The Kamoa-Kakula copper resource, located west of Kolwezi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, was discovered and explored by Ivanhoe from 2008/9 on. As a greenfield project with prospects of high grade ore and a long life-of-mine, the need for best practice flowsheet development was recognised, so as to ensure sustainability of metallurgical performance at the at the maximum economic level from the orebody during metallurgical operations. Process Mineralogy, a hybrid discipline, has been developed in the mining industry over the last forty years, and its proper use has seen very successful outcomes in flowsheet development (Bradshaw, 2014; Lotter, 2011; Lotter et al., 2003; McKay et al., 2007; Pease et al., 2005). Drill core was sampled at site across six phases of flowsheet development that worked with the developing mine plan. The two main geomet units were hypogene and supergene, with the hypogene being unusually rich in bornite. The main variability is between supergene and hypogene, and between Kamoa and Kakula, but with less spatial variability within them. The first viable flowsheet was developed and demonstrated in nine months of test work, followed by various revisions and iterations as required by the discovery of variable mineralogy. The first flowsheet, called “Milestone”, was then challenged with an opportunity for a simpler but better-performing flowsheet, which became known as IFS4A. The simultaneous discovery of the Kakula resource refocussed the project due to its shallower depth and higher grade. Laboratory scale flotation testing using IFS4A in Phase 6 of Kamoa and two drill-holes of Kakula quickly confirmed that the Kakula ore outperformed the Kamoa supergene ore using this flowsheet. A mini-pilot plant campaign was run in 2019 with this flowsheet plus modifications, using 985 kg of metallurgical drill cores material to demonstrate the full flowsheet mass and value balance on a continuous operating campaign. This mass and value balance produced an estimated 85.6 % Cu recovery with a saleable concentrate grading 57.3 % Cu. Whereas this paper concentrates on the mineralogy and its contribution to process implications such as grinding requirements and flotation strategy, it is recognized that first-class design, engineering and construction contributed in no small measure to the successful start-up. This mass and value balance was used in the design of the grinding and flotation circuits, and contributed to the successful commissioning of the new concentrator in 2021, which averaged a recovery of 84.7 % at a grade of 50.5 % Cu, in good agreement with the testwork. A McNulty model for the commissioning data shows a better than Type 1A start-up. The flowsheet development part of the project is discussed in this paper as a case study.

中文翻译：

---

Kamoa-Kakula 项目的流程图开发和调试

卡莫阿-卡库拉铜矿资源位于刚果民主共和国科卢韦齐以西，由艾芬豪于2008/9年发现并勘探。作为一个具有高品位矿石前景和长矿山寿命的绿地项目，我们认识到需要开发最佳实践流程图，以确保冶金作业期间矿体在最大经济水平上实现冶金性能的可持续性。过程矿物学是一门混合学科，在过去四十年里在采矿业中得到了发展，其正确使用在流程图开发中取得了非常成功的成果（Bradshaw，2014；Lotter，2011；Lotter 等，2003；McKay 等）等人，2007；皮斯等人，2005）。在与制定采矿计划相配合的流程图开发的六个阶段中，在现场对钻芯进行了取样。两个主要的几何单元是下近系和上近系，其中下近系富含斑铜矿。主要的变异性存在于表基因和下基因之间，以及卡莫阿和卡库拉之间，但它们内部的空间变异性较小。第一个可行的流程图是在九个月的测试工作中开发和演示的，随后根据可变矿物学的发现需要进行了各种修改和迭代。第一个流程图称为“里程碑”，随后面临着一个更简单但性能更好的流程图的挑战，该流程图后来被称为 IFS4A。由于 Kakula 资源深度较浅且品位较高，同时发现的 Kakula 资源重新调整了该项目的重点。在 Kamoa 第六期和 Kakula 两个钻孔中使用 IFS4A 进行的实验室规模浮选测试很快证实，使用此流程，Kakula 矿石优于 Kamoa 表生矿石。 2019 年，根据该流程图并进行了修改，开展了一次小型试点工厂活动，使用 985 公斤冶金钻芯材料来演示连续运营活动中的完整流程图质量和价值平衡。这种质量和价值平衡产生了估计 85.6% 的铜回收率，可销售的精矿品位为 57.3%。尽管本文重点关注矿物学及其对研磨要求和浮选策略等工艺影响的贡献，但我们认识到，一流的设计、工程和施工对成功启动做出了不小的贡献。这种质量和价值平衡被用于研磨和浮选回路的设计，并有助于新选矿厂在 2021 年的成功调试，铜品位为 50.5% 时的平均回收率为 84.7%，与测试工作。调试数据的 McNulty 模型显示出比 1A 型更好的启动情况。本文作为案例研究讨论了该项目的流程图开发部分。