APPENDIX C2-III: TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF ENGINEERING

FACULTY OF GEOLOGICAL, MINING AND
METALLURGICAL ENGINEERING

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
PLANT DESIGN PROJECT

DESIGN OF A SILVER FLOTATION-CYANIDATION PLANT WITH

PRE-CONCENTRATION USING ORE-SORTING

SCHEME III

PROJECT N° 2021-1 ME525R

REV. BY REVIEW ISSUED BY DATE CHK'D

A TEAM III H. Parra Internal review 22/04/2021

B TEAM III H. Parra Internal review 13/05/2021

C TEAM III H. Parra Internal review 27/05/2021

D TEAM III H. Parra Internal review 17/06/2021

0 TEAM III H. Parra Internal review 01/072021

2
 INDEX

1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 6
2. GENERALITIES ................................................................................................................. 6
2.1. LOCATION AND ACCESS .......................................................................................... 6
2.2. MINERALOGY ............................................................................................................. 7
2.3. METALLURGICAL RESULTS ...................................................................................... 8
3. DESCRIPTION OF THE METALLURGICAL PROCESS .................................................... 8
3.1. CRUSHING CIRCUIT AND CLASSIFICATION ............................................................ 9
3.2. PRE-CONCENTRATION WITH ORE SORTING.......................................................... 9
3.3. GRINDING AND CLASSIFICATION CIRCUIT ........................................................... 10
3.4. FLOTATION CIRCUIT ............................................................................................... 11
3.4.1. FLOTATION Pb-Ag ................................................................................................. 11
3.4.2. FLOTATION Zn....................................................................................................... 12
3.5. FILTERING ................................................................................................................ 13
3.6. CYANIDATION .......................................................................................................... 13
3.7. COUNTER CURRENT DECANTATION CIRCUIT (CCD) .......................................... 13
3.8. MERRILL CROWE..................................................................................................... 14
4. HANDLING OF CONCENTRATES................................................................................... 15
4.1. Pb-Ag CONCENTRATE ............................................................................................. 15
4.2. Zn CONCENTRATE .................................................................................................. 16
4.3. PRECIPITATE Au-Ag ................................................................................................ 16
5. METALURGICAL BALANCES .......................................................................................... 17
5.1. GLOBAL METALLURGICAL BALANCE .................................................................... 17
5.2. CRUSHING BALANCE .............................................................................................. 17
5.3. GRINDING BALANCE ............................................................................................... 17
5.4. FLOTATION BALANCE ............................................................................................. 18
5.5. CYANIDATION BALANCE ......................................................................................... 18
6. LIST OF EQUIPMENTS ................................................................................................... 18
6.1. CRUSHING................................................................................................................ 18
6.2. GRINDING ................................................................................................................. 18
6.3. FLOTATION............................................................................................................... 19
6.4. CYANIDATION AND CCD CIRCUIT .......................................................................... 19
6.5. DISPOSAL OF TAILINGS AND WASTE .................................................................... 19
6.5.1. WASTE DEPOSIT .................................................................................................. 19
6.5.2. TAILINGS ............................................................................................................... 20
6.5.3. TAILING CAPACITY ............................................................................................... 21

3
 INDEX OF FIGURES

Fig. 2.2.1. Elevation profile of the land where the plant is located........................................... 7
Fig. 3.2.1. Crushing stage – Block Diagram.......................................................................... 10
Fig. 3.3.1. Grinding stage – Block Diagram .......................................................................... 12
Fig. 3.4.2.1. Flotation stage – Block Diagram ....................................................................... 13
Fig. 3.7.1 Cyanidation stage – Block Diagram ...................................................................... 15
Fig. 3.8.1 Merrill Crowe Stage - Block Diagram .................................................................... 16
Fig 4.1.1. Pb-Ag Concentrate Handling - Block Diagram ...................................................... 17
Fig 4.2.1. Zn Concentrate Handling - Block Diagram ............................................................ 17
Fig 4.3.1. Ag-Au Precipitate Handling - Block Diagram ......................................................... 18
Fig. 6.5.1.1. Waste Deposit – Block Diagram. ...................................................................... 21
Fig. 6.5.2.1. Tailings Process - Block Diagram. .................................................................... 22

INDEX OF TABLES

Table 2.2.1. Table of ore grades............................................................................................. 8

