Improved Cleaner Circuit Design for

Better Performance Using the

Jameson Cell
L Huynh1, R Araya2, D R Seaman3, G Harbort4 and P D Munro5

ABSTRACT
In today’s operating environment many conventional cleaner circuits struggle to produce final
grade concentrate with acceptable levels of non-sulfide gangue and/or penalty elements. This is
primarily due to poor selectivity and the entrainment of gangue, and is further exacerbated by
the processing of lower grade ores with more complex mineralogy that require finer grinding for
liberation. In new concentrators, the standard approach to cleaner circuit design is to define the
number of stages of mechanical cells required to achieve the desired concentrate grade. Residence
time is the primary factor to size cells and to determine the number of cells required to attain target
recovery. While it is required for recovery, a bank of mechanical cells is not the ideal solution to
maximise concentrate grade. Relatively coarse bubble size means slow flotation of fines, requiring
long residence times. The combination of long residence times and no froth washing means higher
entrainment as the pulp becomes more barren and froth stability decreases down a bank.
In recent years, the Jameson Cell technology has been retrofitted into a number of concentrators
around the world to solve both cleaner circuit capacity and concentrate grade issues. Jameson Cells
have been installed at the head of conventional cleaner circuits to produce final grade concentrate
in a single step of flotation using a single cell (referred to here as ‘cleaner scalping’ duty). The
experience gained from these installations has provided the platform for the design of improved
and simpler cleaner circuits that will perform better and be more robust to operate.
This paper analyses traditional cleaner circuit designs and explains the philosophy behind new
hybrid cleaner circuits, which use Jameson Cells to produce final concentrate and mechanical cells
for a ‘cleaner scavenger’ duty. The advantages of the new cleaner circuit design are demonstrated
by a case study from an operating plant. Engineering studies show that the better metallurgical
performance can be achieved with less equipment than conventional cleaning designs, reducing
capital cost, operating cost, and with more than 30 per cent energy savings.
Finally, the paper describes simple modifications to the standard laboratory flotation test
procedures which accurately simulate this new cleaner circuit using routine equipment.

INTRODUCTION
Depletion of the world’s mineral resources imposes great cleaner circuits in recent decades. Most new plants today,
pressure on the efficiency of modern concentrators. The particularly in Australia, are still designed predominantly
combination of lower head grades, more complex mineralogy with conventional mechanical cells for cleaning.
and environmental requirements places new demands on
The primary purpose of a flotation cleaning circuit is the
concentrate quality, both in terms of concentrate grade and
separation of valuable (hydrophobic) minerals from non-
the need to remove deleterious elements such as arsenic,
fluorine, mercury and uranium. Regrinding of the rougher valuable minerals. Non-valuables include hydrophilic gangue,
concentrate is increasingly required to liberate the valuable mildly hydrophobic minerals such as iron sulfides, and
minerals sufficiently to produce a saleable concentrate. The minerals locked in composite particles. In industry, cleaning
finer the grind, the more difficult is subsequent flotation is commonly achieved with multiple stages of counter-
separation in the cleaning circuit to produce the desired current banks usually consisting of mechanical flotation cells.
concentrate quality. Despite these increasing challenges, there However, in some recent brownfield projects, cleaning circuit
does not appear to have been significant design changes in modifications have been required to either increase capacity,

1. MAusIMM, Flotation Manager, XT Pty Ltd, Level 10, 160 Ann Street, Brisbane Qld 4000. Email: le.huynh@xt-t.com
2. Process Engineer, XT Canada, 10th Floor, 700 West Pender Street, Vancouver BC V6C 1G8, Canada. Email: rodrigo.araya@xt-t.com
3. MAusIMM, Principal Metallurgist, Newcrest Mining Ltd, 193 Great Eastern Highway, Belmont WA 6104. Email: david.seaman@newcrest.com.au
4. FAusIMM(CP), Process Manager, AMEC Mining and Metals, Level 14, 144 Edward Street, Brisbane Qld 4000. Email: greg.harbort@amec.com
5. FAusIMM, Senior Principal Consulting Engineer, Mineralurgy Pty Ltd, Unit 2, 42 Morrow Street, Taringa Qld 4068. Email: pdmunro@bigpond.com.au

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 141
L HUYNH et al

to improve recovery, or to increase concentrate grade and

remove penalty elements. These upgrade projects have been
an opportunity to develop and demonstrate alternative
approaches to cleaning circuit design. This includes using
froth washed cells such as columns or Jameson Cells, and the
use of small bubble size and very high intensity mixing, such as
the Jameson Cell, to increase the flotation rate of fine particles.
Combining these advantages of high flotation rate and froth
washing with long residence times possible in mechanical
cells has developed hybrid circuits that combine the benefits
of both technologies in more efficient, more effective, lower
energy circuits. Having been developed to improve existing
circuits, it is now clear these circuit concepts offer a step
change improvement for the design of new circuits.
In conventional mechanical flotation cells, the recovery
to concentrate by entrainment can be described by a size
dependent parameter (ENTi) that relates the recovery by
entrainment of particles in size fraction i (Rent,i) to water
recovery across the cell (Rw) as follows (Johnson, McKee and
Lynch, 1974; Savassi et al, 1998):

