CA1062819A - Flotation separation of copper and nickel sulfides - Google Patents
Flotation separation of copper and nickel sulfidesInfo
- Publication number
- CA1062819A CA1062819A CA267,349A CA267349A CA1062819A CA 1062819 A CA1062819 A CA 1062819A CA 267349 A CA267349 A CA 267349A CA 1062819 A CA1062819 A CA 1062819A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- flotation
- copper
- concentrate
- pulp
- temperature
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B03—SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
- B03D—FLOTATION; DIFFERENTIAL SEDIMENTATION
- B03D1/00—Flotation
- B03D1/001—Flotation agents
- B03D1/004—Organic compounds
- B03D1/012—Organic compounds containing sulfur
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B03—SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
- B03D—FLOTATION; DIFFERENTIAL SEDIMENTATION
- B03D1/00—Flotation
- B03D1/001—Flotation agents
- B03D1/002—Inorganic compounds
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B03—SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
- B03D—FLOTATION; DIFFERENTIAL SEDIMENTATION
- B03D2201/00—Specified effects produced by the flotation agents
- B03D2201/02—Collectors
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B03—SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
- B03D—FLOTATION; DIFFERENTIAL SEDIMENTATION
- B03D2201/00—Specified effects produced by the flotation agents
- B03D2201/06—Depressants
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B03—SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
- B03D—FLOTATION; DIFFERENTIAL SEDIMENTATION
- B03D2203/00—Specified materials treated by the flotation agents; specified applications
- B03D2203/02—Ores
Landscapes
- Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
- Inorganic Chemistry (AREA)
- Manufacture And Refinement Of Metals (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE:
A flotation process for separating copper- and nickel-containing sulfide minerals from one another involves preparing the pulp of the sulfide mixture in an aqueous lime-saturated solution, conditioning the pulp at 35-55°C
and carrying out the flotation in the presence of a cyanide salt and a collector for copper minerals.
A flotation process for separating copper- and nickel-containing sulfide minerals from one another involves preparing the pulp of the sulfide mixture in an aqueous lime-saturated solution, conditioning the pulp at 35-55°C
and carrying out the flotation in the presence of a cyanide salt and a collector for copper minerals.
Description
1~6281~
The present invention relates to the separation of nickel- and copper-containinq minerals from one another, and in particular to the beneficiation of a nickel con-centrate which contains chalcopyrite and pentlandite.
Copper is often present in nickeliferous sulfidic ores. It is typical in carrying out the concentration of such ores to generate a certain amount of concentrate which contains pentlandite and chalcopyrite and which it has not been possible to separate into a copper concentrate of acceptably low nickel content and a nickel concentrate acceptably low in copper. It is in the treatment of such difficult to separate mineral mixtures that the present invention is particularly valuable.
According to the invention a copper-containing sulfide nickel concentrate, in particular one comprising chalcopyrite, pentlandite and pyrrhotite, is beneficiated by preparing an aqueous pulp thereof in a saturated lime solu-tion, conditioning the pulp at a temperature of about 35-55C, and thereafter subjecting it to froth flotation, in the presence of a cyanide salt and a collector for copper minerals.
The ~uccess of the process depends on the satis-factory depression of both pentlandite and pyrrhotite present in the initial concentrate. This in turn can only be achieved by adhering to the above-mentioned flotation conditions. Thus it is essential to ensure a high pH of at least 12 during the flotation and this is achieved by maintaining lime saturation.
It is also essential that the pulp be heated to a temperature of at least about 35C. While excellent 9~
~G6Z8~
separation can be achieved by maintaining the slurry at this elevated temperature during the whole of the flotation, such a practice is not essential. It has been found possible to resort to the more economically desirable procedure of carrying out the flotation at ambient temperatures provid-ing the slurry has previously been conditioned by heating it to the appropriate temperature, e.g., 35 or 40C, and holding it at such temperature for a relatively short conditioning time, e.g., of the order of a few minutes.
However whether the high temperature treatment is for a few minutes or for the whole duration of the flotation it has been found that too high a temperature is detri~ental.
The excessively high temperature results in large amounts of pyrrhotite being floated thereby lowering the grade of the copper product. For this reason the pulp should be heated prior to flotation to not more than 55C, and preferably 35-40C, and the flotation carried out at that temperature or a lower one.
