Conference Proceedings
Eighth Mill Operators' Conference
Conference Proceedings
Eighth Mill Operators' Conference
Fines Minimisation in the Comminution of Phosphate Rock
WMC Fertilizers (WMCF) operates a Beneficiation Plant at Phosphate Hill in Queensland, Australia. The plant consists of two-stages of crushing, followed by a wet scrubbing and desliming circuit. Ore is then fed to a tertiary crusher and a milling/classification circuit, with the final product going to a swing-lift thickener and storage tanks. From the slurry storage tanks, the phosphate rock is fed to a horizontal belt filters which dewater the phosphate rock ahead of a hemi-hydrate phosphoric acid plant. The water soluble recovery of phosphate in the phosphoric acid plant is dependent on the moisture content in the filter cake, as this governs the wash water addition to the hemi-hydrate filters. Since commencement of operation, the moisture content of the filter cake fed to the phosphoric acid plant has been higher than design reducing the phosphoric acid plant recovery and at times reducing the throughput through the phosphoric acid plant. The moisture content in the filter cake can be decreased by reducing the generation of fines in the milling and classification circuit (classified as -38 micron material). This paper identifies the causes of fines generation in the Phosphate Hill beneficiation plant. It discusses the options that were assessed to minimise fines generation, and outlines the results to date of circuit changes undertaken at Phosphate Hill.
Contributor(s):
M Nott, F Shi, W Valery
-
Fines Minimisation in the Comminution of Phosphate RockPDFThis product is exclusive to Digital library subscription
-
Fines Minimisation in the Comminution of Phosphate RockPDFNormal price $22.00Member price from $0.00
Fees above are GST inclusive
PD Hours
Approved activity
- Published: 2002
- PDF Size: 0.326 Mb.
- Unique ID: P200304004