Flotation of chalcopyrite in water containing bacteria
The use of multiple sources of water supply and introducing water reuse in mineral processing have been part of the operating philosophy for the minerals industry to save freshwater and reduce mine water discharge. A consequence of implementing these practices is that water quality can be compromise...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Conference Paper |
| Published: |
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30789 |
| _version_ | 1848753190280888320 |
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| author | Liu, W. Moran, Chris Vink, S. |
| author_facet | Liu, W. Moran, Chris Vink, S. |
| author_sort | Liu, W. |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | The use of multiple sources of water supply and introducing water reuse in mineral processing have been part of the operating philosophy for the minerals industry to save freshwater and reduce mine water discharge. A consequence of implementing these practices is that water quality can be compromised, which in turn can impact flotation performance. A number of studies have shown that dissolved abiotic watet constituents can have different effects on flotation performance depending on the operating conditions and reagent regimes. However, far less is known about the impacts and processes associated with biotic water constituents, including microorganisms. In this study, we investigated the effect of bacteria (E. coli) on mineral (chalcopyrite) flotation performance using both microflotation and scale-up batch flotation tests. Microflotation results indicated that the presence of E. coli in water had an adverse effect on the flotation of chalcopyrite. The magnitude of the adverse effect increased with the increase of bacterial cell concentration. The adverse effect could be mitigated to different extents by increasing the collector concentration depending on the bacterial cell concentration. The adverse effect was also observed in batch flotation tests. Froth images taken showed that the bubble size and bubble load were affected by the presence of the bacteria. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:20:34Z |
| format | Conference Paper |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-30789 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T08:20:34Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-307892017-01-30T13:21:32Z Flotation of chalcopyrite in water containing bacteria Liu, W. Moran, Chris Vink, S. The use of multiple sources of water supply and introducing water reuse in mineral processing have been part of the operating philosophy for the minerals industry to save freshwater and reduce mine water discharge. A consequence of implementing these practices is that water quality can be compromised, which in turn can impact flotation performance. A number of studies have shown that dissolved abiotic watet constituents can have different effects on flotation performance depending on the operating conditions and reagent regimes. However, far less is known about the impacts and processes associated with biotic water constituents, including microorganisms. In this study, we investigated the effect of bacteria (E. coli) on mineral (chalcopyrite) flotation performance using both microflotation and scale-up batch flotation tests. Microflotation results indicated that the presence of E. coli in water had an adverse effect on the flotation of chalcopyrite. The magnitude of the adverse effect increased with the increase of bacterial cell concentration. The adverse effect could be mitigated to different extents by increasing the collector concentration depending on the bacterial cell concentration. The adverse effect was also observed in batch flotation tests. Froth images taken showed that the bubble size and bubble load were affected by the presence of the bacteria. 2012 Conference Paper http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30789 restricted |
| spellingShingle | Liu, W. Moran, Chris Vink, S. Flotation of chalcopyrite in water containing bacteria |
| title | Flotation of chalcopyrite in water containing bacteria |
| title_full | Flotation of chalcopyrite in water containing bacteria |
| title_fullStr | Flotation of chalcopyrite in water containing bacteria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Flotation of chalcopyrite in water containing bacteria |
| title_short | Flotation of chalcopyrite in water containing bacteria |
| title_sort | flotation of chalcopyrite in water containing bacteria |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/30789 |