Zinc ore beneficiation and processing requires a variety of equipment to form a beneficiation production line to complete the task of separating zinc ore from gangue minerals and improving the grade of zinc concentrate. The main zinc ore beneficiation equipment includes crushing equipment, grinding equipment, flotation equipment, etc., and there are also some auxiliary equipment. This article will introduce the characteristics of these equipment in detail and tell you how to use them together.
1.1. Crushing equipment
The jaw crusher has a compact structure and is easy to operate. It can efficiently crush zinc ores of various hardness and stability. In zinc ore beneficiation, the jaw crusher is mainly used to achieve coarse and medium crushing of large zinc ores to prepare for subsequent flotation work.
The cone crusher is used to complete the fine crushing of zinc ore after the coarse crushing by the jaw crusher, so that the material can enter the ball mill smoothly. The cone crusher further reduces the size of ore particles through the extrusion and shearing action between the rotating cone and the fixed shell. It has the advantages of large crushing ratio, reliable performance, no wear of wearing parts, and long service life.
1.2. Grinding equipment
Ball mill plays an important role in zinc ore grinding. It is used to achieve deep grinding of zinc ore. It grinds and impacts the ore with rolling steel balls to crush it into smaller particles, so as to increase the contact area between zinc ore and reagents in subsequent flotation operations.
The spiral classifier is combined with the ball mill to separate and remove impurities in zinc ore by taking advantage of the different specific gravity of solid particles. It can effectively improve the purity of zinc ore and create good conditions for subsequent flotation operations. The synergistic effect of the two greatly improves the flotation efficiency.
1.3. Flotation equipment
Flotation machine is the core equipment of zinc ore flotation process, which is used to complete the separation of zinc minerals in zinc ore. It uses the difference of physical and chemical properties on the surface of minerals and the effect of flotation reagents to make useful minerals selectively attached to bubbles and rise, thereby achieving separation from gangue.
1.4. Auxiliary equipment
Vibrating screens are used to screen ores of different particle sizes in zinc ore dressing to ensure that the ore particles entering the subsequent equipment meet the requirements.
The mixing barrel is used to stir the flotation reagent and slurry to fully mix the reagent and ore.
The dryer can remove moisture from the zinc ore and improve the quality of the zinc powder.
The concentrator can concentrate the slurry, increase the concentration of the mineral, and reduce the workload of subsequent processing. These auxiliary equipment play an important role in different links of zinc ore dressing, and jointly ensure the smooth progress of the zinc ore dressing process.
Zinc ore generally exists in two forms: oxide ore and sulfide ore. Different chemical properties determine the need to use different mineral processing techniques and flotation equipment.
2.1. Zinc sulfide ore
For zinc sulfide ore, flotation is usually used. During the flotation process, a suitable flotation equipment combination can be selected according to the specific conditions of the ore. For example, a mechanical stirring flotation machine can be used, which has a simple structure, convenient operation, strong adaptability, and can effectively process zinc sulfide ore. The high-speed rotating agitator drives the slurry to flow, generates negative pressure in the impeller cavity and inhales air, so that the zinc sulfide mineral particles in the slurry are fully in contact with the bubbles to achieve efficient flotation.
2.2. Zinc oxide ore
For zinc oxide ore, gravity separation or flotation can be used. When gravity separation is used, gravity separation equipment such as shaking table and jig can be used.
The shaking table uses the movement difference of mineral particles under the combined action of gravity, water flow and bed friction to sort, which has certain advantages for processing coarse-grained zinc oxide ore.
The jig separates the mineral particles according to density through the periodic up and down pulsation of the water flow, thereby separating the zinc oxide minerals.
If flotation is used, for low-grade zinc ore, the zinc ore can be enriched by gravity separation process first, and then zinc can be floated by flotation process. In the flotation process, it is possible to consider using an aerated flotation machine. This type of equipment has a large aeration volume, uniform bubble distribution, and low energy consumption. It is suitable for processing zinc oxide ores with finer particle size and lower density, and can improve the flotation speed and concentrate grade.
2.3. The importance of mineral processing tests
No matter which mineral processing method and flotation equipment are selected, a preliminary selectivity test needs to be done before deciding on mineral processing. The preliminary selectivity test can provide a basis for the scientific selection of corresponding flotation equipment and better realize the mineral processing production of the enterprise. Through the selectivity test, key information such as the properties, mineral composition, and particle size distribution of the ore can be understood, and the feasibility and effect of different mineral processing methods and equipment combinations can be evaluated.
Only by reasonably matching mineral processing equipment and determining the appropriate mineral processing technology through mineral processing tests can a better mineral processing effect be achieved, high-grade zinc concentrate can be obtained, the mineral processing recovery rate can be improved, and ultimately higher economic benefits can be obtained.