Rent,i = ENTi $ Rw

In mechanical cells, it is necessary to reduce water recovery

in order to lower entrainment recovery – this can be achieved
by reducing water recovery through feed dilution while FIG 1 – Comparison of the size of a column cell (left) to a
maintaining valuable mineral recovery if there is sufficient Jameson Cell (right). Reproduced from Jameson (1988).
residence time in the flotation cell or bank. In froth washed
systems, such as columns and Jameson Cells, the entrainment ‘greenfield’ cleaning circuits. The new concept is for hybrid
factor (ENT) is reduced by froth washing with a positive cleaning circuits that are simpler, cheaper, and more robust,
downward water bias. and that provide better grade/recovery performance. The
The Jameson Cell is a high intensity flotation technology feature of the improved ‘hybrid’ circuit is the use of Jameson
jointly developed in the mid-1980s between Mount Isa Mines Cells to control grade and produce the entire plant final
(MIM, now Glencore) and Professor Graeme Jameson from concentrate, and mechanical cells for cleaner scavenger duty
the University of Newcastle. What started as a research project to provide overall cleaner circuit recovery.
to improve the sparger design in the column cells installed The operation of such a circuit will be demonstrated in a case
in MIM’s zinc cleaner circuit, culminated in the development study from a recent installation. Engineering considerations
of a completely different bubble-generation device called such as circuit residence time, footprint and installed power of
a downcomer. When it was discovered that, in addition to this new cleaner circuit compared with traditional ‘standard’
being a bubble generation device, bubble-particle collisions designs, to show that the better performance is accompanied
also occurred inside the downcomer (Harbort, Manlapig and by 30–40 per  cent reductions in equipment footprint and
DeBono, 2002), it became apparent that the large residence energy. The methodology to accurately simulate this circuit
time and hence, large volumes required for the collection design using standard laboratory equipment is described.
zone in column cells was not needed. This meant that the
downcomers could be placed in much smaller tanks, to DESIGN AND PERFORMANCE OF
achieve the same or better metallurgical results. This is shown
graphically in Figure 1 (Jameson, 1988).
CONVENTIONAL CELL CLEANING CIRCUITS
The conventional approach to development of cleaner circuit
Since its commercialisation in 1989, the Jameson Cell
flow sheets is to conduct batch flotation tests to define flotation
has undergone two decades of development in operating
kinetics and the number of cleaning stages required to achieve
plants, with the latest Mark IV designs being highly reliable
the desired concentrate quality. This work should be carried
and operable. Figure  2 shows the development path of the out in conjunction with mineral liberation and regrinding
technology in that time frame. Modern designs are fully studies. Usually, locked cycle tests are performed to simulate
instrumented and require very little maintenance due to the entire concentrator design in closed circuit with circulating
significant design improvements to the downcomer, the loads. This determines stream flow rates and scale-up of cell
unique feature of the technology. The technology has been capacities. Copper and lead cleaning circuits typically employ
‘tried and tested’, and installed in many different duties but two to three stages of counter-current cleaning. Generally, the
in recent years it has been almost exclusively used in cleaner finer the feed and the lower the head grade, the greater are the
circuits. The ability of the Jameson Cell to produce final grade number of cleaning stages required to achieve product grade,
concentrates in a single stage of flotation, through fine bubble since separation becomes less effective and entrainment more
generation, intense bubble-particle contact and the use of prevalent. For example, at Glencore’s McArthur River and
froth washing to minimise entrainment, has seen it being MMG’s Century Mine operation, the feed size to the cleaning
successfully retrofitted into a number of concentrators around circuit is around D80 of 6–8 microns, requiring five or more
the world to add cleaner capacity and/or solve concentrate cleaning stages to produce the desired zinc concentrate
grade issues (Araya et al, 2013). quality. Generally, residence time is the primary factor used
This paper applies the developments from these brownfield to determine the number and size of flotation cells needed for
installations to provide a new design basis for improved target recovery. But in the last cleaning stage carrying capacity

142 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
 IMPROVED CLEANER CIRCUIT DESIGN FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE USING THE JAMESON CELL

FIG 2 – Development path of the Jameson Cell technology over two decades.

