This section presents these consistent results and provides data on the profitability of the investment, showing payback periods of just a few months. It also discusses further improvements in froth management for large flotation cells by incorporating spider crowders, which aim to enhance the efficiency of the center launder upgrade. 4.1 Performance Improvements Evaluation The results from different retrofits show consistent improvements in metallurgical recoveries as well as in operational parameters. Across the studied retrofits in Constancia, Kennecott Copperton, Bagdad, and Red Chris, the improvements in reducing froth surface area and froth transport distance were very consistent. Reduction in froth surface area in all cases varies between 38% to 48%, whereas the reduction in froth transport distance is on average 69%. These consistent results are presented in Table 5. The significant reductions in froth surface area led to enhancements in froth management by increasing froth crowding over the launder lip and the thickness of the froth bed. A thicker froth bed was looking to improve the selectivity of the operation by restraining gangue recovery and thereby improving the grade of the concentrate (Bermudez et al. 2022). The increased crowding is therefore seen to improve metallurgical performance and froth movement, eliminating stagnant froth zones on top of the cell (Liu et al. 2022; Seaman et al. 2021). When evaluating the similarities among the studied cases, the retrofits from Constancia, Kennecott Copperton, and Bagdad are comparable due to similar processing parameters and conditions. The throughput of these three studies ranges from 90 to 150 ktpd, with all three processing Cu-Mo ore. The number of installed center launders per row and the size of the upgraded flotation cells are also consistent across these cases. The operating parameters among the four studied retrofits are presented in Table 1. Table 1 – Similarities and consistent results observed among the four case studies FTD FSA Throughput (ktpd) Processed ore Upgraded cells Hudbay Constancia -69 % -42 % 90 Cu-Mo 3/7 TC300 Kennecott Copperton -71 % -38 % 150 Cu-Mo 3/5 TC300 Bagdad -72 % -38 % 90 Cu-Mo 3/6 TC300 Red Chris -63 % -48 % 30 Cu-Au 6/6 TC200 Due to the similar operating conditions of the three retrofits—Constancia, Kennecott Copperton, and Bagdad—the consistent results from metallurgical recovery evaluations are comparable. As summarized in Table 2, at Constancia, copper recovery improved by 0.7% and molybdenum by 1.4%. Kennecott Copperton increased copper recovery by 0.74% and molybdenum by 0.82%, while Bagdad achieved a 0.93% increase in copper recovery and a 3.15% increase in molybdenum recovery, leading to very short payback periods for all the retrofits. The recovery improvements demonstrated in these studies consistently highlight significant enhancements in metallurgical recoveries, providing a strong foundation for expecting similar recovery enhancements in the future.
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