore, and a very low grade ore
of higher hardness. Using two different ores with the same target valuable mineral species (gold and pyr-
ite) through the same treatment route allows any trends in performance to be more easily identified. As
Keywords: both survey campaigns involved running the plant with and without the flash flotation circuit in opera-
Froth flotation
tion, the significant contribution of the flash flotation cell to overall plant recovery and final concentrate
Sulphide ores
Gold ores
grade is highlighted. The flash circuit on this plant may be considered as the primary rougher, contribut-
Ore mineralogy ing in excess of 42% of the valuable material that is recovered to the final concentrate stream, at a grade of
Flotation machines approximately 35% sulphur; and in-so-doing reducing the overall plant footprint that would otherwise be
Particle size required to achieve the same recoveries at the target concentrate grade.
Mineralogical analysis of survey samples shows that the feed to the flash flotation cell (cyclone under-
flow) is of a much higher grade and contains a higher proportion of well liberated valuable material as
compared to the conventional flotation circuit feed (cyclone overflow). Maximising the recovery of this
material before it re-enters the milling circuit should be of paramount importance to optimising overall
plant performance.
When the flash flotation circuit is taken off-line the recovery of sulphur (and hence pyrite) is observed
to decrease dramatically, and whilst the recovery of gold also decreases, it is to a much lesser extent. The
difference in the recoveries of gold and pyrite that is observed without the flash flotation circuit in oper-
ation is most likely attributable to a change in the way the gold is being liberated as a function of the
change in grinding circuit operation that is required when the flash circuit is taken off-line. The distribu-
tion of valuable material in the cyclone overflow stream (conventional flotation feed) undergoes a step
change when the flash circuit is taken off-line with an increase in the amount of valuable fines being gen-
erated, which is further reflected in the flotation tails with a higher proportion of both pyrite and gold
being present in the intermediate and fine size classes. This increase in the amount of pyrite fines in par-
ticular may have contributed to the loss in recovery that was observed when the flash flotation circuit
was taken off-line.
Pulp chemistry data from various points around the flotation circuit highlight the different processing
conditions in the flash cell, compared to the conventional circuit, which will impact on the type of min-
erals able to be recovered by flotation, as well as reagent selection for this type of processing application.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction operating costs as compared to a conventional flotation circuit.

Flash flotation has attracted increasing interest over recent
years for its ability to recover a significant proportion of the valu-
able material in the mill feed at a saleable concentrate grade in a
single stage of flotation; with minimal capital outlay and reduced
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: b.newcombe@uq.edu.au (B. Newcombe), e.wightman@uq.
edu.au (E. Wightman), d.bradshaw@uq.edu.au (D. Bradshaw).
The flash flotation process involves the removal of as much of
the well liberated valuable material from within the grinding cir-
cuit as possible to reduce the potential for over-grinding and con-
sequent loss as slimes in a conventional flotation circuit. As the
cyclone underflow is the typical feed to a flash flotation cell, the
cell is required to act as both a classifier and a flotation device. This
dual action allows the larger particles and rocks to short-circuit di-
rectly to the tailings stream (which is typically a mill feed stream),
whilst the finer material is drawn into the mixing zone of the cell,

0892-6875/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2013.06.016
58 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73

 the contribution of the flash circuit to overall concentrate grade

using a comparison of the nature of the material being recov-
ered by the flash circuit versus that being recovered by other
parts of the conventional flotation circuit;
 evaluation of the nature of the valuable material being lost to
flotation tails with and without the flash circuit in operation;
and
 the consequences of the change in the way gold is behaving
throughout the circuit when the flash circuit is taken off-line.

Plant survey work discussed in this paper has been conducted on

‘high grade underground ore’ from the Kanowna Belle Gold Mine
(Barrick), which is located near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia.
This ore is a refractory gold ore and the target mineral in terms of
flotation response is pyrite, which hosts gold predominantly as
inclusions or fracture infill across inclusion rich pyrite. Interpreta-
tion of the results obtained in this work are based on the experience
of the lead author in operating the plant under consideration, as to
date there is no similar data available in the published literature on
which to base a comparison.

Fig. 1. Schematic of a flash flotation cell (Newcombe et al., 2013). 2. Experimental

The Kanowna Belle concentrator utilises a flash flotation circuit

within the grinding circuit; followed by both column and conven-
where flotation occurs. A schematic of a flash flotation cell is pre-
tional flotation treatment of the cyclone overflow material. Flota-
sented in Fig. 1. The operation of flash flotation cells and the differ-
tion tails are sent to a leaching circuit to recover any remnant
ences between this type of cell and other conventional machines
gold, and flotation concentrate is sent to the roasting section of
have been discussed in detail previously by the authors and the
the plant for gold extraction. To meet the requirements of the
reader is directed to those papers should further detail be required
roaster the final concentrate stream from the concentrator (which
(Newcombe et al., 2012a,b, 2013).
is a combination of the flash cleaner, rougher column cleaner and
The exact role a flash flotation circuit plays within a concentra-
recleaner concentrates) must be 24 ± 0.5% sulphur. The circuit dia-
tor has for many years been misunderstood, with the majority of
gram for the Kanowna Belle plant is presented in Fig. 2, with the
plant metallurgists and operators assuming the flash circuit is
location of the flash flotation circuit indicated by the red circle.
there to recover coarse and/or composite material. This assump-
The circuit diagram presented in Fig. 2 indicates the presence of
tion has been challenged and shown to be only partly correct by
a gravity circuit, this circuit is not in use when the plant treats sul-
the author of this work with the findings that (Newcombe et al.,
phide ores from the underground mine and conversely the flash
2012a,b):
and conventional flotation circuits are not in use when the plant
treats ‘oxide’ ores from other mines, and instead utilises the gravity
 the flash flotation cell under consideration is recovering only
circuit. In both cases the leaching train is used; to treat flotation
very well liberated sulphide (pyrite) particles;
tails when on sulphide ores and to treat the cyclone overflow di-
 the distribution of the target mineral (pyrite) by size in the con-
rectly when on oxide ores. For further clarification of the flotation
centrate of the flash flotation cell has a P80 of between 123 and
process, a schematic flow diagram has been included as Fig. 3.
146 lm (based on survey data);
Two separate survey campaigns have been conducted on the
 the particle size distribution of the flash flotation cell concen-
Kanowna Belle plant, the first campaign was in October of 2009,
trate is coarser than the other concentrate streams produced
when a very high grade block of ore was being processed. The sec-
in the plant under consideration, making coarseness a ‘relative’
ond campaign was conducted in November of 2011 on a distinctly
concept.
different ore, that was noticeably harder and of lower grade than
that of the initial survey campaign. The second survey campaign
These and previous findings are discussed and expanded upon
was conducted to verify the findings from the first campaign and
in this paper to explore the role of the flash flotation circuit within
it is these findings that form the basis of the discussions presented
an industrial refractory gold concentrator.
in this paper. Performing the two survey campaigns on ores with
In order to determine how the operation of the flash flotation
different characteristics, but the same treatment route and target
circuit affects the downstream conventional flotation circuit, sur-
valuable mineral species (pyrite/gold) allows for the identification
veys have been undertaken with the flash circuit on and off. The
of similar trends in response when the flash flotation circuit is
contribution of the flash flotation circuit to overall plant perfor-
switched on and off.
mance and the implications of taking it off-line are evaluated
against the following criteria:
2.1. Feed material – general description of the ore
 comparison of the flash feed (cyclone underflow) and conven-
tional circuit feed (cyclone overflow) in terms of size-by-libera- The Kanowna Belle underground ore deposit is hosted by sedi-
tion characteristics of the target mineral pyrite; mentary volcaniclastic and conglomeraticrocks separated into
 impact on the conventional circuit feed when the flash flotation hanging wall and footwall sequences by a major, steeply south
circuit is taken off-line, in terms of the size-by-liberation char- southeast-dipping zone of structural disruption. The footwall
acteristics of pyrite; sequence is a mafic-dominated unit interbedded with felsic-domi-
 the contribution of the flash circuit to overall plant recovery; nated conglomerate material. The hanging wall sequence comprises
B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73 59

Fig. 2. Kanowna Belle circuit flowsheet.

Fig. 3. Flotation circuit process flow schematic.

