Prospects for the application of jet flotation with intensive pressure mixing of three-phase pulp in the conditions of the Medvezhy Ruchey Norilsk concentrator

The Norilsk Concentrator Plant (NCP) processes the entire volume of disseminated ores from the Norilsk-1 deposit, as well as some of the copper and disseminated ores from the Oktyabrskoye and Talnakhskoye deposits, producing nickel and copper concentrates. NCP technologists conduct ongoing exploratory research into ways to improve enrichment rates. One of the promising areas is replacing pneumatic-mechanical flotation machines with pneumatic ones, which have different design features. As world experience shows, the use of pneumatic flotation machines allows obtaining the final concentrate of the required quality in one stage of cleaning flotation, replacing several stages in traditional flotation machines. The pneumatic flotation cell operates on the principle of mixing air and pulp in a continuous flow and ensures that bubbles of the correct size are fed into the pulp as it enters the cell, which contributes to the maximum number of particle and bubble connections. To confirm the efficiency of using pneumatic flotation machines at the NCP, pilot tests were conducted in various circuits of the flotation department using the pressure jet pneumatic flotation method. Nine promising products are involved in the processing. In parallel with the experiments in the existing production, the NCP technologists performed tests on a laboratory pneumatic-mechanical flotation machine for the purpose of further comparison of the results. During the pilot tests, the possibility of increasing the target distribution of metals in the concentrate was established, which in turn improves the selection. For example, copper concentrates with a high copper content and a low content of the second metal-nickel were obtained. As a result of pilot industrial tests, the rational technological efficiency of using flotation machines of a new design with intensive mixing of pulp outside the flotation cell on the current mineral raw materials of the Norilsk Concentrator was confirmed.