Characterisation and Flotation of a Weathered Platinum Group Metal ore

Abstract: In this paper, the effect of weathering on the mineralogy and flotation performance of a weathered Platinum group metal (PGM) ore was investigated. A comprehensive characterisation of the weathered ore was carried out, where physical, chemical, and mineralogical and liberation properties of the sample were determined. The performance of the weathered ore during flotation was investigated using a pilot plant. It was found that the ore contains 3g/t of 4E PGMs (Pt, Pd, Ru and Au). An average recovery of the 4E PGMs was between 25 to 92% depending on the depth of the pit. The average selectivity was trending upwards as mining progresses to deeper depth, but there is insufficient data at this point in time to determine whether there is a good correlation. More work will be done on determining the degree of weathering with depth