The Separation of Carbonaceous Matter from Refractory Gold Ore Using Multi-Stage Flotation: A Case Study

Abstract

As a pre-treatment method of refractory gold ore, carbonaceous matter (C-matter) flotation was investigated with multi-stage flotation by rougher, scavenger, and cleaner stages. Different dosages of kerosene and MIBC (4-Methyl-2-pentanol) were applied and the optimum dosage was selected by testing in each flotation stage. With the combination of each stage, four circuit designs were suggested, which were a single-stage rougher flotation (R), rougher-scavenger flotation (R+S), rougher-scavenger-scavenger cleaner flotation (R+S+SC), and rougher-rougher cleaner-scavenger-scavenger cleaner flotations (R+S+RC+SC). The results indicated that the scavenger flotation increased C-matter recovery but reduced C-matter grade compared with single-stage rougher flotation. Cleaning of the scavenger flotation concentrate improved C-matter grade significantly, but reduced recovery slightly. Cleaning of the rougher flotation concentrate achieved overall improved selectivity in flotation. A combination of rougher-scavenger flotation followed by cleaning of both concentrates (R+S+RC+SC) resulted in 73% C-matter recovery and a combined cleaner concentrate grade of 4%; the final tailings C-matter grade was 0.9%, where the C-matter remaining in the tailings was locked, and fine grained. The results demonstrate the need for the multi-stage flotation of C-matter from refractory gold ore to achieve selective separation and suggested the potential of C-matter flotation as the pre-treatment for efficient gold production.