The North Caucasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (State Technological University), Vladikavkaz, North Ossetia Alania Republic, Russia

S. I. Evdokimov, Assistant Professor, e-mail: eva-ser@mail.ru
S. V. Artemov, Post Graduate Student
A. M. Panshin, Candidate for a Doctor`s Degree

M. S. Datsiev, Post Graduate Student

The authors developed flotation technique according to which the gas phase used the bubbles produced by dispergating in the composite stream pulp from the saturated water vapour (t = 104 ^oC, p = 0,12 MPa) and air (t = 15–20 ^oC). For this procedure air, suched by the flotomachine impeller block, was mixed with the water vapour resulting in the aerovapour bubbles formation in the pulp when the aerovapour mixture is used as a gaseous phase, the boundary layer is heated due to the great heat of the a water vapour condensation (2685 kJ/kg), chauging the surface forces balance in the gap between a particle and bubbles and consequently the flotation sticking result. A special method and device were developed to measure the aerovapour bubbles based on the induction excitation in the coil windings during the magnetic stream chauge through the winding surface with the bubbles appearance in the ferromagnetic liquid filling in the coil. The bubbles size decreases 2–2,5 times in the conditions modeling the aerovapour flotation process in the laboratory tests the heating vapour expenditure made up 1,36 m³/min per 1 m³ of the flotomachine bulk. The enrichment scheme principle based on the raw concentrate manufacture in 2 steps was suggested: Ѕ of the initial raw material was used to separate the raw concentrate of the first enrichment stream mixing it with another Ѕ part and extraching the raw concentrate of enrichment stream II being transferred to the repurification. This technology used at the Olympiadninsky deposit showed the concentrate yield decrease from 4,01 to 2,98% while gold extraction level is kept on the same level reducing the load and expenditures on the following operation of the concentrate biooxidation and cianation. At the Urupsky deposit the stream flotation scheme and aerovapour mixture use as a gaseous phase, copper content in the finished concentrate was 1,79% higher, the extraction was 4,24% higher while gold extraction into the finished copper concentrate increased by 8,72% due to gold content increase from 5,5 to 7,0 g/t.

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