Hydrometallurgy: Leaching in Heap, Vat, CIL, CIP, Merrill–Crowe, SX Solvent Extraction

Hydrometallurgy: Leaching in Heap, Vat, CIL, CIP, Merrill–Crowe, SX Solvent Extraction

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Are flocculants activated carbon foulants? (2 replies)

H
ca1
2 years ago
ca1 2 years ago

Hello,

We operate a small carbon in pulp plant without thermal reactivation abilities. 

We would like to find solutions to recover our process solution after it has been discharged to the tailings.  Are anionic flocculants considered to be pore blocking /  carbon foulants?

Thanks.

J
Jorge
2 years ago
Jorge 2 years ago
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1 like by David

Flocculants may be added to different points. Basically, it depends of the engineering design and ore mineralogy. For instance, a ball mill discharge is typical point to add flocculant because it is necessary to increase the slurry density in a Carbon-in-Leach Process. A flocculant has not impact on the gold adsorption capacity.

The adsorption of gold in activated carbon is affected by several factor, some of them are the temperature, the process used to fabricate the activated carbon, the presence of organic solvents, the presence of organic matter, competing ions, xanthates, among others. The reactivation process has an impact on the activated carbon capacity.

If the fine carbon is not removed after reactivate the carbon, the gold adsorbed will be reported in the tailings. In some cases, it is possible to recover by flotation the fine carbon.

Mike
2 years ago
Mike 2 years ago
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As operations move to closed water circuits, matching the right flocculent to the leach circuit is an important issue. The chemistry of the whole process can become rather complex. While the flocculents themselves may or may not be the direct issue the resultant water pH can be an issue. Often flocculents work in specific water pH ranges that can then alter the surface chemistry of the leach and adsorption phase.  It can become needed to adjust the water chemistry after the flocculent settling phase to allow water reuse.


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