BHPs Nickel West division operates the Leinster Nickel Mine and Concentrator (Leinster), located in the Goldfields region of Western Australia. Leinster recently went through a modernisation of sections of the flotation circuit through the targeted upgrading of cells combined with additional process controls. This included replacing old flotation mechanisms with the latest technology and installing the newest flotation cell control instrumentation linked into the Digital Control System (DCS) supervisory controller. This paper discusses the processes, the challenges and the successes of the modernisation work undertaken at Leinster. It includes the adoption of an advanced froth imaging control system for the Flash flotation circuit which has resulted in improved metallurgical performance and an increase in nickel recovery.
CITATION:Mullen, B, Sykes, J, Hassett, P and Walshe, M, 2019. Leinster Nickel Concentrator Flotation Circuit Upgrade, in Proceedings MetPlant 2019, pp 163175 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).