(bubble surface area available) and lip loading (mass flow rate froth washing means high entrainment. Columns offer the
of concentrate per concentrate lip length) may be governing benefit of froth washing to improve grade, but their low
design parameters. In turn, lip loading and carrying capacity mixing intensity (and often the large bubble size) means slow
are primarily determined by particle size and density, so ‘rules flotation rates and slow recovery of fines.
of thumb’ developed for coarse flotation will be incorrect for
finer flotation. AN IMPROVEMENT ON CONVENTIONAL
In many plants, issues with conventional cleaner circuits CELL CLEANER CIRCUITS – JAMESON CELL
usually relate to either insufficient capacity (and hence
recovery), or inability to consistently achieve final grade
CLEANER SCALPING
quality. The former may be due to under-design of the original The above discussion suggests that the best solution may
circuit and/or increased loading as a result of the common require a combination of technologies. Producing high-
practice to ‘push more tonnes’. In these cases, performance grade concentrates (particularly from finer streams) needs
is very sensitive to feed grade and solids content. Upgrade concentrate to be froth washed. To be practical, froth washing
ratios of valuable minerals generally decrease in each needs to be applied in a small area – so it needs high flotation
successive stage, hence the need for multiple stages of cleaning rates and shorter residence times. Achieving high flotation
(although this also depends on other flotation factors such as rates (particularly for fines) needs small bubbles and intense
ore characteristics, chemistry and particle size). Performance mixing. But achieving high recovery of the slowest floating
also depends on how effectively operators can make use of particles needs long residence times. No technology has
the normal flotation controls, ie dart valves for froth depth demonstrated the ability to achieve all of these simultaneously.
and valves for air flow rate, to control froth drainage and However, by combining the best features of Jameson Cells
mass pull, particularly at the last stage of cleaning. Ideally, with mechanical cells, it seems possible to design circuits to
controls would be available for every cell but this is seldom achieve higher grade (from fully froth washed concentrate)
the case in multistage cleaner circuits. Even in plants with with high recovery (from adequate residence time in
conventional trough cells, level control is across an entire mechanical cells), in an overall smaller installation (from fast
bank and air addition is controlled by a single automated air flotation rates of small bubbles and intense mixing in the
valve with manual butterfly valves to each cell, which are Jameson Cell downcomer).
typically difficult for an operator to access. In any case, banks These design concepts were tested on plant cleaner feed
of conventional cells are not the most efficient way to produce streams in several existing operations. It has been consistently
both high-grade and high recovery. The relatively large shown that Jameson Cells can produce a higher grade in a
bubble size and low mixing intensity means relatively slow single stage compared with multiple (typically two or three)
flotation rates, especially for finer particles. High recoveries stages of conventional cleaning. An example is shown in
can be still be achieved by long residence times, but this is at Figure 3. The data for the Jameson Cell and the existing plant
the expense of grade, since the long flotation times without circuit was collected at the same time during a recent pilot

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 143
L HUYNH et al

•• The ‘shape’ of the selectivity curve between valuable

mineral and gangue is dictated by liberation. When
treating liberated streams (ie after regrinding), high
rejection of gangue (>90 per  cent) can be achieved at a
valuable mineral recovery as high as 80–90 per cent.
•• Carrying capacity was never an issue due to the low
mass pull requirement as the upgrade ratios are generally
high in this duty (typically greater than five). The tailings
recycle designed into the Jameson Cell allows it to handle
any large fluctuations in feed and the short ‘residence
time’ in the cell (less than three minutes) allows it to
respond quickly to both plant disturbances or changes in
process variable settings by operators.
•• The Jameson Cell is very forgiving to changes in feed
grade and (slurry) density. The operation is robust and the
cells require little maintenance.
FIG 3 – Jameson Cell performance in a scalping duty compared The performance of the conventional cleaner circuits
to a plant with two stages of conventional cleaning. downstream of the Jameson Cell was found to vary widely
across these different sites. A summary at each operation is
plant campaign. The Jameson Cell is clearly more selective as follows:
and operates on a superior grade/recovery curve. It produces
a copper concentrate at 35 per cent Cu grade (the ore contains •• Phu Kham – the Jameson Cell achieved its role in adding
chalcopyrite and secondary copper minerals) in a single stage sufficient cleaner circuit capacity. After the Jameson Cell
of flotation, whilst the operating plant cannot consistently was installed, the improved performance of the cleaner
produce a final concentrate above 28 per cent Cu using two circuit increased the overall plant copper recovery by
stages of cleaning in conventional mechanical cells. 0.8 per cent (Bennett, Crnkovic and Walker, 2012).
•• Telfer – the addition of the Jameson Cell increased the
Since the increasing application in base metals around 2005
copper recovery in the overall cleaner circuit from
(Young et al, 2006), Jameson Cells have been successfully
approximately 85–95 per cent. There was also an overall net
retrofitted to solve capacity and grade issues in a number of
benefit in concentrate quality. Figure 4 compares the NSG
copper operations around the world (Araya et al, 2013). The
in the final plant concentrate before and after the Jameson
referenced brownfield projects and the reasons for Jameson
Cell installation. Clearly, the plant is able to produce
Cell inclusion are as follows:
a cleaner concentrate lower in NSG after Jameson Cell
•• PanAust’s Phu Kham operation in Laos – to increase cleaner installation (also shown for comparison is the cumulative
circuit capacity (Bennett, Crnkovic and Walker, 2012) frequency plot for NSG in the Jameson Cell concentrate).
•• Newcrest’s Telfer operation in Western Australia – to reject However there was no noticeable difference in the overall
non-sulfide gangue (NSG) and improve cleaner circuit copper grade in the plant final concentrate. This is because
recovery (Seaman et al, 2012) the Jameson Cell at the head of the circuit recovers most
•• Barrick’s Lumwana operation in Zambia – to reduce liberated copper at a higher grade, allowing the recleaner
uranium mineral entrainment allowing the plant to cells to recover a larger fraction of the composite particles.
consistently produce a saleable concentrate below That is, the plant is converting the increased cleaning
acceptable limits (Araya et al, 2014) power to higher recovery rather than higher grade.
•• OZ Mineral’s Prominent Hill operation in South Australia
was a new plant in a greenfield project where fluorine was
identified to be an issue during the development phase of
the project (Barns, Colbert and Munro, 2009).
At these sites, Jameson Cells were installed at the head of
the existing conventional cleaner circuit. The Jameson Cell
treats the cleaner feed stream producing a very clean high-
grade final concentrate. The tailings from the Jameson Cell
then go to a cleaner section with conventional mechanical
cells, which will now treat a lower grade feed. Because the
mineral load to these cells is now significantly lower they can
be ‘pulled’ much more slowly allowing better froth drainage.
The feed to the mechanical cells is now at a lower density
which aids separation efficiency and reduces entrainment.
The concentrate from the final stage of mechanical cell
cleaning is combined with the concentrate from the Jameson
Cell to produce the overall plant final concentrate. A review
of the Jameson Cell performance in these plants showed that:
•• The actual unit recovery of the Jameson Cell was generally
higher (typically 60 to 80 per cent) than the original design
(typically 50 per cent). Maximum recovery was found to
be controlled by mineralogy and the amount of liberated FIG 4 – Cleaner circuit performance at Telfer showing non-
mineral together with the quantity of fast-floating particles sulfide gangue in Jameson Cell concentrate and final plant
in the feed, rather than any machine limitations. concentrate before and after installation of the Jameson Cell.

