G D Delprat Distinguished Lecture Series: The perils of conducting plant trials

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Friday, 13 September 2024
Burnie, TAS

About this event

After the Tasmania Branch Annual Meeting concludes, please join us for the Metallurgical Society: G D Delprat Lecture.

Guillaume Delprat, along with Charles Potter developed the first industrial froth flotation process in 1904 in Broken Hill to overcome the sulphide problem experienced at the BHP mines. One can only imagine the tremendous pressure Delprat (the General Manager) was under from his board and shareholders as the ore became more difficult to treat, recoveries deteriorated, and profits dwindled. He could have sort the comfort of an easy way out, but his innate curiosity, intellect and strength of character would not permit him to seek a “Jim’s mowing franchise” of the day. He had responsibilities that he had to take care of.

In Delprat’s honour, over the last 13 years we have heard from the likes of Mike Nelson, Alban Lynch, Graeme Jameson, Bill Johnson, Tim Napier-Munn, Joe Pease and Peter Munro (to name but a few) discuss the development, advances and innovations in the art and science of froth flotation.

Improvements in froth flotation, whether they be incremental step changes to optimise, or major disruptive technologies all need to be tried and tested in the laboratory, pilot plant and at industrial scale to show their metallurgical and economic benefits. Failure to validate and provide a value of the benefit achieved may consign it to the “compost bin” of failed ideas.

For the last 21 years of his career, Christopher Greet has worked to demonstrate how changing the composition of grinding media can affect the pulp and surface chemistry of the particles we wish to separate to yield reductions in reagent consumption and improvements in metallurgical response at the laboratory, pilot plant and industrial scale. This work has involved conducting numerous laboratory studies and over 100 plant trials. It has also led to the observations that pulp chemistry is a reasonable proxy for detecting changes in mineralogy. Further, trying to convince an operation that moving from this grey, spherical ball to another grey, spherical ball has had its fair share of “Jim’s mowing franchise” moments.

Two examples demonstrating the need to resilience, tenacity and a strong belief in the scientific method as well as the test results will be discussed: The Ernest Henry Mine high chrome media plant trial, and the development and introduction of MagoPulp (aka PCM) into a concentrator. Both, trials were challenging, stretched over years and needed a good dose of humour!  

Speaker/s

Christopher Greet

FAusIMM(CP)

Manager Metallurgy - Minerals Processing Research, Magotteaux
PhD

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Chris graduated from the South Australian Institute of Technology with a Metallurgical Engineering degree in 1990, and was awarded his PhD from the Ian Wark Research Institute of the University of South Australia in 2002. Chris has work within the mining industry in a variety of roles from shift foreman at the Teutonic Bore copper/zinc operation to Principal Technologist with Pasminco. He is currently employed by Magotteaux as Manager Minerals Processing Research, and leads their technical efforts investigating the effect of grinding chemistry on downstream processes.