The Multotec GV cyclones are designed specifically for tailings dam applications.
An innovative hydrocyclone solution is allowing a large Zambian copper mine to develop a safe and cost effective tailings storage facility (TSF).
The TSF faced a number of specific challenges, including its extensive planned capacity and the area’s flat topography. The mine’s process plant pumps up to 10 000 m3 an hour of tailings to the TSF, requiring its final circumference to reach about 19 km.
The flat area around the mine meant there was no suitable topography to provide a natural dam and it was vital to create strong walls to retain the slurry from the plant, so that the integrity of the TSF could be assured, explains mineral processing equipment company Multotec
Simple gravity separation and sun-drying had proved unable to create material firm enough to constitute walls. Multotec’s 250 mm GV hydrocyclones were able to deliver an underflow discharge that could be walked on within two days and, after a week, the material could withstand the weight of an excavator.
The volume of slurry being pumped into the TSF created an additional challenge. The customer required a solution that would keep the cyclone above the slurry level for longer and would be easier to move. A special cyclone cradle was designed to be attached to a long wooden pole, giving greater height and allowing the cyclones to be left in the same position for a longer time.
In addition, Multotec custom-designed and manufactured the hydrocyclones to be lighter, for easier handling and manoeuvrability, and rubber-lined to improve wear life. The vortex finders and cone sections were also modified to be metal spun.
Other changes were made to speed up the changing of a spigot and the moving of the hydrocyclones from one point on the TSF wall to the next. The design includes a threaded spigot coupling and quick-release connections on the cyclone.