In the case of low grade concentrates, the minerals may not be adequately liberated and it will then be necessary to resort to grinding prior to the flotation. When grinding is required the concentrate to be beneficiated, generally referred to as the bulk concentrate, is ground in the saturated lime solution, i.e. the lime addition is conveniently made during the grinding operation. We have found that grinding so that 30-45% of the concentrate is smaller than 8 microns is the most advantageous degree of grinding in that no improve-ment in the beneficiation can be achieved by resorting to finer grinds.
1~628~9 An effective amount of a cyanide salt (e.g., of sodium or potassium) is needed to suppress the flotation of pyrrhotite and pentlandite. It is peferred to keep the amount of cyanide added down to a minimum, and we have found that where there is no cyanide carried over from a preceeding stage, as little as 0.3-0.4 grams of sodium cyanide per kilogram of the bulk concentrate is a suffi-cient amount of depressant to add.
The flotation must be carried out in the presence of a copper mineral collector, i.e. a chemical which favors the flotation of copper minerals, particularly chalcopyrite, over other minerals, particularly pentlandite. Many useful collectors are well known in the extensive art available on the flotation of copper minerals, the most commonly used being xanthates. Other collectors which can be used in the process of the present invention include alkyl dithiophos-phates and thiocarbamates, as well as diphenyl guanidine.
However, due mainly to their cheapness, we prefer to use alkyl xanthates, and in particular sodium ethyl xanthate as being the least effective pentlandite collector of the various xanthates. Preferably therefore at least 0.05 and typically between 0.06 and 0.08 grams of sodium ethyl xanthate are used per kilogram of the bulk concentrate.
In practising the process of the present invention;
the flotation will generally be carried out in a plurality of rougher and cleaner stages. It will be understood that the cyanide salt used as depressant for pentlandite, and indeed the chalcopyrite collector used, need not be added to all of the flotation stages. ~his will be seen more clearly 1~6~8~9 from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the process of the invention.
EXAMPLE
A eed was used which consisted of a copper- nickel concentrate obtained as an intermediate product in the course of beneficiating a copper- and nickel-bearing sulfidic ore.
The concentrate in question contained pentlandite and pyrr-hotite as well as chalcopyrite and had a sulfur content of about 25% by weight.
1000 grams of this feed was mixed with a saturated lime solution to provide 50~ solids pulp, which was then subjected to grinding for 45 minutes in a rod mill, at the end of which time 42% of the solids were of smaller particle size than 8 microns. The pulp was diluted to a consistency of 34% solidsj and subjected to three stages of flotation consisting of a rougher stage and two cleaner stages.
Prior to each of the three stages the pulp was conditioned for three minutes, and during both the conditioning and the flotation the temperature of the pulp was maintained at 33C, and lime saturation was maintained thereby ensuring a pH of 12.1.
The residence times of the pulp in the rougher and the first and second cleaner stages were 18, 14 and 8 minutes respectively. In the rougher stage, a total amount of 0.07 grams of ~odium ethyl xanthate was added in incre-ments after 2, 4, 6 and 8 minutes of flotation. No cyanide salt was added prior to or during the rougher stage, but 0.4 grams of sodium cyanide was added during the conditlon-ing of the pulp prior to the first cleaner stage.
1~6Z819 The concentrate obtained from the second cleaner stage, consisting of material which had been floated in all three stages successively, constituted the copper concentrate product, while the tailings of the three stages were com-bined to provide the nickel concentrate product. The results of this test are shown in Table 1 below:
TABLE
Tbtal solids As (% by ~___ IDistribution (%) weight (g) say Ni Fe Ni Fe Feed 1000 2.84 4.77 40.7 100 100 100 ~er Concentrate 106 24.9 1.5 28.9 92.4 3.3 7.5 Nickel Concentrate ~ O.24 5.2 42.1 7.6 96.7 92.5 EXAMPLE II
A test was carried out on a feed of similar com-po3ition to that used in Example I above. In this case the grinding of the pulp was such as to ensure that 32% of the particles were smaller than 8 microns.
The pulp was diluted to a 35~ solids consistency and subjected to froth flotation in a rougher and four cleaner stages. The residence times used were 18 minutes and the rougher stage, and 14, 8, 5 and ~ minutes in the successive cleaner stages, with a 3 minute conditioning treatment prior to each of the five stages. Sodium ethyl xanthate was added in the rougher stage in the same amount and manner as used in the previous Example. ~n the present case however sodium cyanide was added in the conditioning step preceding the rougher stage as well as the conditioning steps preceding all but the last of the cleaning stages.
In all 0.94 grams of sodium cyanide were added per 1000 grams ~6Z819 of bulk concentrate treated. The temperature throughout the flotation was maintained at 35C.