Table 2.2.2. Metallurgical balance table ................................................................................. 8
Table 2.2.3. Valuation of metals ............................................................................................. 9
Table 3.2.1. Crushing Stage Mass Balance .......................................................................... 11
Table 3.3.1. Grinding Stage Mass Balance........................................................................... 12
Table 3.4.2.1. Flotation Stage Mass Balance ....................................................................... 13
Table 3.7.1. Cyanidation Stage Mass Balance ..................................................................... 15
Table 3.8.1. Merrill Crowe Stage Mass Balance ................................................................... 16
Table 5.1.1. Global Metallurgical Balance ............................................................................ 18
Table 5.2.1. Crushing balance .............................................................................................. 18
Table 5.3.1. Grinding balance............................................................................................... 19
Table 5.4.1. Flotation balance .............................................................................................. 19
Table 5.5.1. Cyanidation balance ......................................................................................... 19
Table 6.1.1. Crushing Equipment ......................................................................................... 19
Table 6.2.1. Grinding Equipment .......................................................................................... 20
Tabla 6.3.1. Bulk Pb Flotation Equipment ............................................................................. 20
Table 6.3.2. Zn Flotation Equipment ..................................................................................... 20
Table 6.4.1. Cyanidation Equipment and CCD ..................................................................... 20
Table 6.5.3.1. Tailings capacity. ........................................................................................... 22

4
Main Plant:

- Blanco Zanabria, Luis Daniel

- Cueto Mercado, Michael

- De la Cruz Diaz, Segundo Severiano

Water, Energy and Environment:

- Barrios Soto, Brayan Nicander

- Flores Cárdenas, Tomy Yoan

- Rivas Minaya, Carlos Alberto

5
1. INTRODUCTION

The Greenfield Almilla Project elaborated by the students of the tenth semester of the National
University of Engineering is a plant with a capacity of 2500 TPD that aims to obtain precipitated
Au and Ag, concentrated Pb-Ag and Zn.

The mineral processing of the Almilla project will begin with a stage of crushing, pre-
concentration by mineral classification, crushing, flotation, cyanidation in agitators, solid-liquid
separation and Merrill Crowe to obtain the final products.

2. GENERALITIES

2.1. LOCATION AND ACCESS

The Almilla plant is located in the district of Chachas, province of Castilla, in the department
of Arequipa. At an altitude that varies between 4700 to 4900 meters above sea level, whose
coordinates are:

- Longitude: 15 ° 06'15.9 "S.

- Latitude: 72 ° 01'51.6 "W.

Access to the plant from the city of Arequipa consists of 261 km of paved road and 7.7 km
of gauge. Following the Arequipa - Caylloma - Castilla - Almilla Plant route. Another access
is from the city of Cusco following the route Cusco - Espinar - Castilla - Almilla Plant that
consists of 227 km of asphalt road and 132 km of trail.

Figure 2.1. Elevation profile of the land where the plant is located.
Source: Google Earth - 04/28/2021

6
2.2. MINERALOGY

The present laws of the metals present in the mineral to be processed by the plant can be
observed in table 2.2.1.

Table 2.2.1. Table of ore grades.

Source: Own Elaboration.

The mineralogical balance is observed in table 2.2.2 and in table 2.2.3 the valuation of
metals is observed.

Table 2.2.2. Mineralogical balance.

Source: Own Elaboration.

7
 Table 2.2.3. Valuation of metals.

Source: Own Elaboration.

2.3. METALLURGICAL RESULTS

The final products obtained are the precipitates of Au and Ag, with recoveries of Ag of
43.65% and of Au 93.5%

The recoveries of the other metals are: Pb 89.49% in the Pb-Ag concentrate and in the Zn
concentrate a recovery of 64.69%.

3. DESCRIPTION OF THE METALLURGICAL PROCESS

The Almilla plant has the following processes:

- Crushing and Classification

- Pre-concentration by ore sorting

- Grinding and Classification

- Flotation

- Cyanidation

- Countercurrent Decantation Circuit (CCD)

- Merrill crowe

Next, the process components of the processing plant activities will be described.

8
3.1. CRUSHING CIRCUIT AND CLASSIFICATION

The ore from the mine is the feed to the crushing stage, which consists of 3 crushing stages,
the ROM's F80 is 12 " and a crushing product of ½" will be obtained.

The ore will feed a 140 mm opening primary screen, where the oversize will feed the Jaw
Crusher and its product will combine with the undersize of the primary screen to feed a
second 64 mm opening screen, the oversize of the second screen will feed the secondary
conical crusher, to later be combined with the undersize of the second screen and feed a
third screen with 2-deck sieve of 20 mm and 10 mm opening, where 3 products will be
obtained, a thick product that will feed the tertiary conical crusher, forming a closed circuit,
an intermediate product that will feed to the pre-concentration stage and a fine product that
will combine with the material classified by the pre-concentration to feed and be stored in
the fines hopper.

3.2. PRE-CONCENTRATION WITH ORE SORTING

The intermediate product of the 2-deck sieve will feed the pre-concentration process (Ore
Sorting) with 72.6 T / h, where by means of optical and inductive sensors, the mineral will
be classified according to its density by means of RTX, obtaining 2 products, a waste of
32.3 T / h with low metal content and pre-concentrated with 40.3 T / h that will be combined
with the fine product of the 2-deck screen to later feed to a fines hopper, managing to
increase the mineral grade head and decrease grinding tonnage.