60 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73
three main volcaniclastic units: the QED rudite, the Lowes sand-
stone and the Grave Dam grit, which is the dominant unit. The se-
quence has been intruded by the Kanowna Belle porphyry, which
is a granodiorite. At least 70% of known gold mineralization is
hosted by the Kanowna Belle porphyry (Newcombe, 2010). The host
rock external to the halo around the ore body is ultramafic and con-
tains some talc. Of particular relevance to the current ore (E block) is
the proximity of mafic rock to the ore, which is considerably closer
on the hanging wall side (within 2–10 m) and may result in contam-
ination of ore with this rock type.
The deportment of gold in the Kanowna Belle ore has a number
of different associations, including (Davis, 1998):
 Pyrite: gold occurs at sites adjacent to pyrite crystals, as elon-
gated inclusions parallel to pyrite growth bands, in inclusion-
rich pyrite crystals and as fracture infill across inclusion-rich
pyrite.
 Carbonates: occurrence of gold micro-cavities within carbonate
veins, commonly with intimate intergrowth of telluride species
(volumetrically minor).
In terms of flotation response, it is the association of gold with
pyrite, particularly as inclusions, which is of most relevance. From
both tomographic and mineral liberation analysis (MLA) of the feed
material taken during the survey campaigns, the following com-
ments can be made in regard to the consistency of the ore:
 Pyrite is the dominant sulphide; tomographic (3D) analysis of
the ore shows that approximately 82% of the pyrite grains are
between 38 and 425 lm (AMIRA, 2012). Pyrite represents
3.6% and 1.6% of the ore for campaigns 1 and 2 respectively.
 Gangue sulphides are present in trace amounts (constituting
less than 0.1% of the ore), these include gersdorffite (NiAsS),
pyrrhotite (FeS) and sphalerite (ZnS). No arsenopyrite was
detected.
Dominant non-sulphide gangue minerals within ‘E-block’ are
typically quartz, feldspars and carbonates and in this particular
study refers to the list that follows as bullet points.
 Both quartz and muscovite (potassium-alumino-silicate) are
present in significant quantities, sericite is of particular interest
on this plant due to its effect on froth structure in flotation;
 Feldspars, predominantly albite (sodium-alumino-silicate);
 Ankerite and dolomite are the dominant carbonates.
Samples from two locations within ‘E-block’ from the under-
ground mine have previously undergone gold deportment work
which has shown that (Ammtec, 2009):
 gold is predominantly occurring as native gold/electrum (63%
and 86% for each sample respectively) with the balance being
trapped in gold–silver tellurides;
 silver is present predominantly as jalpaite (Ag3CuS2);
 of the native gold and electrum approximately 18% is partially
exposed, with the remainder being inter-grown or encapsulated
by pyrite, quartz and feldspars;
 pyrite is well liberated (73% and 68% exposed for each sample
respectively), but does have associations/intergrowths with
quartz, carbonates, feldspars and biotite/chlorite;
 the P50 grain size of pyrite is 84 and 80 lm for each sample
respectively, while the native gold/electrum has a significantly
finer P50 of 7 and 8 lm respectively; the gold–silver tellurides
are coarser at an average 26 lm whilst jalpaite is approximately
6 lm.
To facilitate a steady mill feed throughout both survey cam-
paigns, large stockpiles of ore were made on the ROM pad specifi-
cally for each campaign, this would go someway to ensuring that
the results of each survey within a campaign period could be di-
rectly compared and minimise the impact of changing mill feed
material. Campaign 1 was conducted during October of 2009 and
for this survey period the average feed grades were 5.2 g/t Au
and 1.75% S. Campaign 2 was conducted during November of
2011 with a feed grade of 3.7 g/t Au and 0.9% S for the survey per-
iod. The ore treated during campaign 2 was found to have different
grinding characteristics than that of campaign 1, with sizing data
showing that despite a similar mill feed rate, the COF stream had
a P80 of approximately 143 lm during campaign 2 compared to a
P80 of approximately 106 lm during campaign 1 (refer to Table 1).
2.2. Sampling protocol
Both survey campaigns utilised the same sampling protocol, a
thorough discussion of which has been previously presented (New-
combe et al., 2012b). Slurry samples are taken from each of the
sample points using various styles and sizes of sample cutters, with
each cutter being sized for each specific point. Surveys were of
2.5 h duration with a 10 min sample interval time. Although a sam-
ple time interval of 10 min is considered to be quite short, using
this interval allows sufficient sample to be obtained if the circuit
becomes unstable and the survey needs to stopped short of the tar-
get 2.5 h. It also ensures that sufficient sample is taken for each
point for all the consequent analysis that is required, should the
survey be deemed to be successful. Stream samples were analysed
for per cent solids (using wet and dry sample weights), solids SG,
head assays for Au, total S, Fe, Cu, MgO and SiO2 and distribution
of the assayed elements by size. Key streams were also sent for size
by liberation analysis. Although pyrite is the target mineral for flo-
tation recovery on this plant, routine analysis of plant performance
uses Au and S assay data; consequently the majority of results and
discussions are in terms of Au and S performance (S assays can be
used to directly infer pyrite performance due to the very low levels
of gangue-sulphides in this ore). Specific mineral performance will
only be discussed where mineral liberation analysis (MLA) has
been undertaken.
2.3. Sizing analysis
The procedure for sizing each of the stream samples involved
wet screening at 38 lm; drying the screen products; dry screening
p
the +38 lm material from 38 lm upwards following the 2 series
(the maximum size of screen used was stream dependent, for
example the cyclone underflow stream had a top screen size of
16 mm, whilst the cyclone overflow had a top screen size of
850 lm). The 38 lm material from the dry screening was then
combined with that obtained from the wet screening and a portion
of the total sample cyclosized. Where cyclosizer cut sizes are
indicated on graphs throughout this document, they have been
determined using the measured solids S.G. for that stream (for
example the flash cleaner concentrate stream has an S.G. of 4.0,
whilst the flash tails has an S.G. of 2.8) therefore cut sizes and par-
ticle size ranges will vary for each stream and campaign.
2.4. Reagents
Reagents used on this plant are potassium amyl xanthate (PAX),
copper sulphate (CuSO4), guar gum and both DOW400 (polyglycol)
and OTX140 (an alcohol/polyglycol mix) frothers. As is commonly
practised in plants using flash flotation, the heavier frother
(DOW400) is utilised in the flash flotation circuit; whilst the lighter
 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73 61

frother (OTX140) is used within the conventional flotation circuit.

Both these frothers are added without dilution into the circuit.
Both PAX and CuSO4 are added as delivered from the manufacturer
as a solution of approximately 30%; whilst the guar gum is mixed
on site to an approximate 0.2% solution.

3. Results and discussion

3.1. Flash versus conventional circuit feed

The feed to both the flash flotation cell (cyclone underflow/CUF)

and the conventional flotation circuit (cyclone overflow/COF) un-
der normal operating conditions have been analysed during both
survey campaigns. The P80 of the overall solids, Au and S are pre-
sented in Table 1, which shows that the flash flotation cell is being
fed with material that is very coarse (up to 16 mm). In both
streams the distribution of Au and S by size is consistently lower
than that of the overall solids.
Both the COF and CUF from each campaign have undergone
mineral liberation analysis (MLA) to determine whether the nature Fig. 5. Modal mineralogy of the Kanowna Belle flash flotation feed (cyclone
of the target mineral for flotation (pyrite) is different. A summary underflow) – campaign 1.
of the modal mineralogy of both the flotation circuit feed (cyclone
overflow) and flash flotation cell feed (cyclone underflow) is pre-
although the mass percentages of pyrite in each size class are lower
sented in Figs. 4 and 5 for campaign 1, which show that during
as a function of the lower head grade. Again the pyrite is present
the first campaign pyrite is present predominantly in the floatable
predominantly in the floatable size range (212/+18 lm), with
size range (212/+17 lm) in both streams, accounting for 70% and
80% and 59% of the total pyrite present within this range in the
57% of the total pyrite present in the COF and CUF streams respec-
COF and CUF streams respectively.
tively. For campaign 2, when the ore was considerably harder and
The higher grade feed material of campaign 1 clearly illustrates
lower grade, a similar range of pyrite distribution is observed,
that the flash flotation cell feed contains a higher proportion of
pyrite due to the concentration of denser minerals to the under-
Table 1 flow of the cyclones. This is presented graphically in Fig. 6, showing
P80 of the total solids, Au and S in the COF and CUF streams for the circuit under the mass flows (tph) of pyrite for each size class in the respective
normal operation in both survey campaigns.
feed streams. The estimated grade of pyrite in the cyclone under-
P80 Solids Au S flow stream is 3.4%, significantly higher than the cyclone overflow
Campaign 1 stream at 1.4%. The size range of analysis for the cyclone underflow
COF 106 75 74 was able to be extended beyond that of the overflow, and shows
CUF 690 465 525 that while pyrite is still present in the +212 lm fractions; it re-
Campaign 2 duces to essentially background levels, primarily as a function of
COF 143 87 89 locking with non-sulphide gangue (Fig. 5). When a similar analysis
CUF 715 400 457 is conducted on the data from campaign 2 (Fig. 7) there is still a
clear trend of increased pyrite concentration in the flash flotation

Fig. 4. Modal mineralogy of the Kanowna Belle flotation feed (cyclone overflow) – Fig. 6. Pyrite mass flow (tph) for each size class in the feed to the flash flotation
campaign 1. circuit and the feed to the remainder of the flotation plant campaign 1.
62 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73

Fig. 7. Pyrite mass flow (tph) for each size class in the feed to the flash flotation Fig. 8. Proportion of pyrite in each size class that is considered liberated (>90%
circuit and the feed to the remainder of the flotation plant campaign 2. pyrite) in the feed to the flash flotation circuit and the feed to the remainder of the
plant – campaign 1.