Table 2 below shows the assay and distribution of copper, nickel and iron in the froth obtained from the fourth cleaner, i.e. the final copper concentrate product, as well as the tailings obtained from each of the five stages.
Tbtal solids Ass~ (%~ wt) Distribut (%) Weight (g) Cu ~r- ~ 1C1 Fe . _ Feed 1000 3.66 5.49 40.2 100100 100 ~er Concen-trate 114 27.3 1.02 29.6 85.0 2.1 8.4 Rougher Tailings 661 O.22 6.89 42.3 4.0 83.0 69.5 1st Clea~er " 168 0.87 3.82 44.3 4.0 11.7 18.5 2nd " " 39 3.50 3.15 27.2 3.7 2.2 2.6 3rd " " 13 6.62 2.74 22.7 2.3 0.7 0.7 4th " " 5 7.30 2.81 20.7 1.0 0.3 0.3 The commercial importance of the process of the invention will be evident from the results of Examples I and II above. The feed used in those examples was a material which is unsuitable for leaching because of the slow leaching pro-perties of the chalcopyrite contained therein. Typically it is smelted in admixture with higher grade nickel concen-trates, to the detriment of the resulting nickel grade. The two products obtained from this feed by the process of the invention are respectively amenable to separate recovery of the nickel and copper pyrometallurgically. Alternatively 16~6Z819 in view of its relatively low chalcopyrite content, the nickel concentrate produced by the process of the invention is suitable for hydrometallurgical recovery of its nickel content.
BAMPLE III
A series of tests were carried out to ascertain the effect of variations in fineness of grind as well as amount of cyanide used on the separation efficiency. For this purpose only rougher flotation was carried out on material which had been ground for periods of up to 80 min/kg and subsequently conditioned for 3 minutes at 35C. The results showed that:
a) While the separation improved with the fineness of grind, there was insignificant improvement after a fineness of 40-45% minus 8 microns.
b) The optimum amount of cyanide needed was 0.3-0.4 grams per kilogram of concentrate feed.
EXAMPLE IV
To investigate the criticality of the conditioning temperature a feed of similar composition to that used in the preceding examples was subjected to a three-phase flotation similar to that used in Example I above, i.e. a rougher stage and two cleaner ~tages. The test conditions differed from one another only in respect of the temperature used for conditioning and rougher flotation. Thus in five tests (Tests 1-5) the conditioning temperature was between 35 and 55C in accordance with the invention. After the pulp, which in these tests had a 65% solids consistency, had been con-ditioned at the requisite temperature for three minutes, it was diluted and cooled to 35C for rougher flotation and allowed to cool further during cleaner flotation. A
16~628~9 Comparative Test A was carried out wherein the tempera-ture of initial conditioning and rougher flotation was only 30C, the pulp being allowed to cool from that tem-perature during cleaner flotation. A further Comparative Test B was carried out in which a conditioning temperature of 65C was used followed by rougher flotation at 35C
and cleaner flotation at slightly lower temperatures. The results of these seven tests are shown in Tables 3 and 4 below:
~ a) ~ u~ ~ r~
o 3 1~ ~
~ _ CO ~ _I o ~ CO ~`
S~ ~
~n ,, æ u~ D
_ O ~ r~
O ~ ~
~, ~ ~, O O O O O O
.Y ~
Z _ _~ O ~ O 1` _~ ~
O t` ~` U~ er U~ I`
o~ co c~ oo co ~ r~
a~ _ _ a~
a) cO co a~ _I~ o ~
N ~ ~ _ , 111 ~ 1 0 ~~ _ ~
~3 ~ æ ,, ~ .
É~i r ~ ,~
O ~ ~ In U~ In c~ _ ~ ~
~ ~ o ~ o ~ a~
~ C~ 110 Il') ~ N
.
O O U~
~OE~
. .~
~1 o u~ o u~o In U~
O
oE~ .
C) ~ m -Distribution in Distribution in TbstCopper Concentrate (%)Nickel Concentrate (%) Ni Fe _ Ni I Fe A 68.9 3.16.8 31.1 96.9 93.2 1 89.5 4.08.5 10.5 96.0 91.5
The present invention relates to the separation of nickel- and copper-containinq minerals from one another, and in particular to the beneficiation of a nickel con-centrate which contains chalcopyrite and pentlandite.
