Performance analysis of the beneficiation process of bauxite from the Juruti Mine. Industrial sampling and performance evaluation

Abstract

Sampling campaigns were conducted at the industrial bauxite wash circuit of the Juruti Bauxite Mine in Pará, Brazil. The beneficiation circuit consisted of crushing, scrubber washing, wet screening, hydrocyclone classification, and filtration. Considering laboratory processing of samples and statistical analyses of historical operation databases, mass balances were obtained. Integrated analyses of historical databases, mass balances and operating parameters enabled the calculation of performance indices, which constitute the basis for the identification and hierarchy of the bottlenecks in terms of washability efficiency; that is, removal of the fraction below 0.037 mm. Typically, the focus of bauxite ore concentration in the Amazon region is the removal of the 0.037 mm fraction in the concentrate streams via disaggregation and mud washing. Consolidated mass balances indicated consistent values based on the size of the sample particles and percentage of solids, as well as the values obtained from the integrated information systems of the plant; this consistency indicated the stability and representativeness of the process conditions during the sampling campaigns. The base case of the Juruti plant operation, from which the performance indices that allowed the quantification of the efficiency of each process step was calculated, was obtained as a result.