The Effect of Water Quality on Dewatering Properties of Debswana Kimberlitic Ores

Abstract

Different water qualities are found at each of the Debswana operations. Tests with water from three different operations were done, on the same ore samples, to study the influence of water quality on the dewatering characteristics of the resultant slurries. Using the same methodology and water, the different ore types produced slurries with different percentage solids and particle size distributions. For the same ore type, a change in water quality resulted in a change in slurry characteristics.The dewatering behaviour of the slurries, as expressed in terms of thickener underflow density, was related to ore type and water quality. Some ores from the different operations had similar dewatering characteristics. The ore type as well as water quality influenced the water demand of the process. It was concluded that the water quality plays an important role in the water recovery at the Debswana operations. This work showed that the water recovery can be improved if the water quality is controlled.

Flocculant testing through the application of experimental design techniques and the application of a flocculant pipe reactor

“…The testing of flocculant in the laboratory is an important topic when thickeners and flocculant for a process are specified. Flocculation of minerals is a function of the mineral particle and process solution properties (Atesok et al, 1988;Ntshabele et al, 2008). In most operations, these properties do not fluctuate significantly but could drift over time.…”