Mineral paste production from phosphate rock tailings

Rem: Revista Escola de Minas

André Carlos Silva¹  Elenice Maria Schons Silva¹  Ângelo Pereira Da Silva Junior¹  João Paulo Aparecido Arruda¹  Vitor Rodrigues De Araújo Vaz¹ 

关键词: phosphate rock tailings;    paste;    dewatering;    rejeito de rocha fosfática;    pasta;    desaguamento;   

DOI  :  10.1590/0370-44672015680103

来源: SciELO

【 摘 要 】

The dewatering stage is among the most important industrial unit operations, and is widely adopted in many different industries. Nowadays, mineral processing tailings disposal is a big problem due to the environmental degradation it causes. The phosphate rock processing in Anglo American Phosphate Brazil, situated in Catalão/ Go/Brazil, generates around 180 t/h of tailings for a plant feed of 480 t/h (approximately 37.5% of the processing plant feed), with 5 to 10% of solids and approximately 14% of P2O5. Nowadays, the tailings are sent directly to the tailings dam. The present work proposes paste production using the tailings from the phosphate rock processing plant. Through decantation of a tailings sample, a clarified liquid was obtained and drained. The decanted pulp then went through a second stage consisting of vacuum filtration. Flocculant addition in this stage generated a faster sedimentation rate and a higher dewatering performance in next stage of dewatering, because the flocculated material was retained by the filter medium instead of passing through it. The results were satisfactory for paste tailings production with a solid percentage of around 65%.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
 All the contents of this journal, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License