Table 2
Circulating loads within the grinding circuit during each campaign under normal
100
operating conditions. Flash Feed (CUF)

90 Convenonal Feed (COF)

Solids (%) Au (%) S (%)
80
Campaign 1 223 222 279
Campaign 2 179 223 209 70
Liberated Pyrite (%)

60

cell feed, however in this case it is limited to the coarser size frac- 50

tions (+75 lm), below this the cyclone overflow stream has a high- 40
er proportion of pyrite by mass. The differences observed between
30
the two surveys are most likely attributable to the differences in
20
grinding properties of these ores, requiring the milling circuit to
be operated in a different manner whilst operating on each ore 10

type; which is indicated by the circulating loads within the grind- 0

ing circuits during each campaign, as presented in Table 2. During +425 -425
+300
-300
+212
-212
+150
-150
+106
-106
+75
-75
+53
-53
+38
-38
+36
-36
+27
-27
+19
-19
+13
-13
+11
campaign 2 there is a substantial reduction in the circulating load Size Class (µm)

of both total solids and pyrite (as indicated by sulphur assay)

which may have had the effect of allowing more finer pyrite mate-
rial to be passed to the cyclone overflow stream instead of short-
circuiting to the cyclone underflow stream.
The most significant finding from comparison of pyrite libera-
tion in the flash and conventional circuit feed streams is that the
pyrite present in the flash flotation feed has higher levels of liber-
ation in all the +38 lm fractions. This can be seen in Figs. 8 and 9
for campaigns 1 and 2 respectively, where the per cent of pyrite in
the liberated class (>90% pyrite) is shown for each size fraction.
The implication of these findings is that the flash flotation cell is
being fed with a comparatively high grade stream of well liberated
pyrite and recovery of this material in the flash flotation circuit
feed should be maximised, to reduce the consequent grinding
down of valuable material to the finer sizes observed in the con-
ventional circuit feed. It is interesting to note the decline in liber-
ation observed in the finer fractions of the COF sample of campaign
1, which is also reflected in the flotation tails from that survey. This
pyrite was found to be locked predominantly with micas and clays,
quartz, carbonates and to a lesser extent feldspars.
3.2. Implications of taking the flash flotation circuit off-line
3.2.1. Changed flotation feed characteristics
The impact of the flash flotation circuit on the performance of
the conventional flotation circuit was examined by turning the
Fig. 9. Proportion of pyrite in each size class that is considered liberated (>90%
pyrite) in the feed to the flash flotation circuit and the feed to the remainder of the
plant – campaign 2.
flash flotation circuit off and taking a survey of the plant under
the new operating conditions. This was performed once during
each campaign and the conventional flotation feed stream (COF)
forms the basis of comparison. Conventional wisdom suggests that
operating the plant without flash flotation will increase the
amount of fine valuable material that is sent to the conventional
flotation circuit, as the flash flotation circuit is no longer there to
remove valuable mineral from the grinding circuit and prevent
its consequent overgrinding; this should be evident by an increase
in the proportion of fine material in the cyclone overflow.
In both campaigns the plant control system maintained the
overall solids P80 of the COF at a steady value, however, a distinct
change occurred in the distribution of both Au and S by size when
the flash flotation circuit was taken off-line. These results are sum-
marised in Table 3, and show that for campaign 1 the distribution
of Au and S became coarser, whilst for campaign 2 the these distri-
butions became finer, again the difference between the two ore
types is highlighted by their respective responses to the change
in operating conditions.
Numerous authors have commented that the process of flash
flotation is very efficient at recovering the fine size range of both
 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73 63

Table 3 The impact of this change on overall plant performance can be

P80 of overall solids, Au and S of the COF stream with and without flash flotation for further evaluated by examining the liberation characteristics of
both survey campaigns.
pyrite in the conventional flotation circuit feed, as indicated by
P80 Solids Au S the mineralogical analysis of the COF stream. The change in the
Campaign 1 proportion (%) of pyrite that is considered liberated in each size
COF Flash On 106 75 74 class with and without the flash flotation circuit for each campaign
COF Flash Off 107 95 82 is presented in Figs. 10 and 11. When the flash circuit is taken off-
Campaign 2 line, results for campaign 1 show that a larger amount of well lib-
COF Flash On 143 87 89 erated material (containing more than 90% pyrite) is being passed
COF Flash Off 138 75 73
to the COF stream, and this material is predominantly in the inter-
mediate and fine (106 lm) size classes. The difference in the ore
types is again highlighted by the change during campaign 2;
Table 4 although the proportion of liberated material does not increase
Increase in the amount of material in the fines fractions without the flash circuit in
in the coarser sizes and appears to be equivalent in the finer sizes,
operation.
when the mass flows are considered, the increase in the amount of
Solids (%) Au (%) S (%) liberated pyrite in the 75 lm size classes is 18% when the flash is
Campaign 1 COF Flash on 51.4 26.7 30.6 taken off-line.
% Passing 24 lm COF Flash off 53.5 29.6 36.5 The increase in the amount of fine valuable material being gen-
Increase in fine material 2.2 2.9 5.8
erated when the flash flotation circuit is taken off-line that have
Campaign 2 COF Flash on 47.8 25.3 27.2
% Passing 26 lm COF Flash off 46.7 24.2 29.6 been observed in both survey campaigns will almost certainly re-
Increase in fine material 1.1 1.1 2.4 sult in a decrease in overall recovery. This will be discussed further
in the following section. It is interesting to note that during cam-

Table 5
Increase in the amount of ultra-fine (slimes) material in the fines fractions without
the flash circuit in operation.

Solids (%) Au (%) S (%)

Campaign 1 COF Flash on 29.7 9.8 11.5
% Passing 10 lm COF Flash off 31.8 10.6 12.5
Increase in ultra-fine material 2.1 0.9 1.0
Campaign 2 COF Flash on 29.1 5.6 7.3
% Passing 11 lm COF Flash off 26.4 7.7 8.9
Increase in ultra-fine material 2.7 2.1 1.6

gold and sulphides, with a consequent reduction in the circulating

load of these minerals within the grinding circuit (Xiao and Laplan-
te, 2004; Bourke, 1995; Sandström and Jönsson, 1988; Kallioinen
and Nitti, 1985). When a flash flotation cell is taken off-line, exces-
sive slimes generation and consequent loss of recovery from the
remainder of the flotation circuit is the primary concern. In order
to determine whether this has occurred, the amount of valuable
material in the fines fractions (24 lm for campaign 1 and Fig. 10. Proportion (%) of pyrite that is considered liberated in each size class COF –
26 lm for campaign 2) must be examined. This data is presented campaign 1.
in Table 4 and shows that in both campaigns there is an increase in
the amount of sulphur present in the fines fractions, whilst the
amount of gold in the fines fractions is observed to change in-line
with the change in the overall solids. When the ultra-fine fraction
(slimes) is considered (refer to Table 5) the results of campaign 2
show a distinct increase in the amount of both Au and S slimes
when the flash circuit if switched off, well above the change in
the overall solids. Results for campaign 1 show that whilst a small
increase is observed in the amount of Au and S slimes, this is not
above the increase in the overall solids.
The general conclusion that can be drawn from this data is that
when the flash flotation cell is taken off-line, there is an increase in
the amount of sulphur (and hence pyrite) in the fine size classes
that is being sent to the conventional flotation circuit. The increase
in the amount of fine gold being generated is not as large as that of
sulphur, most likely as a result of the way gold is being liberated
from the pyrite, due to a shift in the operation of the grinding cir-
cuit when the flash flotation circuit is taken off-line. Only detailed
gold deportment work would quantify any change in gold libera-
µ
tion characteristics, and this has not been included in this work
due to the challenges associated with collecting reliable liberation Fig. 11. Proportion (%) of pyrite that is considered liberated in each size class COF –
data for minerals present at such low grades. campaign 2.
64 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73
paign 1 the amount of well liberated pyrite decreases in the very
fine size classes, this pyrite was found to be locked predominantly
with micas and clays, quartz, carbonates and to a lesser extent feld-
spars. This reduced level of liberation in the very fine size classes is
also reflected in the flotation tails sample taken during the same
survey. Unfortunately the –10 lm (slimes) fraction is too fine for
MLA, however this type of response and the difference in liberation
between the ‘on’ and ‘off’ surveys could be due to the significant
changes in grinding circuit operation and consequent adjustment
in circulating load of valuable material when the flash flotation cell
is taken off-line, or may be evidence that the flash circuit is effec-
tively removing any liberated valuable material that is present dur-
ing this particular campaign.
3.2.2. Implications to the final concentrate
The final concentrate on this plant is required to meet the strict
sulphur grade target of 24 ± 0.5%, deviation from this target se-
verely impacts on the performance of the roasting circuit that
treats the final concentrate stream. There are no targets set for
the gold content of any of the concentrate streams, although max-
imising this grade at maximum recovery is always the optimal
operating condition. The final concentrate is a combination of three
separate concentrate streams: flash cleaner, rougher column clea-
ner and recleaner concentrates (refer to Fig. 3). The parts of the
plant that produce each of these concentrates are targeting parti-
cles of a different nature:
 The flash flotation circuit targets any liberated valuable material
in the cyclone underflow stream, and as a consequence of the
de-slimming action of the cyclones, the concentrate produced
by this part of the circuit is coarser and of a higher grade (30–
33% S) when compared to the other concentrate streams.
 The rougher column circuit targets any fine valuable material
present, and as the finer material is typically well liberated, is
also capable of producing a high grade concentrate (28–33% S).
 The scavenger circuit uses a combination of tank cells and banks
of both self-aerating and forced air mechanical cells to recover
the remaining pyrite present. The concentrate produced here
is of a low grade (8–12% S) and is blended with the other two
concentrate streams to meet the target grade of 24% Sulphur.
Whilst there are no automated stream analysers used on this
plant to provide assay information, routine samples are taken
every 3–4 h by process operators and assayed for sulphur via LECO
in the on-site laboratory. This information is used in conjunction
with real-time flow rates of key concentrate streams to maintain
the overall final concentrate quality. How the flash flotation circuit
contributes to the final concentrate in terms of not only grade, but
recovery and size distribution (which will affect the performance
of concentrate thickeners, filters and the roaster itself) will be dis-
cussed in this section.
3.2.2.1. Recovery. The primary purpose of performing the flash on/
flash off campaigns was to determine the change in the distribu-
tion by size and liberation characteristics of the target mineral,
pyrite. This change is evaluated through analysis of the cyclone
overflow stream (rougher circuit feed), as the time required to
rebalance the grinding circuit in response to taking the flash flota-
tion circuit off-line is relatively short compared to the time it
would take to re-balance the flotation circuit for the new feed con-
ditions. This is due to the difference in residence times; whilst the
ball mill and cyclones have a residence time of approximately
2 min; the flotation circuit has a residence time of approximately
72 min (Newcombe et al., 2013). As the flash flotation circuit con-
tributes approximately half the plant recovery it was only permit-
ted to be off-line for no more than 5 h in total, the initial 2 h of
which were spent re-balancing the circuit, with survey work start-
ing thereafter. Surveys were of 2.5 h duration, allowing a small
window should anything go wrong. Whilst considerable effort
was made by plant operation staff to get the circuit under control,
the resulting operating conditions were less than optimal. With
this in mind, some caution needs to be attributed to the recovery
results presented in this paper. If more time had been permitted
to optimise the flotation circuit it is the opinion of the author that
better recoveries could be achieved whilst the flash flotation circuit
was off-line. The results presented here provide a compelling indi-
cation that a recovery loss will be incurred by taking the flash flo-
tation circuit off-line, however the magnitude of this recovery loss
cannot be quantitatively qualified.
Survey campaign 1 – October 2009
Mass balancing of the data on both a stream and a size-by-size
basis has been successful using the measured per cent solids, gold
and sulphur assays, as well as the measured flows of slurry from
the plant control system. The results of the survey with the flash
flotation circuit on are presented in Table 6 and are considered
to represent normal plant operation. These results are also consis-
tent with the reconciled plant metallurgical balance for that day
which reported overall recoveries of gold and sulphur to be
88.8% and 87.6% respectively.
The results presented in Table 6 highlight the important role the
flash flotation circuit plays in this plant, contributing 55% of the sul-
phur and 52% of the gold recovered to final concentrate. When the cell
is taken off-line there is a shift in circuit performance as illustrated in
Table 7, with the rougher column circuit recovering the majority of
the gold and the conventional circuit recovering most of the sulphur.
It should be noted that the overall plant recovery decreases consider-
ably after the flash is switched off, there are a number of operational
reasons for this which are discussed in the following sections, how-
ever the most significant contributing factors will be: the inadequate
period of time allowed to effectively re-balance the circuit to an opti-
mised new operating condition (with optimised reagent dosage rates
and addition points); the limited pumping capacity available within
the conventional circuit which placed physical limits on the maxi-
mum mass pull rates achievable throughout the circuit; and the
potentially inadequate residence time available to recover a full load
of valuable material (compared to a load of 50–60% of the valuable
material when the flash is in operation).
It must be pointed out at this stage that the objective of this
work was to evaluate whether a change in valuable mineral distri-
bution and properties with size is occurring in the material sent to
the conventional flotation circuit when the flash circuit is turned
off. The recoveries and circuit data presented here provide qualita-
tive information about overall performance and have been pre-
sented for completeness of understanding and are not intended
to form a basis on whether a flash circuit should be operated or not.
Survey campaign 2 – November 2011
The flash flotation circuit is again observed to recover the bulk
of the valuable material in the feed, accounting for 43% and 44% of
the sulphur and gold recovered respectively (refer to Table 8). The
remainder of the recovery is split reasonably equally between the
rougher and scavenger circuits. The proportions of material being
recovered by each circuit within the plant are similar to those ob-
served from the initial campaign (Table 6).
When the flash flotation circuit is taken off-line, the recovery is
observed to decrease substantially, and again it is the sulphur recov-
ery that is observed to be particularly impacted. This data is pre-
sented in Table 9. The proportion of the total recovery of both
gold and sulphur that the rougher and scavenger circuit achieves
is again similar to that observed in campaign 1 (Table 7).
The data in Tables 6–9 indicates that taking the flash flotation
circuit off-line has a detrimental effect on the total plant recovery,
and whilst data of this nature is scarce in the published literature,
 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73 65

