Aspects of technical-economic appraisal for flotation circuits

Flotation is one of the most important and used processes for minerals separation. It is imperative to take in account economic and technical features to promote the optimization of a flotation circuit. Thus, this study has aimed to develop a computer system in order to meet the mining companies' needs for the calculation of the economic life of flotation equipment. For this, an equation set was developed to estimate the capital cost, and the operation and maintenance costs of the equipment, applying the method of equivalent uniform annual cost (EUAC) for determining the appropriate time to replace such equipment.