Fig 3.2.1. Crushing Stage - Block Diagram.

9
 Table 3.2.1. Crushing Stage Mass Balance.

3.3. GRINDING AND CLASSIFICATION CIRCUIT

The crushing product forms the feed to the grinding circuit, which is 91.67 T / h that enters
a bar mill (9 ft x 12 ft), whose discharge with 70.8% solids is directed to a pump box that will
feed to the hydrocyclone, the underflow (coarse material) with 67.1% solids, is directed
towards 2 ball mills (9.5 ft x 12 ft) in parallel, forming an inverse closed circuit, the discharge
from the ball mills are joined and directed to a unit flotation, where the concentrate will go
to the regrind stage and the tailings from the unit flotation will be combined with the
discharge from the primary mill to go to a pump box that will feed the hydrocyclone, the
overflow (fine material) with 31.2% of solids and a granulometry 70% -200m, it will go to a
conditioning tank to later go to the flotation stage.

10
 Fig 3.3.1. Grinding Stage - Block Diagram.

Table 3.3.1. Grinding Stage Mass Balance.

3.4. FLOTATION CIRCUIT

3.4.1. FLOTATION Pb-Ag

The feed from the hydrocyclones will have a granulometry of 70% -200m, which will enter
a conditioning tank and later feed the flotation cells. The Bulk Pb Flotation circuit consists
of a conventional circuit, the conditioned pulp enters a Rougher flotation, the Rougher
concentrate goes to a two-stage Cleaner flotation and the tailings of the rougher goes to
a Scavenger stage, then the Scavenger concentrate returns to the Rougher stage and
its tailings will go to a conditioning tank to carry out the flotation of the zinc, from this first
circuit a Pb-Ag concentrate is obtained as a product that will go to the regrind stage.

11
3.4.2. FLOTATION Zn

The feed of the Zinc flotation circuit is the tailings of the Pb-Ag Circuit that passes through
a conditioning tank, the circuit consists of a conventional zinc circuit, the conditioned pulp
enters a Rougher flotation, the Rougher concentrate goes to a Cleaner flotation. of three
stages and its tailings to a Scavenger stage, later the Scavenger concentrate will also
feed to the Cleaner stage, the tailings from the Cleaner flotation will go to the feed stream
of the Rougher stage and as a product a Zn concentrate will be obtained that together
with the tailings Scavenger will go to a Solid-Liquid separation stage each.

Fig. 3.4.2.1. Flotation Stage - Block Diagram.

Table 3.4.2.1. Flotation Stage Mass Balance.

12
3.5. FILTERING

The main functions of the concentrate filtering area is to reduce the moisture content of the
concentrates to an economically transportable level and to efficiently load the concentrate
onto trucks for final shipment to the facility.

3.6. CYANIDATION

The Pb-Ag concentrate will be regrind and cyanide in a first stage until a granulometry 100%
-200m where approximately 35% of the gold and 15% of silver are extracted, then it will go
through a solid-liquid separation process, the discharge of the thickener will go to 5 agitator
tanks in order to recover the remaining 85% of Au and Ag, followed by a counter current
decantation circuit, where a Pb-Ag concentrate will be obtained in the discharge of the last
thickener and a pregnant solution of the wash that will bind to the overflow of the first
thickener to the Merrill Crowe process.

3.7. COUNTER CURRENT DECANTATION CIRCUIT (CCD)

The Countercurrent Decantation Circuit (CCD) is fed by the discharge from the last agitator
tank, the overflow from the first thickener will be an pregnant solution which, together with
the first pregnant solution, is fed into a charged solution tank to continue the Merrill Crowe
process. The CCD consists of 04 thickeners; the discharge of the last thickener is pumped
to a filter press that will increase the percentage of solids, this being the final product of this
stage, a Pb-Ag concentrate.

Fig 3.7.1. Cyanidation Stage - Block Diagram.

13
 Table 3.7.1. Cyanidation Stage Mass Balance.

3.8. MERRILL CROWE

The pregnant solution from the first thickener and the wash solution from the CCD with 8.29
ppm of gold and 348.27 ppm of silvers, enters a clarifying filter where a solution with a
turbidity lower than 1 NTU is obtained, the clarified solution is sent to a vacuum pump to
extract the dissolved oxygen and leave it below 1 mg / L of O2 (g), subsequently metallic
zinc powder will be added in order to obtain a cement which is filtered in a filter press,
obtaining a barren solution that will be recirculated to the countercurrent decantation circuit
and a cement of (Ag and Au).

