FLOTATION: Eriez, CEEC reach deal to boost efficiency

AUSTRALIA – Leading mineral processing technology company Eriez has joined forces with energy efficient mining and processing champion CEEC, to continue to drive improvements across the global mining industry. The Coalition for Energy Efficient Comminution (CEEC) is an international, not-for-profit company, entirely funded by sponsorship from the minerals industry. Its mission is to share energy efficient, productive mining processes to help reduce costs, lower footprint and improve shareholder value. Announcing a sponsorship agreement with Eriez, CEEC CEO Alison Keogh said she was pleased to welcome the US-based company to the CEEC team. “Eriez brings an exciting option to mineral processing circuits with its innovative HydroFloat technology, which has potential to significantly cut costs and boost processing efficiency,” she said. Keogh stated, “Eriez highlights the potential to add significant value through flotation of coarser material. When successfully commercialized at full scale, this will dramatically reduce costs by lowering use of energy, water and other resources per unit." Eriez Australia managing director Jaisen Kohmuench said his company was proud to partner with a true collaborator like CEEC. “We were familiar with CEEC’s global initiatives and were introduced to CEEC by colleagues in North America. We wanted to help support CEEC’s work and to share our key learnings with the mining industry, so we’re excited to come on board as a sponsor,” he stated. Kohmuench said, “Two decades ago Eriez pioneered coarse flotation in the phosphate and potash industries. Since then we’ve advanced our technology, resulting in development of our coarse flotation system, the HydroFloat. This innovative separator has a fluidized bed which increases particle contact with bubbles and reduces the turbulent action often found in conventional mechanical flotation cells. As a result, we’re able to recover much coarser particles, even those with minimal surface area exposure.” He also pointed out a recent study by Dr. Jan Miller at the University of Utah has shown that HydroFloat can recover copper ore particles as coarse as 1 mm with a mineral surface expression as low as 1%. By increasing the size of ore particles from 20 to 80 microns, for example, the energy required per tonne drops from 20 to 30 kWh/t to less than 7 kWh/t. Kohmuench added, “With grinding consuming up to 3% of the world’s total electrical energy consumption, coarse flotation could save the industry significant costs and greatly reduce its energy use and carbon footprint.” More about Eriez here: www.EriezFlotation.com. CEEC is sponsored by leading mineral industry businesses. Please visit the website at www.CEECtheFuture.org.