JKHFmini

Developing and scaling- up a commercial laboratory fluidised bed flotation cell

Fluidised bed flotation has the potential to significantly reduce the immense energy requirements associated with comminution. The JKHFmini aims to accelerate the technology’s adoption by providing a method to measure the technology’s performance at a small scale, which is critical for predicting full-scale performance.

The JKHFmini enables rapid and efficient testing for essential operations such as ore amenability and metallurgical evaluation, circuit modelling and design, and routine metallurgical assessment. The device and testing procedures were developed to use only 1-2kg of sample per test, similar to the sample mass used in conventional batch flotation tests.

The prototype was developed in collaboration with industry sponsors of the Collaborative Consortium for Coarse Particle Processing Research (CPR) . It was tested by using it to assess the coarse flotation behaviour of two copper ores.

Highlights

Uses only 1 to 2 kg of sample per test compared to at least 25 kg required in other small-scale fluidised bed flotation devices
Robust and easy to use
Validated in a lab setting
Prototypes being built at UQ for operational testing by industry sponsors

Protoype to design JKHFmini — *From design to prototype: JKHFmini*

Project lead

Lizette Verster

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Key researchers

Dr Bellson Awatey

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Dr Qi Shao

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Dr Mst Farhana Diba

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Dr Dion Weatherly

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Associate Professor Kym Runge

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The commercialisation of the JKHFmini is being supported by the Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer, which is building new research capabilities and driving commercialisation in priority areas across the Australian resources sector.

The Trailblazer support provides opportunity to:

Commercialise the JKHFmini prototype
Develop models and scale-up procedure for circuit design and optimisation with fluidised bed flotation
Deliver knowledge transfer of the models and scale-up procedure to industry
Develop CFD capability to perform equipment design and optimisation for fluidised bed flotation devices
Mining industry can use the JKHFmini, scale-up procedure and models to improve overall productivity and sustainability

Webinars and seminars

Size Matters: Development of a laboratory fluidised bed flotation device – the JKHFmini
In this JKMRC Friday Seminar, Lizette Verster discusses the JKHFmini and how it can help predict the full-scale performance of the technology using only 1-2kg of samples.

Publications

Small-scale fluidised bed flotation device for ore amenability testing
This paper published by Science Direct outlines the design and development of the JKHFmini and outlines the testing methodology to achieve both reasonable and reproducible flotation results.