Copper is often present in nickeliferous sulfidic ores. It is typical in carrying out the concentration of such ores to generate a certain amount of concentrate which contains pentlandite and chalcopyrite and which it has not been possible to separate into a copper concentrate of acceptably low nickel content and a nickel concentrate acceptably low in copper. It is in the treatment of such difficult to separate mineral mixtures that the present invention is particularly valuable.
According to the invention a copper-containing sulfide nickel concentrate, in particular one comprising chalcopyrite, pentlandite and pyrrhotite, is beneficiated by preparing an aqueous pulp thereof in a saturated lime solu-tion, conditioning the pulp at a temperature of about 35-55C, and thereafter subjecting it to froth flotation, in the presence of a cyanide salt and a collector for copper minerals.
The ~uccess of the process depends on the satis-factory depression of both pentlandite and pyrrhotite present in the initial concentrate. This in turn can only be achieved by adhering to the above-mentioned flotation conditions. Thus it is essential to ensure a high pH of at least 12 during the flotation and this is achieved by maintaining lime saturation.
It is also essential that the pulp be heated to a temperature of at least about 35C. While excellent 9~
~G6Z8~
separation can be achieved by maintaining the slurry at this elevated temperature during the whole of the flotation, such a practice is not essential. It has been found possible to resort to the more economically desirable procedure of carrying out the flotation at ambient temperatures provid-ing the slurry has previously been conditioned by heating it to the appropriate temperature, e.g., 35 or 40C, and holding it at such temperature for a relatively short conditioning time, e.g., of the order of a few minutes.
However whether the high temperature treatment is for a few minutes or for the whole duration of the flotation it has been found that too high a temperature is detri~ental.
The excessively high temperature results in large amounts of pyrrhotite being floated thereby lowering the grade of the copper product. For this reason the pulp should be heated prior to flotation to not more than 55C, and preferably 35-40C, and the flotation carried out at that temperature or a lower one.
In the case of low grade concentrates, the minerals may not be adequately liberated and it will then be necessary to resort to grinding prior to the flotation. When grinding is required the concentrate to be beneficiated, generally referred to as the bulk concentrate, is ground in the saturated lime solution, i.e. the lime addition is conveniently made during the grinding operation. We have found that grinding so that 30-45% of the concentrate is smaller than 8 microns is the most advantageous degree of grinding in that no improve-ment in the beneficiation can be achieved by resorting to finer grinds.
1~628~9 An effective amount of a cyanide salt (e.g., of sodium or potassium) is needed to suppress the flotation of pyrrhotite and pentlandite. It is peferred to keep the amount of cyanide added down to a minimum, and we have found that where there is no cyanide carried over from a preceeding stage, as little as 0.3-0.4 grams of sodium cyanide per kilogram of the bulk concentrate is a suffi-cient amount of depressant to add.
The flotation must be carried out in the presence of a copper mineral collector, i.e. a chemical which favors the flotation of copper minerals, particularly chalcopyrite, over other minerals, particularly pentlandite. Many useful collectors are well known in the extensive art available on the flotation of copper minerals, the most commonly used being xanthates. Other collectors which can be used in the process of the present invention include alkyl dithiophos-phates and thiocarbamates, as well as diphenyl guanidine.
However, due mainly to their cheapness, we prefer to use alkyl xanthates, and in particular sodium ethyl xanthate as being the least effective pentlandite collector of the various xanthates. Preferably therefore at least 0.05 and typically between 0.06 and 0.08 grams of sodium ethyl xanthate are used per kilogram of the bulk concentrate.
In practising the process of the present invention;
the flotation will generally be carried out in a plurality of rougher and cleaner stages. It will be understood that the cyanide salt used as depressant for pentlandite, and indeed the chalcopyrite collector used, need not be added to all of the flotation stages. ~his will be seen more clearly 1~6~8~9 from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the process of the invention.
EXAMPLE
A eed was used which consisted of a copper- nickel concentrate obtained as an intermediate product in the course of beneficiating a copper- and nickel-bearing sulfidic ore.
The concentrate in question contained pentlandite and pyrr-hotite as well as chalcopyrite and had a sulfur content of about 25% by weight.
1000 grams of this feed was mixed with a saturated lime solution to provide 50~ solids pulp, which was then subjected to grinding for 45 minutes in a rod mill, at the end of which time 42% of the solids were of smaller particle size than 8 microns. The pulp was diluted to a consistency of 34% solidsj and subjected to three stages of flotation consisting of a rougher stage and two cleaner stages.
