Por: Hernando Valdivia y Henry Bueno, Compañía Minera Antamina.Trabajo ganador del área de Procesamiento de Minerales y Metalurgia Extractiva del Foro TIS de PERUMIN 37.AbstractThis study presents the optimization of the copper-molybdenum (Cu/Mo) separation circuit at Antamina’s concentrator plant through the implementation of a particle classification stage prior to processing in the separation circuit. A higher presence of fine molybdenite and calcium in the feed poses an operational challenge due to the deterioration of metallurgical results both in molybdenum recovery and commercial concentrate quality.By incorporating a hydrocyclone-based classification system, operating similarly to a desliming stage, a more efficient control of molybdenite particle-size distribution was achieved, along with the segregation of the finest particles that hinder normal molybdenite flotation before entering the Cu/Mo separation circuit. This strategy improved separation efficiency by reducing dilution from insolubles and calcium, supporting the production of molybdenum concentrates with commercial grades. The plant implementation results show an increase of approximately 5% in overall molybdenum recovery, which represented a significant contribution to the 2024 molybdenum metal production increase, reported to be 20% above budget.
