Process Advances At Lac Minerals Ltd. Est Malartic Division

G.H. Hope, J. McMullen, D.Green
presented at: 25th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mineral Processors Ottawa, Ontario; January 1993

October 2nd, 1999

This paper discusses the treatment of a massive sulphide, copper/gold ore from the Bousquet 2 Mine at the Est Malartic Mill to produce a gravity gold product, a copper flotation concentrate and a gold precipitate. Mill improvements focus on the application of the Knelson Concentrator to replace conventional mineral jigs and the implementation of Outukumpu high grade tank cells to provide increased flotation capacity.

The paper further details the bench and production scale test work which proved that it was possible to recover approximately 40% of the total gold with the Knelson Concentrator as compared to 10.8% with the mineral jig. This factor combined with the ability of the Knelson Concentrator to achieve a high upgrading ratio (greater than 1000:1 as compared to less than 300:1 with the mineral jig) resulted in the eventual installation of 2 fully automated 30" Knelson CD Concentrators.

"Contrary to the jig operation, the Knelson requires very little fine tuning. Good, clean water is required for the backwash water but with this provision, there is not much else to do. The jigs on the other hand required adjustment of the water and stroke and required regular and frequent maintenance of the jig bed. Maintenance requirements for the Knelson have been minimal to date."
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