144 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
 IMPROVED CLEANER CIRCUIT DESIGN FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE USING THE JAMESON CELL

•• Lumwana – soon after commissioning, the scalper Jameson mechanical cell cleaner circuits was beneficial to the
Cell was switched from a scalping duty to instead replace metallurgical performance. The cleaner scalper cells were able
the plant conventional recleaner bank. This chance was to produce a very clean concentrate at relatively high stage
due to equipment constraints and bottlenecks elsewhere recoveries (typically 50–70 per  cent), reducing the valuable
in the circuit. The change was successful and the plant mineral load on the subsequent mechanical cleaner cells.
now consistently produces on-specification concentrate, Final stage concentrate from mechanical cells was higher in
eliminating the previous need for concentrate blending. NSG content than before the installation of the scalper cells
While the Jameson Cell was originally employed to solve due to the mechanical cleaning circuit receiving a lower grade
a concentrate quality issue at Lumwana, its installation feed from the Jameson Cell tails. However, the net effect of
and other initiatives undertaken by site personnel over the the new circuit design is an overall reduction in entrainment
past two years has seen recovery increase at the plant of to the final concentrate and an increase in the overall cleaner
1.3 per cent (Araya et al, 2014). circuit recovery.
•• Prominent Hill – the Jameson Cell produces a high-grade There is room to further improve these circuit designs to
copper concentrate and is very effective in rejecting achieve maximum entrainment rejection. At Lumwana, after
entrained gangue thereby minimising fluorine levels. the installation of the cleaner scalper, further rejection of fine
The three stages of mechanical cell cleaning produces a liberated non-floating gangue particles was sought. Since
lower grade copper grade with higher levels of fluorine the majority of this gangue was reaching final concentrate
(as expected). However, the Jameson Cell contributes a from the mechanical recleaner cells, the decision was made
greater proportion (more than the original design) to the to switch the duty of the Jameson Cell from a scalper to a
final concentrate than the final stage of the conventional recleaner. This improved overall gangue rejection as the
cleaners, so the overall final concentrate is still within
Jameson Cell now produces the entire plant concentrate. In
acceptable fluorine level.
circuits where the first (and/or second stages of cleaners) are
capacity limited (eg launder, froth surface area or residence
PROGRESSING TO AN OVERALL NEW time), this alteration would be unsuitable as it would impact
CLEANER CIRCUIT DESIGN (reduce) the resulting overall cleaner circuit recovery.
It is well known that froth washing is the most effective Figure 5 proposes an improved cleaner circuit design to
method for reducing the recovery of gangue by entrainment, combine and maximise the advantages of both Jameson Cells
particularly in cleaning circuits. It is therefore logical that all and mechanical cells. It comprises a Jameson Cell cleaner
streams reporting to final concentrate should employ a froth scalper, a single bank of mechanical cells for scavenging
washing type of machine, and the circuit should be designed cleaner tailings for high recovery, and a second Jameson
to maximise overall cleaner circuit recovery. Froth washing Cell for final cleaning. The first Jameson Cell recovers the
is not usually used in mechanical cells. This is partly due to fast floating liberated minerals and produces a high-grade
practical constraints – it is difficult to design effective froth concentrate. It also acts as a buffer in the overall cleaner circuit
washing systems to fit on top of the cells; and the cells do as it is designed with sufficient capacity to handle varying
not generally provide a deep and stable enough froth bed to mass and mineral loads from the rougher/scavenger cells. A
sustain froth washing. Furthermore, the slow flotation rates Jameson Cell will typically recover 50–70 per cent in a single
(due to large bubble size and less intense mixing) means pass. This recovery range is typical in the final cleaning stage,
long flotation times and a large surface area required to supported by a sufficient circulating load to provide a high
achieve recovery. To froth wash such a large area requires an overall circuit recovery. In this design, the circulating load is
impractical amount of water that would overload the rest of supported by the mechanical cleaner scavenger cells, which
the circuit. can provide the long residence time for ultimate recovery,
The examples described clearly indicate that the addition while sending the (relatively low-grade) concentrate to
of cleaner scalper Jameson Cells to these previously all- another Jameson Cell rather than directly to final concentrate.