Table 6 Table 8
Mass balanced recoveries for the flotation circuit under normal operation – Campaign Mass balanced recoveries for the flotation circuit under normal operation – campaign
1. 2.

Allocated circuit Flash circuit Rougher Scav. Total Allocated circuit Flash circuit Rougher Scav. Total
recoveries (%) circuit (%) circuit (%) (%) recoveries (%) circuit (%) circuit (%) (%)

Recovery of Au in 44.8 22.4 18.5 85.7 Recovery of Au in 40.2 26.7 26.7 93.6
feed feed
Recovery of S in feed 48.7 17.4 21.8 87.9 Recovery of S in feed 41.0 25.7 27.0 93.7
Au proportion of 52.3 26.2 21.6 100 Au proportion of 42.9 28.5 28.6 100.0
float rec float rec
S proportion of float 55.4 19.8 24.8 100 S proportion of float 43.7 27.5 28.8 100.0
rec rec

Table 7 Table 9
Mass balanced recoveries for the flotation circuit without the flash flotation circuit – Mass balanced recoveries for the flotation circuit without the flash flotation circuit –
campaign 1. campaign 2.

Allocated circuit Flash circuit Rougher Scav. Total Allocated circuit Flash circuit Rougher Scav. Total
recoveries (%) circuit (%) circuit (%) (%) recoveries (%) circuit (%) circuit (%) (%)
Recovery of Au in 0 50.0 31.4 81.5 Recovery of Au in 0.0 51.3 25.6 76.8
feed feed
Recovery of S in feed 0 24.1 46.0 70.1 Recovery of S in feed 0.0 17.3 29.2 46.5
Au proportion of 0 61.4 38.6 100 Au proportion of 0.0 66.7 33.3 100.0
float rec float rec
S proportion of float 0 34.3 65.7 100 S proportion of float 0.0 37.3 62.7 100.0
rec rec

