Abstract
In 2018, Northern Star Resources' Pogo operation initiated a project to increase annual production from 200koz to 300 koz, which required a significant increase in mill throughput. During the process, a critical bottleneck identified was the flotation circuit capacity. Adding to the complexity was the very limited available footprint in the existing flotation building, as well as the difficulty and expense of expanding the building. This paper details the selection and implementation of a single Jameson Cell, a high intensity flotation technology with significantly reduced footprint requirements compared to conventional flotation technology. Operating as a rougher scalper, the Jameson Cell effectively produces final concentrate from rougher feed, achieving more than 90% metal recovery at 47g/t Au on an average basis, while immediately removing significant mass from the stream as final concentrate. This allowed Pogo to increase flotation throughput to 160% of original capacity with the installation of only one Jameson Cell. The operational advantages and performance improvements achieved through this innovative approach are discussed, highlighting its ability to allow for increased plant throughput with low footprint requirements, as well as significant upgrade ability from a single cell.