Prior to each of the three stages the pulp was conditioned for three minutes, and during both the conditioning and the flotation the temperature of the pulp was maintained at 33C, and lime saturation was maintained thereby ensuring a pH of 12.1.
The residence times of the pulp in the rougher and the first and second cleaner stages were 18, 14 and 8 minutes respectively. In the rougher stage, a total amount of 0.07 grams of ~odium ethyl xanthate was added in incre-ments after 2, 4, 6 and 8 minutes of flotation. No cyanide salt was added prior to or during the rougher stage, but 0.4 grams of sodium cyanide was added during the conditlon-ing of the pulp prior to the first cleaner stage.
1~6Z819 The concentrate obtained from the second cleaner stage, consisting of material which had been floated in all three stages successively, constituted the copper concentrate product, while the tailings of the three stages were com-bined to provide the nickel concentrate product. The results of this test are shown in Table 1 below:
TABLE
Tbtal solids As (% by ~___ IDistribution (%) weight (g) say Ni Fe Ni Fe Feed 1000 2.84 4.77 40.7 100 100 100 ~er Concentrate 106 24.9 1.5 28.9 92.4 3.3 7.5 Nickel Concentrate ~ O.24 5.2 42.1 7.6 96.7 92.5 EXAMPLE II
A test was carried out on a feed of similar com-po3ition to that used in Example I above. In this case the grinding of the pulp was such as to ensure that 32% of the particles were smaller than 8 microns.
The pulp was diluted to a 35~ solids consistency and subjected to froth flotation in a rougher and four cleaner stages. The residence times used were 18 minutes and the rougher stage, and 14, 8, 5 and ~ minutes in the successive cleaner stages, with a 3 minute conditioning treatment prior to each of the five stages. Sodium ethyl xanthate was added in the rougher stage in the same amount and manner as used in the previous Example. ~n the present case however sodium cyanide was added in the conditioning step preceding the rougher stage as well as the conditioning steps preceding all but the last of the cleaning stages.
In all 0.94 grams of sodium cyanide were added per 1000 grams ~6Z819 of bulk concentrate treated. The temperature throughout the flotation was maintained at 35C.
Table 2 below shows the assay and distribution of copper, nickel and iron in the froth obtained from the fourth cleaner, i.e. the final copper concentrate product, as well as the tailings obtained from each of the five stages.
Tbtal solids Ass~ (%~ wt) Distribut (%) Weight (g) Cu ~r- ~ 1C1 Fe . _ Feed 1000 3.66 5.49 40.2 100100 100 ~er Concen-trate 114 27.3 1.02 29.6 85.0 2.1 8.4 Rougher Tailings 661 O.22 6.89 42.3 4.0 83.0 69.5 1st Clea~er " 168 0.87 3.82 44.3 4.0 11.7 18.5 2nd " " 39 3.50 3.15 27.2 3.7 2.2 2.6 3rd " " 13 6.62 2.74 22.7 2.3 0.7 0.7 4th " " 5 7.30 2.81 20.7 1.0 0.3 0.3 The commercial importance of the process of the invention will be evident from the results of Examples I and II above. The feed used in those examples was a material which is unsuitable for leaching because of the slow leaching pro-perties of the chalcopyrite contained therein. Typically it is smelted in admixture with higher grade nickel concen-trates, to the detriment of the resulting nickel grade. The two products obtained from this feed by the process of the invention are respectively amenable to separate recovery of the nickel and copper pyrometallurgically. Alternatively 16~6Z819 in view of its relatively low chalcopyrite content, the nickel concentrate produced by the process of the invention is suitable for hydrometallurgical recovery of its nickel content.
BAMPLE III
A series of tests were carried out to ascertain the effect of variations in fineness of grind as well as amount of cyanide used on the separation efficiency. For this purpose only rougher flotation was carried out on material which had been ground for periods of up to 80 min/kg and subsequently conditioned for 3 minutes at 35C. The results showed that:
a) While the separation improved with the fineness of grind, there was insignificant improvement after a fineness of 40-45% minus 8 microns.
b) The optimum amount of cyanide needed was 0.3-0.4 grams per kilogram of concentrate feed.
