Flotation concentrators are constrained by the grade/recovery relationship in the flotation circuit and the grade and the impurity limits of the smelter. Galvanox? (Galvanox) provides a means to break that constraint and offers an opportunity to increase overall copper production, reduce plant operating costs and increase net revenue from existing flotation concentrators by recovering additional copper currently lost to tailings. A number of benefits to concentrator operation are identified. Removal of the recovery constraint allows shipped concentrate grade to a smelter to be increased to the maximum possible, thus reducing transport and TC charges. The Galvanox technology can then be used to recover the majority of the copper reporting to the cleaner tailings streams, recovering copper losses attendant on both the grade increase and existing cleaner losses. The ramifications of this concept are discussed in the paper and the economic rationale behind this approach is developed.
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