work by Sandström and Jönsson (1988) on a Cu–Au ore, showed been observed from these survey campaigns will be discussed in
that the recovery of Cu sulphides decreased on average by 2.1% detail in the . . .Changes to the performance of Gold section.
and Au by 10.1% when the flash flotation circuit was taken off-line. The change in circuit operating conditions when the flash flota-
The greatest point of interest in the results of the current work is tion circuit is taken off-line is also evident in the distribution of the
that whilst the sulphide recovery is observed to decrease consider- target minerals in the flotation tails. The distribution of sulphur by
ably in both campaigns, by 17.8% and 47.2% for campaigns 1 and 2 size is presented in Figs. 12 and 13 for campaigns 1 and 2 respec-
respectively; the gold recovery does not suffer such a substantial tively and shows a very clear trend that when the flash flotation
drop in recovery, 4.2% and 16.8% for campaigns 1 and 2 respec- circuit is in operation, losses to final tail are occurring predomi-
tively. Previous experience on this plant has always shown the gold nantly in the coarser size fractions (+75 lm), however when the
and sulphur to be directly associated with each other in both grade flash circuit is taken off-line, there is a shift towards losses pre-
and recovery trends; however when the step change of taking the dominantly in the 75 lm size fractions. Similar trends are ob-
flash flotation circuit off-line is made, a difference between the two served when the data for gold is analysed (Figs. 17 and 18). As a
starts to emerge. This difference is not only evident in the recovery consequence of this, there is an increase in the amount of well lib-
numbers but also in the distributions of gold and sulphur by size erated particles which are ideally sized for flotation recovery (75/
and the difference in performance in the rougher column and scav- +19 lm) being lost to tails when the flash circuit is taken off-line;
enger circuits (refer to Tables 6–9), indicating that a considerable as compared to normal operation (with the flash flotation circuit
amount of the gold is being recovered separately to the pyrite (pos- on-line) where the losses are occurring as composite particles or
sibly as much as 30%) and suggesting that a change in the grinding slimes. The performance observed without flash flotation is also
characteristics (and hence liberation) has occurred. Results of both
campaigns indicate that without the flash flotation circuit on-line,
the rougher circuit recovers the majority of the gold, whilst the
scavenger circuit recovers most of the sulphur (pyrite). This is a
distinct change from ‘normal’ operation (when the flash circuit is
on-line) where the recoveries of gold and pyrite are similar in each
individual circuit. This will be explored in the . . .Changed flotation
feed characteristics and. . .Changes to the performance of gold
sections.
A key contributing factor to the disproportionately high loss in
recovery of pyrite (compared to gold), becomes evident when de-
tailed analysis of the distribution by size is undertaken. This shows
that during both campaigns the distribution of pyrite in the COF
stream is consistently finer than the distribution of Au, regardless
of operating conditions, which may have contributed to the consid-
erable loss in pyrite recovery when the flash is taken off-line, this is
demonstrated in Fig. 19 and will be discussed further in the
. . .Changes to the performance of gold section. The implication of
µ
the changes in behaviour is that a significant portion of the gold
appears to be separate from the pyrite and behaving independently Fig. 12. Distribution of S by size in the flotation tailings with and without the flash
as liberated gold. The possible causes for the behaviour of gold that flotation circuit – campaign 1.
66 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73
µ Stdev
Fig. 13. Distribution of S by size in the flotation tailings with and without the flash
flotation circuit – campaign 2.
akin to the tailings distribution of circuits with insufficient resi-
dence time, in which liberated valuable material is lost to tails;
in this respect the benefit of utilising a flash flotation circuit is to
effectively increase plant residence time with minimal footprint
within the plant.
3.2.2.2. A note on experimental error. Ideally a well-designed
experiment on the plant scale would involve a minimum of
approximately 10 pairs of data (depending on the magnitude of
the change required to be detected) arranged in a random block
design to mitigate any effects of changing ore and operational
conditions (Lotter et al., 2010; Napier-Munn and Meyer, 1999;
Napier-Munn, 1995). In reality this is often not practically
achievable and in this specific case the potential for high
production losses was a real and present danger. As a result only
two pairs of surveys were able to be obtained, and these were on
different ores. Most experiments conducted in an operating plant
have the objective of quantifying any change in performance
(typically recovery) that is outside the routine/background varia-
tion in normal plant operation and to this end statistical analysis
of ‘normal’ operation is required to determine the base case for
comparison (Lotter et al., 2010; Xiao et al., 2009; Lotter, 2007;
Lotter and Laplante, 2007; Napier-Munn, 1998). For this, a large
amount of production data is analysed and used for comparison
against the ‘test’ condition to determine if the difference in
performance when the test condition is applied is real. The lack
of a large number of paired surveys means that a robust statistical
analysis of the results of this work would probably not be
meaningful and instead the following questions will be asked of
the survey results:
(1) Is the sulphur recovery within the normal range of operating
data?
(2) Is the gold recovery within the normal range of operating
data?
(3) Is the difference observed between the sulphur and gold
recoveries within the range of what would normally be
observed on this plant?
In order to answer these questions production data from the
month of, the month prior to and the month following each of
the survey campaigns has been analysed. In each case the dataset
is composed of the daily metallurgical accounting results (24 h
periods) when the plant was treating sulphide ore from the
Table 10
Typical plant operation around campaign 1.
Gold (%) Sulphur (%) Absolute difference
Flotation recovery
88.3 91.0 3.5
2.2 2.9 2.3
83.1 83.9 0.2
91.4 94.6 7.8
Table 11
Typical plant operation around campaign 2.
Gold (%) Sulphur (%) Absolute difference
Flotation recovery
Average 89.0 90.2 3.8
3.0 4.6 2.6
Min 81.9 77.4 0.1
Max 94.4 97.7 10.7
underground mine and when there was not a large amount of
downtime in either the milling circuit or any major equipment
within the flotation circuit. To this end a total of 36 and 46 days
have been selected for campaigns 1 and 2 respectively.
The results of the flotation plant recovery numbers for both gold
and sulphur, and the absolute difference between these on any gi-
ven day are presented in Tables 10 and 11 and show that despite
the observed differences in milling characteristics, in terms of
overall flotation performance the ores are very similar. The average
difference between gold and sulphur recovery were 3.5% and 3.8%
for campaigns 1 and 2 respectively with a maximum difference of
7.8% and 10.7% for each of the respective campaigns (with the sul-
phur recovery being higher than the gold recovery on 70% of the
total days analysed).
Inspection of the survey data in Tables 6–9 shows that for cam-
paign 1 the plant performance under ‘normal’ operating conditions
falls within the range of typical data, all be it on the lower side of
normal, however when the flash circuit was switched off both the
gold and sulphur recoveries drop below the lowest value in the
dataset and more specifically the difference of 11.4% between the
two recovery figures is larger than any recorded under normal
operation whilst on a similar ore.
A similar result is seen for campaign 2 with the plant perfor-
mance under ‘normal’ operating conditions reflecting typical data,
all be it on the higher side of normal in this case, however when
the flash circuit was switched off both the gold and sulphur recov-
eries drop below the lowest value in the dataset and more specif-
ically the difference of 30.3% between the two recovery figures is
again substantially larger than any recorded under normal opera-
tion. It is this dramatic difference between the gold and sulphur
recoveries when the flash circuit was taken off-line that is the most
striking result of these survey campaigns, coupled with the sulphur
recovery being lower than the gold recovery, which will be dis-
cussed in subsequent sections. The losses in recovery are also out-
side the range of normal operation and, as is discussed throughout
this paper, are not only attributable to operational factors but also
a change in the nature of the minerals being presented to the con-
ventional flotation circuit. As only two survey campaigns could be
conducted as part of this work, qualitative conclusions are drawn
from similar trends observed from both campaigns, rather than
statistical analysis to quantify the results.
3.2.2.3. Grade. The final concentrate on this plant is a combination
of the concentrates from each of the individual circuits: flash,
rougher and scavenger circuits. Both the flash and rougher circuits
 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73 67

