EcoFlot - Scale-up and Demonstration of the CoarseAir Flotation Technology - Year 1

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The EcoFlot project (22013), aims to scale-up and demonstrate the CoarseAir flotation technology developed by FLSmidth in the context of “The MissionZero Mine”, which aims to enable customers to move towards zero water and energy waste by 2030. The project focuses on enhanced mineral processing flows for challenging materials, including coarse slurries of base metals that were previously deemed uneconomic to process.The main features compared to the best-in-class technologies include (i) recovery of particles up to 850 micron in size, including particles previously lost to mine tailings; (ii) 3 - 6 % improvement in overall recovery; (iii) increase unit throughput by 30 % and a decrease in flotation footprint by 35 %; (iv) 60 % decrease in flotation energy demand; (v) 40 % reduction in utility demand for air and water; (vi) 10 % reduction in process chemicals due to reduction in particle surface area and no flocculants required for the coarse tailings; (vii) 30 % reduction in comminution energy required; (viii) 30% reduction in water demand and an overall decreased process plant footprint, resulting in a 30 % reduction in CAPEX and a 38 % reduction in OPEX.The project will deliver the first-of-its-kind economically viable CoarseAir flotation demonstration plant with a throughput of up to 2,640 t/d to achieve TRL 8. Commercialisation and market deployment are estimated 2.5 to 3.5 years after the start of the project to reach TRL 9. It has the potential to become a truly transformative innovation. Target markets are metals ores such as copper, gold, molybdenum, zinc, lead, nickel, cobalt, platinum group metals, and industrial minerals are graphite, potash and phosphate. The proposed EIT project will significantly reduce scale-up and economic risks and speed up commercialisation.As part of the project and to support the environmental benefits of the CoarseAir flotation technology, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology will be applied. This assessment will help the consortium assess, quantify and mitigate the impact of the technology.