Filter press operation in mining

Filter presses are key equipment in the mining industry, used for solid-liquid separation throughout the mining, beneficiation, and tailings treatment processes. They are crucial for improving resource utilization, reducing pollution, and ensuring efficiency. The following describes their application scenarios and core functions:

1. Core Functions of the Mineral Process

During beneficiation, ore is crushed and ground into slurry. Filter presses separate the solids and liquids in the slurry, achieving mineral enrichment and water recycling.

Concentrate Dewatering: Ore concentrates have a high moisture content, and filter presses can reduce the moisture content to 10%-20% to form a filter cake, facilitating smelting, processing, or transportation, such as in the treatment of copper and iron ore concentrates.

Tailings Pretreatment: Filter presses are used to reduce moisture in some tailings before treatment. The resulting filter cakes are strong, reducing storage space and mitigating the risk of dam failure.

2. Key Functions of Tailings Treatment

Improper tailings treatment can lead to pollution and waste, making filter presses crucial. Dry tailings discharge: Traditional wet tailings storage ponds present numerous problems. Filter presses reduce the moisture content of tailings to below 20%, achieving "dry discharge" and allowing the filtrate to be reused, saving resources and reducing environmental risks.

Resource recovery: Some tailings contain usable minerals, making them easier to reselect after dewatering using a filter press, thereby increasing recovery rates.

3. Auxiliary Functions in Hydrometallurgy

In hydrometallurgy, filter presses separate leachate from slag. After ore leaching, filter presses filter the slurry, allowing the leachate to enter subsequent processes. The filter cake is then treated harmlessly to ensure metallurgical continuity and purity.

4. Improving Environmental and Economic Efficiency in the Mining Industry

Environmentally, filter presses reduce tailings pond usage and wastewater discharge, reducing pollution and complying with environmental policies.

Economically, filtrate reuse saves costs, and dry-discharged tailings can be used as raw materials for construction, reducing tailings pond expenses and production risks.

In summary, filter presses' efficient solid-liquid separation achieves resource recovery, water conservation and emission reduction, and cost control, promoting green, efficient, and sustainable development in the mining industry.