Glencore Technology has recently commissioned its latest Jameson Cell at Newcrest Mining’s Cadia Valley Operations (Cadia) in New South Wales. The cell is the second cell in operation at Cadia and is designed to produce final grade copper/gold concentrate in a recleaner application.
Glencore Technology’s Jameson Cell Manager, Virginia Lawson, helped the Cadia operations team commission the cell. Virginia commented:
“The duty at Cadia for the E3432/8 cell was ideally suited to it. Being relatively small, it fitted well into a small floor plan in the existing plant, and its ability to wash out the entrained gangue and upgrade the copper and gold minerals made it an ideal solution for the application. The installed Jameson Cell produces all of the final concentrate for this flotation module”.
The E series Jameson Cells are rectangular cells with an integrated pump box and can be installed within a very small footprint. The latest Jameson Cells utilise the Mark IV downcomer, which is designed to reduce the amount of parts and connections in the air and slurry feed lines, and is a larger diameter than some of the early models. The E series cells incorporate an internal recycle mechanism to maintain a constant feed flow, even during short shutdowns, and like all Jameson Cells are fitted with a simple wash water system to clean the froth.
Glencore Technology is currently manufacturing two more Jameson Cells for the Cadia operation, as well as designing and then manufacturing several cells for an African copper operation. Work is also nearly completed for the retrofit of a large Jameson Cell coal installation in the Bowen Basin, Queensland. In this project existing Mark III downcomers and headers are being upgraded to the Mark IV model, a simple retrofit that will enable better operability and maintenance.