A recently published case study has outlined how the innovative InLine Pressure Jig (IPJ) installation at New Gold’s New Afton Mine (near Kamloops, British Columbia) has achieved the New Afton’s project justification of an overall Cu increase of 1.4% – resulting in a payback of two years. The site recently processed large quantities of metallic native copper from the upper oxide (supergene) and transition ores. These did not recover as well in the conventional flotation circuit.
“The IPJ’s are removing native copper and gold from the circuit in line with the original design parameters. Once optimised the jigs require very little day to day operational input. They are producing higher copper and gold grade concentrates than design, consistently meeting the grade required for reporting final concentrate”
Senior Metallurgist Jennifer Katchen
The IPJ’s have made a significant contribution to copper recovery – recovering approximately 9% of total copper – and have helped maintain the overall high copper recoveries in the New Afton plant.
The New Afton team on site including Jennifer Katchen and David Fenrich played a critical role in the installation’s success.
A full case study including process flow diagram and GA is available for download at the link below.
