“People in themining industryput upwith interruptions formanyyears. Theyweresimplynot
awareof anyother solution. This changed thanks toour co-operationwithFesto,”
explains Juan
Rucobo,Headof SystemControl at the Fresnillosilvermine (right, herewithMarceloAlmendarez,
Technical Consultant, and JuanCarlosCelaya,Manager ProcessAutomation, FestoMexico).
W
hen theSpanish conquista-
dores ledbyHernánCortes
set off nearly500yearsago
insearchof El Dorado, the
cityof gold, they foundvery littleof this
metal but great quantitiesof silver. After
Peru,Mexico is the largest silver producer
in theworld today.TheFresnillosilvermine
in the Federal Stateof Zacatecashasbeen
mining thispreciousmetal for nearly500
years.Here, the“whiteexcrement of the
gods”, as theAztecscalledsilver, caneven
beseenwith thenakedeyeamong the
8,200 tonnesof oreextractedeachday
from themine.However, theoredoesn’t
giveup its treasure lightly.
Grinding,mixing, foaming
Theorefirst needs tobe thoroughly
pulverised in largemillsandmixedwith
water and chemicals. Thesilver sludge is
thensplit into its individual components
inamechanical/chemical separationpro-
cess. Thisprocessexploits the fact that
gasbubblesattach themselveseasily
TheFresnillosilvermine inMexico
isoneof themost productivemines
in theworld. Itssuccess isduenot only to the richsilver deposits, but also
to the reliableprocessingof theore. Festowasa competent partnerwhen
it came toprovidinggreater simplicityandefficiency in theflotation cell
separationprocess. The reliableactuatorsDFPI canhandleeven theharsh
conditionsof themine.
Thesilver of
theAztecs
Automationendsdowntime inflotation cells
Clear separation:
Thephysical/chemical
flotationprocesssplits thesilver sludge
into its individual components.
1.2014
trends inautomation
Synergies
40
–
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