FIG 5 – Proposed new cleaner circuit design with Jameson Cell in cleaner scalper and recleaner duties.

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 145
L HUYNH et al

This circuit achieves the grade benefits of fully froth washed Choice of flotation technology
concentrate with the long flotation times needed for ultimate
Although this paper describes the use of the Jameson Cell
recovery, in an overall smaller circuit than either technology technology, the improved cleaner circuit design principles
could achieve alone. can be applied to other flotation machines incorporating
In comparison to multistage mechanical cleaning circuits, froth washing, such as column cells. Column technology was
this new circuit can replace two to three stages of traditional invented in the 1960s but did not gain wide acceptance in base
mechanical cell cleaning circuits. If further cleaning is metals operations until the early 1980s. It is still a popular
required in the case of ultra-fine regrind circuits, the concept technology in the cleaning circuits of many operations in the
can be extended to include an additional third stage Jameson Americas. Schena and Casali (1994) reported the use of this
Cell, or an additional mechanical stage between the cleaner technology in various cleaner circuit configurations at different
scavengers and the recleaner Jameson cell. If only two stages South American copper operations. However, column cells
of mechanical cell cleaning are required, it may be possible have not featured strongly in Australian operations. A review
to dispense with the second Jameson Cell and instead have of these installations is provided by Lane and Dunne (1987).
the cleaner scavenger concentrate report to the cleaner scalper The Jameson Cell has often erroneously been classified as a
Jameson Cell. If regrinding is required in the circuit, the column cell probably due more to the similarity of applications
cleaner scalper cell could either be installed before or after rather than the separation technology. However, it operates
the regrind mill. The optimum location is case-specific and on completely different principles and a more accurate
depends on the liberation characteristics of the rougher/ description for the Jameson Cell is a reactor/separator type
scavenger concentrate. The correct water addition for froth of flotation technology as stated by Finch (1995). Table  1
washing is determined once the mass flows around the circuit provides a comparison of the main characteristics of column
have been estimated. and Jameson Cell technologies. Technology selection will
The overarching principle of the proposed new circuit is to always be a topic of debate and will be affected by individual
ensure that froth washed flotation machines produce the entire experience. Ultimately, the best indicator of the strength of
concentrate reporting to final product. The use of a scalper cell a flotation technology is the analysis of its performance in
minimises the impact of feed variation on circuit performance operating plants. This will account not for the ‘design’ or
and mechanical cleaner scavenger cells ensure a high overall laboratory performance, but the actual performance over
cleaner circuit recovery. The circuit should be able to achieve time in real plant conditions. This will include the ease of
a high enough and dynamically stable cleaner circuit recovery operation and maintenance, and the consistency of critical
to allow the open-circuit disposal of cleaner tailings. Recently, performance variables such as bubble size. Feedback from
CSA Mine has refurbished its old concentrator. The old two users and rigorous analysis of actual operating performance
stage mechanical cell circuit was replaced with the new should prevail over laboratory or pilot results or ‘head-to-
circuit as described here. The performance of the new circuit head’ testing. This is only meaningful if each technology
is presented as a case study later in this paper. can be accurately scaled up and can maintain the small-scale

TABLE 1
Characteristics of Jameson Cell and column flotation technology.

Column cell Jameson cell

• Spargers (jetting or shearing types) required for bubble generation • Air for flotation entrained from atmosphere
• Compressors required • No compressors or blowers required
• Long residence time • Very short residence time
• Need large tank volumes • Small tank volumes (approximately five times less than ‘equivalent’ column cell)
• Collection/contact in downcomer, tank used for separation only
• Low intensity – need large collection/contact zone (typically >15 minutes) • High intensity for efficient bubble-particle contact (five to ten seconds in downcomer)
• Disadvantage for fine particle recovery (Finch, 1998) • Total residence in tank (for separation only) is two to three minutes
• Advantage for fine particle recovery
• Low/medium gas hold-up – ten to 20 per cent (Hernandez, Gomez and Finch, 2003) • Very high gas hold-up (in collection zone) – 40 to 60 per cent (Jameson, 1988)
• Bubble size is typically 1500 to 3000 microns – jetting and shearing spargers (Pyecha et • Bubble size – typically 300 to 700 microns (Evans, Atkinson and Jameson, 1995)
al, 2006; Lizama, Carrion and Estrella, 2008) • Fine bubbles increase kinetics of all particles, not just fine ones
• Fine bubbles mean higher carrying capacity and hence, productivity (production
tonnage per square metre cell area)
• Need scale-up factor to account for short-circuiting (bypass) and differences in froth • Direct scale-up. Hydrodynamic conditions (jet velocity and mixing intensity) are the
recovery/froth drop-back between pilot and full-scale cells (Dobby, 2002) same between pilot plant and full-scale cells (Young, Barns and Pease, 2006)
• No chance of short circuiting (so no bypass) – all feed has to pass through the
downcomer at least once
• Medium/high maintenance – spargers and compressors • Low maintenance – centrifugal fixed speed pump
• Sparger replacement typically six to 18 months • Slurry lens orifice (to create high-pressure jet) replacement typically every +5 years
• Power required for compressors and recirculation pumps (Microcels and Cavitation • Power required for downcomer feed pump
tube-type columns only) • Tailings exit cell, a portion (less than or equal to feed) is mixed with fresh feed and
• A portion of tailings is recirculated through cell, equal to many multiple times the feed passed through the downcomer again (giving another chance for particles to be
flow collected)
• Tailings are not simply recirculated through cell