Table 12 Table 14
Concentrate grades during campaign 1. Distributions by size (P80) of the concentrates for each campaign with and without
the flash flotation circuit in operation.
S% Target S% Au g/t
P80 Solids Au S
Flash on
Flash cleaner con. 30–33% 35.7 102 Campaign 1
Rougher cleaner con. 28–33% 36.8 140 Flash on Flash cleaner con 160 161 161
ReCleaner con. 8–12% 19.6 53 Rougher cleaner con 53 49 54
ReCleaner con 112 78 73
Flash off
Flash off Rougher cleaner con 77 73 81
Rougher cleaner con. 36.6 334
ReCleaner con 75 77 72
ReCleaner con. 25.2 68
Campaign 2
Flash on Flash cleaner con 163 171 160
rougher cleaner con 70 73 82
ReCleaner con 123 88 75
Table 13
Flash off Rougher cleaner con 69 70 72
Concentrate grades during campaign 2.
ReCleaner con 71 74 79
Campaign 2 S% Target S% Au g/t
Flash on
Flash cleaner con. 30–33% 35.4 143
3.2.2.4. Particle size distribution. When the flash flotation circuit
Rougher cleaner con. 28–33% 31.5 139
ReCleaner con. 8–12% 16.6 54 was turned off, a step change in the distribution by size of the tar-
get mineral pyrite and its liberation characteristics was observed in
Flash off
Rougher cleaner con. 25.3 574 the cyclone overflow stream and how this effects the size distribu-
ReCleaner con. 24.1 110 tion of the final concentrate can be seen in the data of Table 14.
During campaign 1 two distinct changes were observed: the
particle size distribution of the rougher circuit concentrate became
coarser, and the overall solids distribution of the recleaner concen-
utilise one stage of cleaning, whilst the scavenger circuit uses two trate became finer (while the distributions of gold and sulphur re-
stages of cleaning. The combination of these three concentrate mained essentially unchanged). The change observed in the
streams must have a grade of 24 ± 0.5% S, to meet the strict grade recleaner concentrate during campaign 1 is again observed during
requirements for the concentrate roaster. To meet this target each campaign 2, indicating that higher quantities of non-sulphide gan-
concentrate stream has its own range of acceptable sulphur grades, gue were being recovered by that part of the circuit, most likely
these are shown in Tables 12 and 13 as ‘S% Target’. No gold targets due to entrainment as a function of increasing the mass pulls
are adhered to, as it is the sulphur grade that dictates whether around that circuit when the flash circuit was taken off-line. The
autogenous roasting is achieved in the downstream process. A overall effect of running without the flash flotation circuit is that
summary of the grades of each of the concentrates from the three the final concentrate stream will become finer, which may impact
circuits during both survey campaigns is also given in Tables 12 on the performance of downstream processes such as thickening
and 13. Under normal operation the flash flotation circuit contrib- and filtration.
uted a very high grade concentrate – over 35% S during both survey Although no conclusive quantitative evidence for the impact of
campaigns, which allows the other flotation circuits to produce running the plant without flash flotation can be produced from this
lower grade concentrates at higher mass pull rates for optimal data, it does suggest that taking the flash flotation cell off-line has
overall recovery. caused a fundamental shift in the size by liberation characteristics
It is important to note that during both campaigns the grades of of pyrite and also, more importantly, that of gold. There is evidence
all streams were high, with only the rougher cleaner concentrate of to suggest that a recovery loss will be incurred by running at the
campaign 2 (with the flash cell on-line) falling within the accept- current target throughput rate without the flash flotation circuit
able range. When the flash cell was taken off-line the grade of on-line. This recovery loss is most noticeable with pyrite; gold
the recleaner concentrate was observed to increase significantly being negatively impacted to a lesser extent. Although not dis-
during both campaigns, which will have had a substantial impact cussed here, the flotation tails are sent to a CIP leaching circuit,
on the overall recovery. The rougher cleaner concentrate increased which recovers any remnant gold. If the consequence of taking
in grade (particularly gold) during the first campaign when the the flash circuit off-line is to liberate more gold then any gold
flash cell was taken off-line, the resultant final concentrate for recovery losses observed in the flotation plant may well be being
campaign 1 would have therefore been of very high grade and recovered in the leaching circuit, however significantly more de-
not met the roaster target, this was in part due to the limited tailed surveys would be required to quantify this. This being a gold
capacity of some of the concentrate pumps within the circuit, how- plant (not a pyrite plant), it becomes very difficult to quantify the
ever if the circuit had been given sufficient time to re-balance after bottom line effect, when the target mineral for flotation is pyrite,
the flash flotation circuit was taken off-line, the reduction in recov- however the saleable product at completion of the production pro-
ery may not have been as severe as was observed and grades in the cess is actually gold.
key streams may have been closer to normal.
During campaign 2 a conscious effort was made to maximise 3.2.3. Changes to the performance of gold
flows throughout the circuit when the flash flotation circuit was ta- The evidence of a change in liberation characteristics of gold
ken off-line, particularly the rougher circuit, which can be seen from pyrite/host rock has generated a considerable amount of
from the dramatic drop in S% in the rougher cleaner concentrate; interest from the gold processing community so a brief discussion
despite this the gold grade increased dramatically, indicating the on the available literature dealing with the flotation and grinding
presence of an increased amount of liberated gold. Again the com- of gold in refractory ores will be presented to determine if a logical
bined concentrate grade would have been above the target 24% S, explanation can be found. The experience of the author in process-
and if more time had been allowed, flows and reagent additions ing the Kanowna Belle underground ore is that the gold and sul-
around the circuit could have been more effectively balanced to phide recoveries tend to follow each other, a perception held by
minimise the overall impact on plant recovery. numerous other workers in regard to refractory ores: where gold
68 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73
is hosted by a sulphide mineral such as pyrite, the recoveries of
gold and sulphur should follow similar trends (Makanza et al.,
2008; Forrest et al., 2001; Teague et al., 1999a; McCulloch, 1990).
However in some cases, under various test conditions and where
detailed analysis of plant data has been undertaken a disconnect
between sulphide and gold recovery has been identified with
numerous authors finding that the recovery of gold can differ sig-
nificantly from that of sulphur (Makanza et al., 2008; Forrest et al.,
2001; Teague et al., 2000, 1999b; Monte et al., 1997; McCulloch,
1990), so the difference observed in this work is not actually unu-
sual, the challenge lies in finding the reason this difference has
occurred.
From the data generated in this project, the previous assump-
tion of a correlation between pyrite and gold performance has been
found to be inadequate to describe the behaviour of this ore when
the flash flotation circuit was taken off-line and other factors must
be investigated to determine the potential causes of the radical dif-
ferential in recovery results. There are a number of key differences
between the operation of the flash flotation cell and the conven-
tional flotation cells on the plant under consideration, these
include:
 Per cent solids ranges from 35% to 70% in the flash flotation
environment, while the per cent solids in the conventional cir-
cuit feed is typically between 37% and 42%.
 Feed size distribution difference, as seen in Table 1 the feed
material to the flash flotation cell is considerably coarser.
 Pulp chemistry characteristics:
 Eh is considerably lower in the flash flotation environment
compared to the conventional flotation circuit.
 Reagent conditioning tanks are used prior to conventional
flotation, no conditioning stages are used in flash flotation.
 Different frother is used in the flash flotation circuit to that
used in the remainder of the plant.
 Hydrodynamic differences between the different types of cells
(the hydrodynamics of this flash flotation cell have been dis-
cussed in detail in Newcombe et al. (2013):
 Flash cells have been observed to operate with a lower gas
content than conventional cells.
 Compressed air is used in the flash flotation and rougher col-
umn circuits, blower air is used in the tank cells and some of
the cleaner cells, while the remainder of the cleaner cells and
the scavenger cells are self-aerating;
 Froth depth is typically very shallow for flash flotation cells.
The effect of key physical and chemical variables that may have
impacted on the results observed in the flotation performance of
gold and gold bearing sulphides seen in this work will be discussed
in this section to highlight any significant differences in perfor-
mance both with and without the flash flotation circuit in opera-
tion and also between the two ore types that were processed
during each of the campaigns.
It has been well established that fine liberated gold particles are
hydrophobic and will undergo true flotation (Forrest et al., 2001;
Teague et al., 2000; O’Connor and Dunne, 1994). Like most miner-
als, the physical forces at play within the flotation environment can
also impact on its flotation response; Allan and Woodcock (2001)
showed that most gold/gold composites which can undergo flota-
tion are in the size range of 5–200 lm, and that this size range will
be affected by factors such as particle shape, liberation character-
istics, density, impurities present within the gold (i.e. Ag and Cu)
as well as hydrodynamic factors including pulp density, cell design
and aeration. From a thorough review of the available literature on
both liberated gold and refractory gold flotation, three key factors
which may have influenced the results presented in this work have
been identified, these are:
(1) The effect of changes in the grinding environment on the lib-
eration and particle properties of gold.
(2) The effect of pulp chemistry, with differences in Eh being the
most important factor; and
(3) The effect of impurities in the ore, particularly silver present
in the gold matrix and levels of calcium ions which may have
originated from contamination of the ore by paste-fill.
The discussion here will deal primarily with these three factors,
with only brief discussion of other variables as appropriate.
3.2.3.1. Effect of grinding/liberation. Conducting an investigation
into the behaviour of liberated gold and refractory gold during
the comminution process is limited by the relatively small
number of researchers who have published information of this
nature (Xiao and Laplante, 2004). Work performed by Forrest
et al. (2001) on a refractory ore that contained some ‘free’ gold
found that total gold recovery increased with finer grind sizes,
whilst the pyrite recovery remained effectively unchanged. The
cause of this effect was attributed to either an increase in gold
liberation (with a consequent decrease in liberated gold particle
size) or a higher overall mass recovery to the concentrate when
finer grind sizes are employed. The locked gold associated with
the sulphide in the ore they were studying showed no change
in performance with changing grind size and it was therefore
concluded that the increase in gold recovery was due to a reduced
liberated gold particle size, which made it more amenable to un-
dergo flotation, as higher recoveries in the finer size classes were
observed.
Laboratory scale test work conducted by Yalcin and Kelebek
(2011) showed that progressively increasing the feed P80 (53–
205 lm) resulted in a trend of decreasing gold recovery in a refrac-
tory gold ore. In this case the gold recoveries followed a 1:1 trend
with the pyrite recovery as no liberated gold was believed to be pres-
ent. They postulated that in the coarsest grind (P80 = 205 lm) there
should be a significant decrease in gold recovery due it’s high S.G.,
however a substantial decline in recovery was not observed (95.8–
91.8%) and the gold present must be associated with the sulphide,
due to its substantially higher collecting power. Gold grains present
in the ore they were studying were substantially smaller than the
pyrite grains. Kinetic analysis of the flotation data showed that the
second order rate constants of gold were smaller than those for pyr-
ite, indicating that gold was in fact behaving independently of pyrite
albeit in the very fine size classes (10 lm), where the very fine gold
