# pic of ball mill



## solarsmith (Oct 8, 2011)

if this post works I will post more


----------



## solarsmith (Oct 8, 2011)

more recent after testing .. also showing the jaw crusher.
if you need close ups just ask. thanks Bryan in Denver


----------



## solarsmith (Oct 9, 2011)

the jaw crusher and ball mill are the first step in froth floatation and agglomeration with oils to make a gold ore concentrate. I am hopeing to get
the concentrate up to 33 to 200 oz per ton.. from a head grade of 0.59 oz gold per ton. of oxide type ore. thanks Bryan In Denver Colorado.


----------



## samuel-a (Oct 9, 2011)

Nice and interesting setup.

Any chnace you've got a video of the mill running?


----------



## solarsmith (Oct 9, 2011)

pic of the main frother workings.
I cut the impelers off of a paint stirrer from home depot and bolted them to a half inch threaded rod. Bryan In Denver Colorado


----------



## Reno Chris (Oct 9, 2011)

Your crusher and ball mill set up looks great. Congrats on a well built project. 

Do you have any pics of the crusher?

Can you tell us more of your method of extraction?

Froth flotation usually goes with sulfide ores, yet you say you have oxide ores. 

Agglomeration usually goes with cyanide processes, yet you say you are trying to produce a concentrate. 

Just curious.

Chris


----------



## solarsmith (Oct 9, 2011)

floatation of ore should work with most 80 to 100 mesh or finer gold even placer gold and the agglomeration will work with 50 mesh or smaller. I did do a handheld froth test and it did recover somthing in the froth (colected)
and in the same test the oil formed into globs holding a good amount of ore. this may be more a bulk oil floatation method than agglomeration method. Im only using a few oz of oils in a 50 gal drum. I got a few oz of ore concentrate from just a few min of mixing .(need more to do an assay)
my ph was between 6 to 7 and temp was about 50 to 60 degrees f. ,this was just a quick test to see if the impeller was big enough. I was surprized to se any recovery in the froth and more surprised to see the oil agglomerating with minerals and forming globs on the surface of the water after the stiring stoped. After I saw what the oil was doing I looked up bulk oil floatation and learned about the agglomeration method.(usualy done with with carbon dust mixed in and then burned to ash releasing the minerals) I will get the pics soon of the jaw crusher for you. Thanks Bryan in Denver


----------



## solarsmith (Oct 9, 2011)

this is the turbinity test just a few min ago. the top of the drum needs to be fairly callm to allow froth to form and over flow or be captured directly from the surface. the froth in the picture is mostly natural and no air was being injected during this test. also no oil used during this test. thanks BRYAN in Denver Colorado....If this all works I hope to recove 90% or better of all the gold and down to 1 micron in size...


----------



## drifter (Oct 9, 2011)

8) Nice work mate, any chance you could share what oil / recipee you are using? I would really love to make something similar. 

Thanks


----------



## solarsmith (Oct 12, 2011)

this is the first froth of the new floatation system (still testing the impellers and air injection system more pics on that later.

this was a PH of 10 (hydrated lime)
oils linseed
turpentine
dot 3 brake fluid ( mibc)
murphies oil soap
foam was very stable.. still there 20 hrs later

thanks BRYAN IN DENVER 303 503 4799


----------



## samuel-a (Oct 12, 2011)

Cool.

Did you get the chance to assay the froth ?


----------



## solarsmith (Oct 13, 2011)

Iv been doing this project mostly on trial and error. this pic is of the air injector that sits just above the lower impeller . both impellers push the water down into the bottom of the barrel preventing the any settling .
its important to get all of the powdered ore to come into contact with air bubbels at a high speed to shear off the watter and stay conected to the gold particle floating it to a calm zone at the top of the tank. The froth can then be removed in a variety of ways... For now Im using a shop vac . in the future I will try to just let it over flow into a tank under the barrel. then filter out the solids and return the water to the start. (reminder, Im not an expert at this but I have done a lot of reserch on froth floatation)

thanks Bryan in Denver Colorado


----------



## drifter (Nov 16, 2011)

Any more updates on the floatation setup ? 8)


----------



## solarsmith (Nov 16, 2011)

I just got my assay back! a few high lights
head ore --------- float concentrate
Au 0.59 ----------0.39 oz per ton
Al 0.2% -----------9.2%
Pb 83 ---------- 219 ppm
Zr 152 ----------951 ppm
Zn 10 ----------3,440 ppm
Cu 20 ----------710 ppm
Co 10 -----------170 ppm
Fe3.4 ----------8.0 %
Mn <100 ----------464 ppm 


I am getting an assay of the pre float ore and the regrind
it will be a much more acurate starting point.
there are two places that gravity could have caused the gold to settle out befor getting to the floatation cell 
first in the bottom of the cell( low turbidity) the pre float assay will reveal if this is so.
second place is in the regrind pit ( a very likly place) as I did not alow the regrind to return to the grinding circut ( gold is resistant to grinding and heavy enough to not make it over the edge of the pit into the float circut.
if I can get the same results as the copper I hope to get up to 20 oz per ton.
the next two assays will tell me more.... thanks BRYAN IN DENVER COLORADO


----------



## Reno Chris (Nov 17, 2011)

Gold is very difficult to float - which is why its not done commercially. Its not surprising that your float cons are lower in gold that your heads. Flotation is a poor way to concentrate oxidized ores with free gold. Works great for sulfides, but poorly for free gold.


----------



## solarsmith (Nov 25, 2011)

the assay is back.
pre float----------concentrate
Au 0.13-----------0.39----oz ton
Ag 0.11-----------0.25----0z ton
Cu<20-------------710-----ppm

the prefloat grind size is 70% passing 150 mesh.
it needs to be at least 80% or better. (could be missing 30%)
the recovery of froth is crude. I will be working on this.
I will also be regrinding the concentrate and refloating for an ever higher concentrate. the good news is it works! it did multiply the gold by a factor of 3. This is my starting point There are a lot of improvments that can be made. I am still trying to find out why the head grade went from 0.59 oz per ton on one side of the ball mill to < 0.10 oz perton on the other side. (more assays) Is my ball mill full of nuggets? is my ball mill gold plated now? thanks Bryan in Denver Colorado 303 503 4799


----------



## Reno Chris (Nov 25, 2011)

> Is my ball mill full of nuggets?



Since I dont know how your home made ball mill is constructed, its hard to say for sure, but certainly the ball mill is a potential place for any coarser free gold to hang up and get stuck. Might be a good idea to open it up and check. How many pounds of ore have you processed?


----------



## solarsmith (Nov 25, 2011)

yes it could be nuggets in the ball mill. I will be taking a sample soon and looking at it under a microscope and an assay. Iv run about 300 to 500 lbs just setting it up. I set all the grindings aside to regrind and float latter.
thanks Bryan in Denver Colorado 303 503 4799


----------

