Albion Process
Albion Process technology offers the mining industry an effective, yet simple solution to handling refractory sulphide ores in a more competitive way.
The Albion Process is a combination of ultrafine grinding and oxidative leaching at atmospheric pressure. The Albion Process incorporates the revolutionary IsaMill to produce an activated, finely ground concentrate at relatively low specific energy inputs. This finely ground concentrate is then leached at atmospheric pressure in conventional agitated tanks. The capital costs of an Albion Process plant can be substantially lower than a comparable bacterial or pressure leach plant, due to the simplicity of the process flowsheet.
The key to the Albion Process is the ultrafine grinding stage. The process of ultrafine grinding results in a high degree of strain being introduced into the mineral lattice. As a result, the number of grain boundary fractures and lattice defects in the minerals increases by several orders of magnitude, relative to unground minerals. The increase in the number of defects within the mineral lattice ‘activates’’’ the mineral, facilitating leaching. The rate of leaching is also enhanced, due to the dramatic increase in the mineral surface area.
Key advantages of the Albion Process are:
Lower capital costs
Lower operating costs
Environmentally stable residues
Lower cyanide consumption
Simple to operate and maintain
Typical Plant Layout
Jameson Cell
The Jameson Cell is an innovative flotation process driven by fluid mechanics. The advantages of modern Jameson Cells are:
Consistent fine bubble generation without requiring external equipment or spargers.
Intensive mixing with small bubbles achieving rapid flotation without mechanical agitation.
High throughput in small tanks.
Froth washing to maximise concentrate grade in a single flotation stage.
Fast response and easy process control for a wide range of product grades and recoveries.
Steady operation and performance irrespective of changes in feed flow.
No moving parts, simple to install and maintain with excellent availability.
The Jameson Cell can treat a large amount of material in a small footprint. Cell designs are flexible to suit a number of industries, making it ideal for any new project and a great option for low cost plant expansions.
In the first 20 years of commercialisation nearly 300 Jameson Cells were installed, treating a wide range of materials including coal, base and precious metals, potash, bitumen, graphite and recovering organic in solvent extraction processes.
The Jameson Cell is also an ideal technology for non-sulfide and industrial minerals and reverse flotation of silica in iron ore processing.
Xstrata Technology provides accurate cell design and scale up, engineering, manufacturing, flotation circuit design and review, installation support, cell commissioning and ongoing technical support from our experienced team of flotation, operating and engineering specialists.
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