Thickener and filtration • Thickener The froth concentrate from the flotation cells is pumped to the concentrate thickener. The gravitational force causes the particles to form a thick slurry, which contains most of the solids. The overflow consists of liquids and caustic solution. • Filtration Filter presses are used to dewater the concentrate and waste material. The minerals that are extracted from the sludge are processed further in follow-up processes and the water used is returned to the process. Onward transport The finished mineral concentrate is transported to primary production plants like smelting works or refineries. In fully integrated plants, the internal transport is handled by conveyors. • Smelting The process involves feeding a batch of ore or concentrate into a furnace or smelter, along with fluxes and reducing agents, and heating it to high temperatures to separate the metal from the gangue materials. The molten metal is then tapped off and further refined. • Electrorefining/Electrowinning In electrorefining, a batch of impure metal is used as the anode in an electrolytic cell, where it is dissolved and deposited onto a cathode, resulting in purified metal. In batch electrowinning, metal ions in solution are reduced and deposited onto an electrode to recover the metal in pure form. 4 5 4 5 M29 → festo.com/didactic Magazine > Current trend topics
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MzE0OTAwNw==