grains present had detached themselves from the pyrite through the
milling process. This highlights the need for detailed analysis when
gold is being studied. Work performed by Lins and Adamian
(1993a,b) also showed that liberated gold recovery decreased with
increasing particle size, and that gold grains up to a size of 160 lm
were unaffected by changes in key physical variables, whilst at par-
ticle sizes coarser than this, performance diminished.
The overgrinding of gold either as liberated gold particles or
composites with gold carriers is a serious concern for any gold con-
centrator, with Laplante and Dunne (2002) stating that both can be
impacted upon due to their prevalence of being recirculated in the
cyclone underflow stream until they have been ground down to
very fine sizes. Conventional methods of gravity gold recovery
are known to be inadequate at recovering gold particles finer than
212 lm (Laplante and Dunne, 2002) so flash flotation is often em-
ployed to remove such particles before overgrinding occurs. In
plant based work on a copper sulphide refractory ore, McCulloch
(1990) found that the use of a flash flotation circuit reduced the
loss of fine gold in the conventional flotation circuit, which was
present as a result of overgrinding, attributed to the preferential
deportment of gold minerals to the cyclone underflow stream.
 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73
Fig. 14. Mass flows of Au in cyclone overflow with and without flash flotation –
campaign 1.
Fig. 15. Distribution of Au by sized in the COF stream for each campaign with and
without the flash circuit on-line.
Fig. 16. Distribution of pyrite by size in the COF stream for each campaign with and
without the flash circuit on-line.
The data presented in this paper shows the total amount of gold
being sent to the conventional circuit increases when the flash cell
was turned off (as the flash flotation circuit was no longer taking
out 45% of the gold in the plant feed), however, the mass flows
69
Fig. 17. Distribution of Au by size in final tails – campaign 1.
Fig. 18. Distribution of Au by size in final tails – campaign 2.
of gold with particle size do not indicate that the proportion of gold
in the fine size classes is significantly greater than any other size
class (Fig. 14). When the distributions of gold by size in the COF
and final tails of the flotation circuit are considered, they show that
a shift has occurred in the distribution, in line with the shift that
was observed with pyrite (Figs. 15–18). As indicated by Figs. 15
and 16, in both campaigns the distribution within the fine size
classes (38 lm) has become finer when the flash circuit is taken
off-line, a finding that would otherwise have been overlooked if
only the overall P80s are considered. This is also reflected by the
distribution of gold in the final tails (Figs. 17 and 18), with compar-
atively higher losses occurring in the fine end of the distribution
with the flash off line. During campaign 1 the gold recovery was
not greatly affected by the removal of the flash flotation circuit
so the trend towards a finer size distribution in the tailings stream
is not as obvious as that of campaign 2. The fact that a similar
change in the distribution of pyrite is occurring, would normally
indicate that there is no preferential liberation of gold occurring,
however the flotation circuit performance data strongly indicates
otherwise and unfortunately without dedicated gold deportment
work it is impossible to know if the gold at the fine end of the size
distribution is liberated or not, or whether liberated gold was pres-
ent in the feed material to the plant in the first place.
Changes in the distributions of minerals with changes to the
grinding environment have been reported by other workers, and
70 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73
Fig. 19. Total solids, S and Au distribution by size in the COF stream both with and
without flash flotation for campaign 1.
whilst they are not specific to the operation of flash flotation cells,
they can provide some insight as to why this shift in the fine end of
the distribution has occurred. Clarke et al. (2002) investigated the
effect of the type of milling environment on the performance of
the flotation circuit and found that a change in mill type caused
an overall finer grind, but not a change in the proportion of fines;
this was attributed to the critical liberation size of the copper min-
erals they were studying. When the distributions of pyrite and gold
are compared against each other for each campaign set, it was
found that the pyrite distribution by size is consistently finer than
that of gold, illustrated in Fig. 19 for campaign 1 (campaign 2 shows
a similar trend). Although the curves for pyrite and gold show a
similar shape, when the data is presented in this manner a disparity
between the respective distributions emerges. This separation of
the curves may be a manifestation of the different breakage proper-
ties of pyrite and gold, and the presence of a crossover point where
the metals have a coarser distribution within the finer size classes
as compared to the total solids is a finding in line with that of McI-
vor and Finch (1991) whilst studying a copper ore. This separation
in the distribution by size curves for both ores indicates that liber-
ated gold is most likely to have been present in the feed material to
the plant during both survey campaigns and the act of taking the
flash flotation cell off-line has not impacted on the distribution of
gold by size within the grinding circuit, further evidence for the
presence of liberated gold is the significant difference in the perfor-
mance of gold and sulphides seen within the conventional circuit
with the flash off-line and with this in mind it is more likely to be
the flotation properties of the various minerals that have had the
most impact on the circuit performances reported here.
Several authors have commented that particle shape may be an
important factor in the flotation of liberated gold, with particles
larger than approximately 50 lm tending to be flat; coupled with
the very high S.G. of liberated gold particles (19.3 g/cm3 (Allan
and Woodcock, 2001)), could potentially result in a weaker attach-
ment to the bubble, which could be why the finer more angular
gold particles are observed to float more easily than coarser parti-
cles (Forrest et al., 2001). This weaker attachment could also result
in rejection when the bubbles are more highly loaded with sulp-
hides, which have a higher hydrophobicity (Forrest et al., 2001).
Ralston (1991) observed that the natural floatability of molybde-
nite and various other minerals was a consequence of its breakage
pattern, with edges and faces of the broken mineral having differ-
ent polarities and hence hydrophobicity. The effect of the shape of
gold/electrum particles should not be significant in the work under
consideration here as the P50 of these grains is less than 10 lm, as
discussed in the Feed Material section.
3.2.3.2. Effect of chemical variables. Reagents are important in con-
trolling the chemical environment in which flotation occurs. Lins
and Adamian (1993a, b) ndicated that the reagents used in gold flo-
tation can have a significant effect, with amyl xanthates giving bet-
ter performance on liberated coarse gold, while Bravo et al. (2005)
showed that increasing collector concentration has a greater effect
on gold than sulphides and higher concentrations are required to
increase gold recovery. It is common to use copper sulphate for
pyrite activation (Forrest et al., 2001), with O’Connor and Dunne
(1994) finding that CuSO4 increased the recovery and rate of the
flotation of coarse pyrite in particular. The reagent suite in use at
Kanowna Belle, includes potassium amyl xanthate (PAX) as a col-
lector, copper sulphate (CuSO4) as an activator, guar gum for seri-
cite depression and froth stability and a combination of alcohol and
polyglycol frothers. There is nothing unusual about this particular
reagent suite for refractory gold flotation, it is common to use both
xanthates and CuSO4 in circuits floating both liberated and refrac-
tory gold (Klimpel, 1997; O’Connor and Dunne, 1994, 1991).
Teague et al. (2000) investigated the effect on the sequence of
reagent addition on a refractory gold ore that contained some ‘free’
gold. They found that when CuSO4 was added prior to the collector
the pyrite recovery was increased, but the total gold recovery was
reduced. The implications of this on an industrial concentrator
employing flash flotation is uncertain as in the plant under consid-
eration in the current work, like many industrial concentrators that
utilise flash flotation, the xanthate is added to the flash feed stream
(cyclone underflow) and hence the secondary mill feed, with CuSO4
being added to the cyclone feed hopper, which can then recirculate
via the flash flotation cell back into the mill feed. Consequently
both reagents will always be present within the grinding circuit
at all times. Lins and Adamian (1993b) found that the use of CuSO4
does not provide any activation of gold, and as the CuSO4 concen-
tration was increased to very high levels (1000 g/t) gold particles
began to be depressed. The effect of overdosing CuSO4 was also ob-
served to decrease sulphide recovery and cause changes in the
froth (water holding capacity) (Teague et al., 2000).
Other key chemical factors which may affect the flotation per-
formance of both gold and pyrite that have been identified are slur-
ry pH, Eh and oxygen level. Although not conducted at the time of
the surveys, measurements of pH, Eh and dissolved oxygen (DO)
have been taken at various points around the circuit to identify
whether there are any large differences in the levels within the
flash flotation circuit and those of the conventional circuit. These
results are presented in Table 15.
The pH measured at all locations around the circuit is within the
range of 7.2–8.1, which is within the typical range for refractory
gold flotation, and similar to the operating pH of other refractory
gold plants within the Western Australian goldfields. pH is not con-
sidered significant in liberated gold flotation as the range of pH at
which gold floats is considerable (3–11) (Lins and Adamian, 1993a;
Broekman et al., 1987), and pyrite floats readily in the alkaline pH
range of the plant under consideration. Forrest et al. (2001) com-
mented that the operating pH for gold flotation is dependent on
the reagents used, particularly the collector, with the longer
chained xanthates (amyl and butyl) appearing to be good for gold
Table 15
Typical values of Eh, pH and DO taken at various locations (in pulp) within the
flotation circuit.
Sample location Eh (mV) pH DO
Flash feed (CUF) 110 7.8 4.4
Flash tails (Ball Mill Feed) 53 7.8 4.3
Rougher feed (COF) 7 7.8 4.3
Rougher tails 40 7.8 4.5
Scavenger (Final) tails 115 7.7 6.5
 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73
Table 16
Head grades of key elements during each campaign.
Head assays of key elements S (%) Au (g/t)
Campaign 1 – October 2009 1.75 5.2
Campaign 2 – November 2011 0.9 3.7
flotation. Monte et al. (1997) found when increasing the pH from 6
to 12, pyrite was depressed, while gold recovery was unaffected,
while O’Connor and Dunne (1991) state that pyrite will float in
the range of 3 – 10, with the typical operating range for the treat-
ment of refractory gold ores generally being between 7 and 9. With
this in mind pH is not considered to be an affecting factor in the
results obtained from this work.
Understanding of Eh and its effect on minerals is of fundamen-
tal importance to the reactions occurring within the pulp and dic-
tates the interface between mineral surfaces and solution (Ralston,
1991). The majority of flotation plants operate at the ‘air set’ pulp
potential; which is typically between +100 to +300 mV SHE (Hint-
ikka and Leppinen, 1995; Ralston, 1991). In gold flotation the effect
of Eh may be significant with numerous authors pointing to ranges
of potentials at which specific gold-xanthate reactions occur (Lep-
pinen et al., 1991; Hintikka and Leppinen, 1995; Woods et al.,
1994), which is important as xanthates are the most commonly
used collectors for gold/gold composite flotation (Allan and Wood-
cock, 2001; O’Connor and Dunne, 1991). Liberated gold is believed
to be rendered hydrophobic via the deposition of dixanthogen on
the gold surface (Woods et al., 1995 and Woods et al., 1994; Lins
and Adamian, 1993b), and in the work of Woods et al. (1995) flo-
tation of gold commenced at a potential close to a 20% monolayer
of chemisorbed (ethyl) xanthate prior to bulk dixanthogen forma-
tion. Dixanthogen is the major product of the anodic oxidation of
xanthate on gold electrodes (Woods et al., 1995).
Each mineral has a characteristic potential where flotation
starts, Hintikka and Leppinen (1995) found the optimum Eh for
gold flotation was between +250 and +300 mV (SHE), whilst pyrite
flotation occurred at low potentials <100 mV in an ore which
