In 2010, a gravity concentration unit for metallurgical residues was put into operation at the LLC SIBPROJECT in Krasnoyarsk to obtain valuable components – precious metals.
The purpose of the unit:
- concentration of metallurgical products (residues);
- concentration of gold-concentrating plant residues;
Materials for recycling:
- metallurgical slag;
- kiln barrings;
- crucible shards;
- residues (tailings) from gold-concentrating plants containing gold and platinum.
Parameters of the unit:
- capacity – 250 kg per hour;
- recovery rate of components of value to the concentrate – 75% to 85%;
- particle size of the material fed – minus 1 mm;
- particle size of a non- recoverable metal fraction – less than 100 μm
Peculiar features of the unit:
- integrated crushing-grinding machine to prepare material of required coarseness grade;
- additional equipment for testing and sample preparation of the initial material and the concentration products;
- reclaimed water supply is used to exclude losses of components of value while draining-off;
- obtaining concentrates with high content of precious metals that are recycled at the own plant using pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy;
- higher precision of testing and analysis of products obtained in the concentration of the products due to practically full recovery of 100+ μm metal fractions from the initial material;
- possibility of experimental work thanks to the ‘flexible’ technological flow chart in order to do feasibility study for setting-up of new production capacities (for example, ‘aged tailings’ of gold recovery plants).
Results of the implementation:
- lower content of precious metals in the production residues – by 3 to 5 times – and as a consequence, similar decrease in the costs of the further recycling of the residues received;
- increased direct metal yield by 0.2%.