14
 Fig 3.8.1. Merrill Crowe Stage - Block Diagram.

Table 3.8.1. Merrill Crowe - Stage Mass Balance.

4. HANDLING OF CONCENTRATES

4.1. Pb-Ag CONCENTRATE

The Pb-Ag concentrate obtained in the final cyanidation stage will pass through a filter press
in which a cake with 8% moisture will be obtained, which is transported to a warehouse, in
which drying is carried out with which reduces the humidity to 6%, the dry concentrate is
loaded in trucks to the Matarani port for its dispatch and commercialization.

15
 Fig 4.1.1. Pb-Ag Concentrate Handling - Block Diagram.

4.2. Zn CONCENTRATE

The Zn concentrate obtained from the flotation cells and the Pb-Ag concentrate will go
through a thickener in which a pulp with 55% solids will be obtained, this pulp will pass to a
filter press in which a cake with 8 will be obtained. % of humidity, the cake that is transported
to a warehouse, in which drying is carried out, thereby reducing the humidity to 6%, the dry
concentrate is loaded into trucks to the Matarani port for dispatch and commercialization.

Fig 4.2.1. Zn Concentrate Handling - Block Diagram.

4.3. PRECIPITATE Au-Ag

The cement obtained in the Merrill Crowe stage will be taken to a warehouse where it will
undergo natural drying, the smelting service will be hired to treat the dried cement and thus
obtain the doré bar for marketing.

16
 Fig 4.3.1. Ag-Au Precipitate Handling - Block Diagram.

5. METALURGICAL BALANCES

5.1. GLOBAL METALLURGICAL BALANCE

Table 5.1.1 Global Metallurgical Balance.

5.2. CRUSHING BALANCE

Table 5.2.1. Crushing Balance.

5.3. GRINDING BALANCE

Table 5.3.1. Grinding Balance.

17
 5.4. FLOTATION BALANCE

Table 5.4.1 Flotation Balance.

5.5. CYANIDATION BALANCE

Table 5.5.1. Cyanidation Balance.

6. LIST OF EQUIPMENTS

6.1. CRUSHING

Table 6.1.1. Crushing Equipment.

6.2. GRINDING

Table 6.2.1. Grinding Equipment.

18
6.3. FLOTATION

Table 6.3.1. Bulk Pb Flotation Equipment.

Table 6.3.2. Zn Flotation Equipment.

6.4. CYANIDATION AND CCD CIRCUIT

Table 6.4.1. Cyanidation Equipment and CCD.

6.5. DISPOSAL OF TAILINGS AND WASTE

6.5.1. WASTE DEPOSIT

The waste from the Ore Sorting will be deposited in a drawer, which will feed trucks that
will transport the rejected ore to the waste dump, where they will be deposited on the
slope, these dumps are arranged on slopes, where the thickest particles will be available
on the side. bottom and finer particles on top of it.

19
 Fig. 6.5.1.1. Waste Deposit – Block Diagram.

6.5.2. TAILINGS

Tailings management for the Almilla plant is based on the product from flotation.
Therefore, the following types of tailings disposal are evaluated:

- Lagoon.

- Thickened

- Pasta.

- Filtered out.

- Hydraulic filling.

For this work, the tailings disposal by filtering is chosen, due to the low tonnage that will
be obtained in the process. A thickener and filter press will be used to increase% S, then
transported by conventional trucks and compacted at the tailings location. In figure
6.5.2.1. The scheme that the tailings disposal will have is observed.

Fig. 6.5.2.1. Tailings Process - Block Diagram.

20
6.5.3. TAILING CAPACITY

The storage capacity of the tailings dam has been estimated based on the production of
the metallurgical operation and topographic conditions of the tailings dam with the
support of Google Earth and programs such as AutoCAD. According to the geometric
configuration of the tailings deposit, it will have a maximum capacity of 11,070,771.49
m3 projected for 13 years of production.

Table 6.5.3.1. Tailings Capacity.

GENERAL TAIL DISASSEMBLY ORE TOTAL

YEAR
(TMS) SORTING (TMS) PRODUCT (TMS)

1 29661.55 216523.84 246 185.39

2 59323.10 433047.68 492370.78
3 88984.65 649571.52 738556.17
4 118646.20 866095.36 984741.56
5 148307.75 1082619.20 1230926.95
6 177969.30 1299143.04 1477 112.34
7 207630.85 1515666.88 1723297.73
8 237292.40 1732 190.72 1969483.12
9 266953.95 1948 714.56 2215668.51
10 296615.50 2165238.40 2461853.90
11 326277.05 2381762.24 2708039.29
12 355938.60 2598286.08 2954224.68
13 385600.15 2814809.92 3200410.07
Total 2699201.03 19703669.44 22402870.47

21