contained both liberated gold and gold in iron sulphides. Low gold
recoveries occurred at potentials less than +50 mV, however recov-
ery increased as the potential was raised to +270 mV.
The typical values for Eh within the flash flotation circuit con-
sidered here are well below the potentials reported in the litera-
ture for liberated gold flotation, however pyrite flotation should
be relatively unaffected. The higher potentials observed in the con-
ventional circuit are more amenable to gold flotation, particularly
in the scavenger circuit (the rougher tails of Table 15 is the scaven-
ger circuit feed). The high gold recoveries observed throughout this
plant when the flash circuit is on-line are indicative that the recov-
ered gold is associated with pyrite and any liberated ‘gold’ particles
are actually gold alloyed with a contaminant metal. In his work,
Ralston (1991) found that where the ore contained some silver
the gold recoveries were observed to be higher at lower potentials.
The evidence for gold alloying is stronger when the flash cell is off-
line, as considerably more gold is recovered than pyrite, which
could only occur at these Eh levels if a contaminant metal such
as silver is present. The effect of varying silver levels within the
ores used in this work should be considered as during campaign
1 the gold recovery was relatively unaffected when the flash flota-
tion circuit was taken off-line, whilst in campaign 2 it dropped
considerably. Head assays for silver and gold for both these cam-
paigns are presented in Table 16, which will be discussed further
in the following section The effect of impurities within the ore.
Oxygen level in the slurry affects pyrite flotation, with an in-
crease in the concentration of oxygen in the pulp enhancing the
adsorption of xanthates (O’Connor and Dunne, 1994). Pulp oxygen
levels were thought to be different in the flash flotation cell and the
71
Ag (g/t) Fe (%) CaO (%) MgO (%) Cu (%) As (%)
2.9 3.0 5.8 3.8 0.01 0.01
0.7 3.0 4.6 3.0 0.01 0.01
rougher column, as logic would dictate that the high aeration rates
and excellent dispersion of air within the rougher flotation column
may provide a higher level of pulp oxygen which is considered
essential for successful gold flotation (Allan and Woodcock,
2001), however the levels reported by the site under consideration
show no significant difference in dissolved oxygen levels around
the circuit.
3.2.3.3. Effect of impurities within the ore. The presence of silver
within a gold bearing ore, often seen as a low paying by-product,
may prove to be highly beneficial in improving gold recoveries. Sil-
ver can be more selectively floated than gold because metal xan-
thate can be directly formed via an electrochemical mechanism
on the surface, whereas with both gold and pyrite, dixanthogen
is formed on the surface (Monte et al., 1997; Woods et al.,
1994;Lins and Adamian, 1993b; Leppinen et al., 1991). Silver, gold
and silver–gold alloys become hydrophobic at a critical potential
which corresponds to the commencement of ethyl xanthate chemi-
sorption; the potential at which this occurs is significantly lower
for silver and silver-gold alloys (approximately 250 up to
100 mV respectively) than for pure gold (approximately
+250 mV) (Woods et al., 1994). The work of Woods et al. (1994)
indicated that where silver is present within the gold, xanthate
chemisorbs only on the silver sites in the alloy surface, which, as
commented by Leppinen et al. (1991) allows for the flotation of sil-
ver containing gold alloys to be achieved at considerably lower
potentials than for pure gold.
As shown in Fig. 20, even a few per cent silver within the silver–
gold matrix shifts the potential at which a hydrophobic xanthate is
formed by 200 mV, consequently the flotation of gold (with ethyl
xanthate) should be considerably easier when silver is present
within the ore, as pure gold requires the potential to be high en-
ough for dixanthogen formation (Woods et al., 1994). These find-
ings are supported by the work of Leppinen et al. (1991) who
found that the amount of silver present within the alloy had a di-
rect effect on the potential at which flotation could commence.
As shown in Table 16, the head grade of Au and Ag during cam-
paign 1 were 5.2 g/t and 2.85 g/t respectively, resulting in a ratio of
1.8 Au:Ag. As no silver sulphides or metallic silver was detected in
this ore via the tomograph or MLA, this silver is expected to reside
Fig. 20. Potential at which hydrophobicity occurs in an Au–Ag alloys of varying Ag
levels with respect to the reversible potential of the xanthate (X) and dixanthogen
(X2) couple (Woods et al., 1994).
72 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73
either with the gold as an alloy or embedded within the pyrite ma-
trix. The high relative amount of gold to silver in this ore may pro-
vide considerable support for the sustained high flotation
performance of gold, while pyrite performance reduced consider-
ably. During campaign 2 the head assay of Au and Ag were 3.7 g/
t and 0.7 g/t respectively, resulting in a ratio of 5.3 Au:Ag, which
is a considerable difference to the ratio observed in campaign 1.
The decrease in gold recovery observed when the flash flotation
circuit was taken off-line during campaign 2 was significantly lar-
ger than that for campaign 1 (4.2% and 16.8% for campaigns 1 and 2
respectively) and whilst the operating conditions of the plant dur-
ing each respective campaign will have impacted on this result, the
difference in the levels of silver cannot be discounted as a factor
that has influenced these results.
Although no dedicated gold deportment work has been per-
formed during any of this work, the mineralogists were requested
to search for evidence of liberated gold and any silver minerals
during the mineralogical analysis using the MLA. This method of
analysis is not able to accurately detect fine liberated gold parti-
cles, however as a point of interest, some observations were able
to be made. Fine liberated particles that were an alloy of gold
and silver were detected, no silver or gold sulphides were ob-
served, indicating that the silver present within this ore is indeed
directly associated with the gold, which as previously discussed
will impact on its ease of flotation.
Several authors have commented on the effect of calcium ions,
which are known to depress pyrite by physical adsorption on the
mineral surface (Forrest et al., 2001; Lins and Adamian, 1993b).
As another check the levels of CaO in both ores were measured
to see if a difference existed. As can be seen from the results of
Table 16, there were similar levels of CaO in both cases, with
campaign 1 having a higher head grade than campaign 2, so con-
tamination of mineral surfaces during campaign 2 by calcium ions
is unlikely to have influenced the results.
3.2.3.4. Other factors. Of the other key factors that may cause a
difference between operating with and without a flash flotation
circuit the following information has been found within the litera-
ture (although it should be noted that there is very little published
information that is directly applicable).
Conditioning: Gold hydrophobicity was observed to increase as
the time of immersion increased, as this allowed contaminants
to build up on the gold surface (the gold surface has high
energy), pure clean gold surfaces are actually hydrophilic
(Monte et al., 1997). The sustained high gold recoveries
observed when the flash circuit is taken off-line may reflect this,
as all gold particles present within the feed were now undergo-
ing multiple stages of conditioning, whereas when the flash cir-
cuit is in operation, approximately half of the valuable material
has been removed without a dedicated conditioning stage.
Slurry per cent solids: Typical flotation densities for gold bearing
ores are between 30 and 40% (O’Connor and Dunne, 1994). The
operating slurry per cent solids within the conventional circuit
are usually between 37% and 42%. So this is not considered to be
a major factor affecting the results presented here.
Froth effects: Teague et al. (1999a, 2000) suggested that in the
circumstance where the bubbles are already fully loaded (with
hydrophobic sulphides) gold recovery may be limited by its
weaker hydrophobicity, when it does attach to a bubble it will
be easily displaced, but may be recovered via entrainment or
entrapment in the froth. They proposed that when the recovery
of sulphides via true flotation is high, the recovery of free gold
via true flotation will decrease, however entrainment of free
gold will increase. If the recovery of sulphides via true flotation
decreases then there should be a corresponding increase in the
flotation of gold by true flotation. It was further proposed that
liberated gold recovery is proportional to water recovery, this
is believed to be due to the surface of liberated gold being
weakly hydrophobic, so when detachment occurs it is carried
into the concentrate launder via entrainment or entrapment.
They deemed that up to 30% of the available liberated gold
was being recovered in this way. An inverse relationship
between the recovery of free and refractory gold was also pro-
posed. From the results presented in this paper, the fact that
gold recoveries remained comparatively high against those of
pyrite indicates that bubble overloading did not represent a
major contributing factor to the results presented here.
A thorough discussion on the differences between the operation
of flash flotation cells and conventional cells has been presented by
the author in a separate paper (Newcombe et al., 2012a) and the
reader is directed to that publication if further detail is required.
4. Conclusions
Two survey campaigns have been conducted at Kanowna Belle
on two distinctly different ore types in order to determine the con-
tribution of the flash flotation circuit to the overall performance of
the flotation plant. This work has shown that under normal plant
operation the flash circuit contributes in excess of 42% of the valu-
able material that is recovered to the final concentrate stream, at a
grade of approximately 35% S. The ability of the flash circuit to pro-
duce a very high grade concentrate at considerable recovery is in
part due to the nature of the material being fed to it, with miner-
alogical analysis showing that the feed to the flash flotation cell
(cyclone underflow) is of a much higher grade and contains a larger
proportion of well liberated valuable material as compared to the
conventional flotation circuit feed (cyclone overflow). Maximising
the recovery of this material in the flash circuit before it re-enters
the milling circuit should be considered of paramount importance
to minimise the amount of valuable slimes that are generated and
potentially lost to final tails.
Although the operating conditions without the flash flotation
circuit in use were not optimised, when the flash flotation circuit
was taken off-line the recovery of sulphur (and hence pyrite) was
observed to decrease dramatically, and whilst the recovery of gold
also decreased, it was to a much lesser extent. A distinct separation
between gold and pyrite recovery is observed and the difference in
the recoveries of gold and pyrite without the flash flotation circuit
in operation are most likely attributable to a change in the way the
gold is being liberated as a function of the change in grinding
circuit operation that is required when the flash circuit is taken
off-line. There is evidence for the occurrence of silver alloyed with
gold in this ore from both operating pulp chemical data and min-
eralogical observations; the presence of a significant amount of sil-
ver alloyed within the gold will also assist in the ability to float
liberated gold/electrum particles, particularly in the flash flotation
environment, where the pulp potential was observed to be lower
than the other parts of the flotation circuit.
The distribution of valuable material in the cyclone overflow
stream (flotation feed) undergoes a step change when the flash cir-
cuit was taken off-line with an increase in the amount of valuable
fines being generated. This increase in the amount of sulphide fines
in particular may have contributed to the loss in recovery observed
when the flash flotation circuit was taken off-line.
Operating the circuit with flash flotation provides a significant
recovery and grade benefit to the final concentrate by substantially
increasing roughing capacity in a single, relatively small flotation
cell; the concentrate produced is also much coarser with down-
stream benefits to thickening and filtration.
 B. Newcombe et al. / Minerals Engineering 53 (2013) 57–73
Acknowledgement
The author wishes to thank Barrick Gold Corporation for the
on-going sponsorship of this project and acknowledges the support
of the AMIRA P9 project and its sponsors. Special thanks to the
metallurgical team on site at Kanowna Belle (Duane Semini and
AditNugraha) for their assistance with the survey work.
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