Preliminary planning for the commercialisation of the Reflux Flotation Cell, developed by University of Newcastle professor Kelvin Grant, has been started by a consortium of mine sites, chemical companies and universities and is being led by FLSmidth.
A total of €5.4 (A$8.8) million was awarded by EIT Raw Materials, a body of the European Union, through a competitive application process, with €2.8 million going to FLSmidth.
The goal is to upscale the RFC technology and accelerate commercialisation during the three-year project.
This will involve pilot and full-scale testing and eventual sales of full-scale equipment for the copper and iron ore industries, among others.
The RFC technology has an entirely different internal design compared to traditional flotation methods, leading to higher throughput with simultaneously improved separation efficiency.
Since flotation is a key process area that impacts upstream comminution and downstream dewatering, there is huge potential to save energy and resources through innovations in flotation process technology.
FLSmidth mining president Manfred Schaffer said the RFC's benefits corresponded closely with FLSmidth's MissionZero program, which aims to enable customers to move towards zero water and energy waste by 2030.
"The RFC is already proving that it can operate successfully outside of the limitations experienced by traditional open tank flotation systems," he said.
"The technology has potential across various commodities and flotation applications. The opportunity presented by the work packages included in this EIT RawmMaterials KAVA grant will accelerate the commercialisation of the technology.
"It will also allow for continued development and optimisation of the RFC that will hopefully further increase resource efficiency in mining."
The consortium behind this upscaling project is led by FLSmidth and includes two mine sites - KGHM Polska Miedz Spólka Akcyjna in Poland and Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB in Sweden; two universities - Norwegian University of Science and Technology and Helmholtz Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf University; the Swedish Environmental Research Institute and several external advisors.
The University of Newcastle and Galvin will act as external advisors.
