A rheological investigation of the behaviour of two Southern African platinum ores |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Centre for Minerals Research, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Cape Town, South Africa;2. Julius Kruttschnitt Mineral Research Centre, University of Queensland, Australia;1. Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, 6845 WA, Australia;2. Department of Process Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland, 7602 Stellenbosch, South Africa;1. Laboratory for Simulation and Modeling of Particulate Systems, Department of Chemical Engineering, Monash University, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia;2. Laboratory for Simulation and Modeling of Particulate Systems, School of Materials Science and Engineering, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia;1. Programa de Pós-Graduação em Engenharia Metalúrgica, Materiais e de Minas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Av. Antônio Carlos, 6627, Pampulha, Belo Horizonte, MG CEP 31270-901, Brazil;2. Centro de Tecnologia Mineral, Av. Pedro Calmon 900, Ilha da Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ CEP 21941-908, Brazil;3. Centro de Desenvolvimento Mineral, Vale S.A. BR 381, km 450, Santa Luzia, MG CEP 33.040-900, Brazil;1. DEMIN - Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil;2. Anglo American - T&S Group Processing, Denver, USA;3. CETEM - Centro de Tecnologia Mineral, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil;4. Iron Ore Brazil – Anglo American, Conceição do Mato Dentro, Brazil;1. School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;1. School of Resources Engineering, Xi’an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi’an 710055, China;2. School of Mineral Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;3. Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Gold and Resources, Xi’an 710055, China |
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| Abstract: | With the installation of ultrafine grinding on many platinum operations in southern Africa, there were concerns as to whether this would cause rheologically complex behaviour during the subsequent flotation of the ore. Rheologically complex behaviour refers to the non-Newtonian behaviour experienced by some suspensions, associated with exponential increases in yield stress and viscosity with increasing solids content. This is attributed to particle size and solids concentration effects, surface chemistry, and mineralogy. In this study, the rheological behaviour of two different platinum ores; a western limb UG2 ore and a Great Dyke platinum ore were investigated and compared with that of single mineral studies of the major gangue minerals of platinum ores (chromite, orthopyroxene, plagioclase and talc). The results show that Great Dyke ore is considerably more rheologically complex than UG2 ore. Great Dyke flotation concentrate shows high yield stress and viscosity at low solids concentrations (>20 vol.% solids). Should the ROM ore in a Great Dyke flotation operation suddenly show significant changes in ore mineralogy, the rheological properties of the slurry should be considered since they may be detrimental to the overall performance of the operation (e.g. loss of recovery through poor gas dispersion). In contrast, the rheological behaviour of UG2 flotation samples shows little cause for concern for the plant operator. Comparison of the pure mineral samples shows that the complex rheological behaviour of the Great Dyke ore may be attributed to the high degree of low temperature alteration and the formation of phyllosilicate minerals such as talc, more than particle size effects. |
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| Keywords: | Rheology Platinum ores Phyllosilicate minerals |
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