146 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
 IMPROVED CLEANER CIRCUIT DESIGN FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE USING THE JAMESON CELL

performance (eg bubble size, operability) over the long run in management requested a new cleaner circuit to increase
a real plant. concentrate grade to 30 per cent Cu without sacrificing plant
Both columns and Jameson Cells use froth washing to recovery. The cleaner circuit now consists of an E4232/10
control entrainment. However to achieve the higher grade model (10 downcomer) Jameson Cell for cleaner scalping,
in a smaller circuit needs fast flotation rates. In this respect three new Outotec TK40 tank cells for cleaner scavenging, and
column technology has a disadvantage because of its low an E1732/4 model (4 downcomer) Jameson Cell for recleaning
flotation rates for fine particles due to the low mixing the conventional cell concentrate. The CSA flow sheet with
intensity (Finch, 1988; Dobby, 2002). In contrast, high flotation the new cleaner circuit is shown in Figure  6. This cleaner
rates are a distinguishing feature of Jameson Cells, since circuit upgrade project was managed in-house by CMPL and
they consistently provide very small bubble size and highly was completed in October 2013.
intense mixing. This is particularly important for the cleaning Figure  7 shows the performance of the two Jameson Cells
of finer streams, which are becoming more prevalent. This from surveys conducted during commissioning. The grade/
results in fast flotation rates necessary for the smaller more recovery (Figure 7a) and selectivity curves (Figure 7b) for
efficient circuits described here as ores become more complex the two Jameson Cells, although quite different are in-line
and need finer regrinding for mineral liberation. with expectations: the cleaner scalper cell produces a higher
grade concentrate than the recleaner cell. The recovery in
CSA Mine case study the cleaner scalper was quite high owing to the very large
CSA Mine is a copper operation 14  km north of Cobar in quantity of fast floating copper mineral particles in the
New South Wales, owned by Cobar Management Proprietary rougher concentrate stream. The recleaner appears to be
Limited (CMPL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Glencore. recovering a lot more composite particles as evidenced by the
Its processing plant treats mainly chalcopyrite ore from its different copper selectivity response with silica compared to
underground mine. Feed to flotation has a head grade around the cleaner scalper cell. The wide variation in data points is
five per  cent Cu varying from three to eight per  cent Cu. due to deliberately operating the Jameson Cells with different
The old flotation circuit consisted of roughing, scavenging parameters (air flow rate, froth depth and wash water) to vary
and two stages of mechanical cell cleaning to produce final performance demonstrating that the Jameson Cells can be
grade concentrate of 27.5 per  cent Cu at over 96 per  cent ‘tuned’ to operate at any point on the grade/recovery curve.
recovery. The large variations in the copper head grade often During the Jameson Cell surveys cleaner scavenger tailings
overloaded the circuits so operators had to use bypass plates were also collected to allow calculation of recovery across the
in the launders of the first cells of both the roughers and the entire cleaner circuit. Eight surveys over two days showed
first cleaner bank to divert some concentrate directly to the the overall cleaner circuit recovery to be over 98 per  cent
final concentrate. The flotation circuit required considerable while producing a final plant concentrate grade averaging
operator intervention and ‘bypassing’ material to final 29.5 per cent Cu. The overall plant recovery was maintained
concentrate was never a preferred solution as it reduced the above the target of 96 per  cent. Commissioning of Jameson
final concentrate grade. Cells and the new cleaner circuit took place at a plant
In 2011, a project was initiated to increase throughput from throughput of 160 t/h, and not the design criteria of 205 t/h
160 t/h to 205 t/h. This project was to be implemented over for sizing the Jameson Cells as the plant is yet to ramp up to
several years and included major changes to the grinding the higher tonnage. At the time of writing, the CSA Mine had
circuit as well as a complete overhaul of the flotation circuit been operating the new cleaner circuit for around five months.
which then consisted entirely of Denver cells installed in 1965 Figure 8 shows the plant concentrate grade approximately two
(Erepan, Rajiwate and Beehan, 2014). There was an initiative years prior to the installation and since the new circuit was
to increase concentrate grade and to reduce concentrate installed. In the months after the new circuit was installed,
rail transport costs to the port of Newcastle. CSA Mine the plant treated more challenging ore, which has unusually

FIG 6 – Flow sheet at CSA Mine concentrator with new cleaner circuit with Jameson Cells in scalper and recleaner duties.

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 147
L HUYNH et al

A B

FIG 7 – (A) Copper grade/recovery and (B) copper/silica selectivity curves for the Jameson Cells at CSA Mine.

