Estudio de concentración gravimétrica de sedimentos aluviales del río nambija mediante concentrador knelson : concentración gravimétrica de aluviales previa molienda.

Abstract

In Ecuador, artisanal mining and small-scale mining use Z-type gravimetric concentrators, together with mercury amalgamation for the recovery of gold in alluvial sediments, a method considered inefficient due to its low recovery of fine god, it also generates contamination of nearby water sources. to the processing site. For this reason, the aim of this work was to study the effectiveness of tailings reprocessing in a manual discharge Knelson Laboratory Centrifugal Concentrator (KC-MD3), as an alternative for the treatment of alluvial sediments from the Nambija River, which were previously ground. For this, the optimal particle size to improve recovery was initially determined by means of valued mesh analysis. Next, five stages were carried out in series in the KC-MD3, in such a way that the tailings from the previous stage were processed again in the concentrator. A constant pulp feed was maintained, at 40% solids with a flow of 400 g of dry ore/min and a centrifugal force of 60G. The manipulated variable was the fluidization pressure, in such a way that the first three stages were carried out with a water flow of 2.5 l/min, while the last two with 3.5 l/min. Thus, in the first concentration stage, 58% of gold was recovered, so 42% was lost in the tailings. A recovery greater than 65% was estimated by carrying out two concentration stages in series, and an operating fluidization of 3.5 l/min was established, since with this, 13% more is recovered in fourth stage, than what it recovered in third stage.