FIG 8 – CSA Mine final concentrate grade before and after installation of new cleaning circuit. (A) Plant final
concentrate grade as timeline and (B) same data shown as cumulative distribution.

high quantities of readily floating pyrrhotite gangue and to elevate the final concentrate to at least 30 per cent Cu which
cubanite (CuFe2S3, 23.4 per  cent Cu), which both tend to is expected to happen when the plant returns to treating the
lower the final concentrate grade. However, the shift assays ‘normal’ ore type.
have showed that the new circuit is still capable of producing As well as higher concentrate grade, the plant reports
a higher average grade final concentrate (29.2 per  cent Cu) significant operational improvements. The new cleaner circuit
compared with the old circuit (averaging 27.3 per  cent Cu). has proven to be much more robust and better able to handle
The difference in final concentrate grade of the two circuits is the fluctuations in feed grade without operator intervention
more evident when the same data is plotted as a cumulative or the need to bypass material. The new operating strategy for
distribution curve as shown in Figure 8b. The ongoing aim is the CSA Mine concentrator is to operate the cleaner scalper

148 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
 IMPROVED CLEANER CIRCUIT DESIGN FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE USING THE JAMESON CELL

Jameson Cell on the ‘flat’ part of the grade/recovery shown in Table 2 compares the most important design aspects of the
Figure 6a and then ‘tune’ the recleaner Jameson Cell to achieve two cleaner circuit designs:
the overall desired cleaner circuit performance. For example, •• number of cells installed – less cells means lower
for maximum plant final concentrate grade, the recleaner installation costs, less ongoing operating, maintenance
should be operated below 80 per cent unit recovery as silica and spare parts costs
recovery increases significantly above this point as shown in •• circuit total residence time – shorter residence time makes
Figure  6b. However, if a circulating load builds up around for a more robust and responsive circuit that is faster to
the cleaner circuit and starts to affect (decrease) overall plant ‘tune’ and optimise
recovery, the recleaner Jameson Cell can be ‘pulled’ harder
•• footprint – smaller footprint has obvious advantages in
to reduce the load to the cleaner scavenger bank. The short
foundation and structures, building and installation costs
residence time of the new circuit ensures it responds quickly
•• installed motor power – for consideration of ongoing
to such changes.
energy usage and cost.
Interestingly, another copper operation in Australia has
Table 3 compares these parameters for the two different
been operating Jameson Cells in the new cleaner circuit
circuit designs. It shows significant benefits in the new cleaner
configuration since 1995, although that was not the initial
circuit, mainly as a result of the reduction in number of cells
intent. Jameson Cells were originally designed to operate in a
and total cell volumes. In summary, it shows that for the three
two-stage cleaning configuration, but during commissioning
scenarios, the improved circuit design reduces residence time
it was quickly realised that the first cleaning stage was already
by around 70 per cent, footprint by 30–50 per cent and uses
producing final grade concentrate, making a second stage of
30–40 per cent less power. This design comparison is a simple
cleaning redundant. As a result these cells were altered to treat
exercise that can be independently estimated by potential
the concentrate from the conventional cleaner scavenger bank
users for their application.
instead. So in fact the improved cleaner circuit is not even
new. The only difference is that the Jameson Cells installed The development of a lower cost circuit that is also more
at CSA Mine are much more ‘user friendly’ being the latest effective is a significant step. As is often the case, the ‘step
Mark IV design compared with those at this copper operation change’ is not really new; rather it has been ‘assembled’
which are the much earlier Mark II design. by combining existing knowledge and developments.
It has been developed in brownfields applications with
Other proposed benefits specific constraints and objectives. This provided a low risk
demonstration and development of the concepts, equipment
So far discussions on the new cleaner circuit design have
and techniques. Several other brownfield projects are now
focused purely on the benefits in metallurgical performance. following this success and implementing circuits to produce
To explore other potential benefits for greenfield projects, all final concentrate from Jameson Cells. In the common
the new cleaner circuit design was compared to commonly pattern, successful application at brownfield sites leads to
designed ‘standard’ flow sheet. The size and number of adoption for greenfield projects. At the time of writing several
mechanical (or column) cells required for the standard cleaner projects at definitive feasibility stage (DFS) have the new
circuit was selected by an independent engineering design cleaner circuit locked into the flow sheet design.
house while design of the new circuit was undertaken by the
authors. It is assumed the three concentrators are treating Laboratory tests to simulate ’new’ cleaner
copper ore (chalcopyrite as the economic mineral) with head
grades between 0.5 to 1.0 per cent Cu. The three projects are circuit design
described as follows: Flow sheet development occurs early in the metallurgical
•• Project A is a small/medium sized plant (<1000  t/h) development of an orebody and is typically conducted on a
where the cleaner circuit has three stages of conventional small number of blended drill core intervals to represent the
cleaning, designed in the usual counter-current closed ore. At this stage, required reagent schemes, pulp chemistry
circuit configuration
TABLE 3
•• Project B is a medium/large sized plant (>1000 and
Potential savings of the new cleaner circuit design over standard designs.
<3000  t/h) where the cleaner circuit has three stages
of conventional cleaning, again designed in the usual
counter-current closed circuit configuration Project Circuit residence Footprint (%) Installed motor
•• Project C is a very large copper plant (>5000 t/h similar to time (%) power ( %)
those typically seen in porphyry copper operations) where A 71 54 37
there are also two stages of cleaning, but mechanical cells B 73 33 30
are only used for the first cleaner stage whilst column cells
C 74 43 30
are chosen for recleaning.

TABLE 2
Comparison of standard and new cleaner circuit designs.

Project Standard circuit design New cleaner circuit design

Number of Residence time Footprint Installed motor Number Residence time Footprint Installed motor
cells (minutes) (m2) power (kW) of cells (minutes) (m2) power (kW)
A 15 319 88 385 7 92 41 243
B 19 210 188 1413 7 58 126 995
C 22 245 732 5498 12 64 417 3839

12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014 149
L HUYNH et al

conditions, grind size targets and overall circuit configuration

are developed by conducting a series of ‘standard’ tests. The
overall flow sheet is settled before applying the same set
of conditions over a much greater range of ore-variability
samples to develop flow sheet design criteria and metallurgical
models for economic evaluation. Flow sheet development
test work is conducted in laboratory batch experiments,
with locked cycle tests generally being conducted on a select
number of samples to confirm closed-circuit performance and
flow rates for design purposes. Depending on the complexity
of the orebody and the owner’s risk appetite, a continuous
pilot plant evaluation of a large bulk sample may be carried
out, or mini-continuous pilot plant runs may be completed on
multiple samples.
To evaluate the improved cleaner circuit for a new orebody,
a practical and accurate laboratory evaluation procedure is
needed during this stage of design. Such a procedure, using
standard laboratory equipment, has been developed and is FIG 9 – Pilot Jameson Cell versus dilute batch flotation test selectivity.
described here.
The Jameson Cell scales up very accurately from continuous Figure 10 shows an example of a complete testing regime
laboratory and pilot scale rigs. However this requires volumes that can be conducted for a new project to simulate the new
that can be impractical for laboratory testing. Fortunately, a cleaner circuit design. The recommended procedure is as
procedure to accurately simulate Jameson Cell performance follows:
using standard laboratory batch cells has been developed •• After regrinding (if required), place slurry (rougher
and verified. Several of the brownfields applications concentrate) in a laboratory batch flotation cell and dilute
described in this paper successfully used this approach. For to less than 10 wt per cent solids.
example, Seaman et al (2012) described laboratory tests used
•• Condition with relevant collectors, depressants, pH
to justify installation of two Jameson Cells at Telfer without
modifiers.
the need for pilot plant testing. The full-scale performance
of these cells was predicted by dilution batch tests. This •• Add frother throughout the test as required to maintain a
procedure can be applied with reasonable confidence for the stable froth phase and maintain the level of the cell with
new cleaner circuit design when developing a flow sheet for addition of water to give approximately 15–30 mm froth
a greenfield project. depth. Adjust airflow so that the froth is almost free-
flowing over the launder.
Figure 9 compares dilute batch flotation test selectivity of
copper versus penalty element recovery with parallel pilot •• Collect concentrates by using a very slow scraping rate of
Jameson Cell performance over a wide range of operating the entire froth phase into a container. Suggested scrape
conditions. In each case, the batch dilute flotation test was rates are once every 20 seconds, with the paddle pulled
carried out by collecting a sample from the operating plant, very slowly (taking approximately 15 seconds for one
then diluting the slurry in process water to ensure the slurry scrape) across the froth in order to maximise concentration
solids content was less than ten per cent w/w. Following this of valuables and to minimise entrainment of gangue.
a batch flotation test was conducted with frother as the only The above procedure is applied to simulate both Jameson
reagent added (and only as required) to ensure generation of Cell stages (cleaner scalper and recleaner). To test the cleaner
a stable froth during the test. Unlike conventional batch tests, flow sheet shown in Figure 10b, a suitable flotation time or
these dilution tests were conducted with very low scraping concentrate mass pull for the cleaner scalper must first be
(froth removal) rates, eg ten to 20 second intervals (with froth identified. This involves conducting a test where four to five
paddles slowly pulled across the froth) to allow as much concentrates are recovered from the rougher concentrate
drainage from the froth as possible. (Figure 10a) and analysing the resulting selectivity curve of the

FIG 10 – Laboratory flotation test procedure to simulate the new cleaner circuit design. (A) Cleaner scalper batch test, (B) complete cleaner circuit batch tests.

150 12TH AUSIMM MILL OPERATORS’ CONFERENCE / TOWNSVILLE, QLD, 1–3 SEPTEMBER 2014
 IMPROVED CLEANER CIRCUIT DESIGN FOR BETTER PERFORMANCE USING THE JAMESON CELL

cleaner scalper. The optimum point would be located left of As well as the significant improvement in concentrate
the ‘knee’ of the selectivity curve. For example, in Figure 9 this grade/recovery performance, the new cleaner circuit
would target copper recovery of approximately 50 per cent. In significantly reduces the required number of cells and
this case, the concentrate was collected only after one minute equipment compared to current standard cleaning circuit
(three scrapes). If flow sheet development time or ore sample designs. This means that better performance can be achieved
quantity is limited, an arbitrary time of one minute (or three in less space, for lower capital cost, lower operating cost, and
scrapes) should be used as standard — experience has shown significantly less energy use.
that this is close enough to the targeted recovery/grade for a
copper circuit for a cleaner scalper duty. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The cleaner scavenger stage batch flotation test is carried
The authors would like to thank the management of CMPL
out as a regular batch test following the removal of the cleaner
for permission to publish their data. Thank you also to Dave
scalper concentrate using the normal ten second scraping rates
Osborne and Joe Pease from XT for their review and input to
to remove the remainder of the floatable mineral particles.
this paper.
Then, a final dilution cleaner test will need to be conducted
on the cleaner scavenger concentrate using a similar flotation
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