EXAMPLE IV
To investigate the criticality of the conditioning temperature a feed of similar composition to that used in the preceding examples was subjected to a three-phase flotation similar to that used in Example I above, i.e. a rougher stage and two cleaner ~tages. The test conditions differed from one another only in respect of the temperature used for conditioning and rougher flotation. Thus in five tests (Tests 1-5) the conditioning temperature was between 35 and 55C in accordance with the invention. After the pulp, which in these tests had a 65% solids consistency, had been con-ditioned at the requisite temperature for three minutes, it was diluted and cooled to 35C for rougher flotation and allowed to cool further during cleaner flotation. A
16~628~9 Comparative Test A was carried out wherein the tempera-ture of initial conditioning and rougher flotation was only 30C, the pulp being allowed to cool from that tem-perature during cleaner flotation. A further Comparative Test B was carried out in which a conditioning temperature of 65C was used followed by rougher flotation at 35C
and cleaner flotation at slightly lower temperatures. The results of these seven tests are shown in Tables 3 and 4 below:
~ a) ~ u~ ~ r~
o 3 1~ ~
~ _ CO ~ _I o ~ CO ~`
S~ ~
~n ,, æ u~ D
_ O ~ r~
O ~ ~
~, ~ ~, O O O O O O
.Y ~
Z _ _~ O ~ O 1` _~ ~
O t` ~` U~ er U~ I`
o~ co c~ oo co ~ r~
a~ _ _ a~
a) cO co a~ _I~ o ~
N ~ ~ _ , 111 ~ 1 0 ~~ _ ~
~3 ~ æ ,, ~ .
É~i r ~ ,~
O ~ ~ In U~ In c~ _ ~ ~
~ ~ o ~ o ~ a~
~ C~ 110 Il') ~ N
.
O O U~
~OE~
. .~
~1 o u~ o u~o In U~
O
oE~ .
C) ~ m -Distribution in Distribution in TbstCopper Concentrate (%)Nickel Concentrate (%) Ni Fe _ Ni I Fe A 68.9 3.16.8 31.1 96.9 93.2 1 89.5 4.08.5 10.5 96.0 91.5
2 90.1 3.09.0 9.9 97.0 91.0
3 93.3 4.411.2 6.6 95.7 ~8.8
4 93.4 3.811.8 6.7 96.1 88.2 91.1 3.710.3 9.0 96.3 89.7 3 94.3 S 2~0.9 5.7 94 8 79.1 L
Thus it will be seen that where the conditioning temperature was below 35C the copper recovery was poor with less than 70% of the copper value reporting in the copper concentrate. On the other hand when too high a con-ditioning temperature was resorted to excessive iron flo-tation resulted with more than 20% of the iron value re-porting in the copper concentrate to the detriment of the grade of the latter.
It will be understood that while the present in-vention has been described with reference to specific embodi-ments thereof, various modifications may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.
Thus it will be seen that where the conditioning temperature was below 35C the copper recovery was poor with less than 70% of the copper value reporting in the copper concentrate. On the other hand when too high a con-ditioning temperature was resorted to excessive iron flo-tation resulted with more than 20% of the iron value re-porting in the copper concentrate to the detriment of the grade of the latter.
It will be understood that while the present in-vention has been described with reference to specific embodi-ments thereof, various modifications may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.
Claims (8)
1. A process for beneficiating a copper-containing sulfide nickel concentrate comprising preparing an aqueous pulp of the concentrate in a saturated lime solution, conditioning the pulp at a temperature of about 35-55°C
and thereafter subjecting it to froth flotation in the presence of a cyanide salt and a collector for copper minerals.
and thereafter subjecting it to froth flotation in the presence of a cyanide salt and a collector for copper minerals.
2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the step of preparing an aqueous pulp includes grinding the concen-trate to ensure liberation of minerals contained therein.
3. A process as claimed in claim 2 wherein lime is added to the grinding mill to form the saturated lime solution.
4. A process as claimed in claim 2 wherein the grind-ing is such as to ensure that about 30-45% of the concentrate is of smaller particle size than about 8 microns.
5. A process as claimed in claim 2 wherein the con-centrate to be beneficiated comprises chalcopyrite, pent-landite and pyrrhotite.
6. A process as claimed in claim 5 wherein the col-lector comprises an alkyl xanthate.
7. A process as claimed in claim 5 wherein the cyanide salt comprises an alkali metal cyanide in an amount corre-sponding at least to about 0.3 grams per kilogram of concen-trate.
8. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the condi-tioning temperature is higher than the pulp temperature during the flotation.
Priority Applications (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA267,349A CA1062819A (en) | 1976-12-07 | 1976-12-07 | Flotation separation of copper and nickel sulfides |
| AU30820/77A AU510245B2 (en) | 1976-12-07 | 1977-12-07 | Feneficiating nickeliferous sulphidic concentrates |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA267,349A CA1062819A (en) | 1976-12-07 | 1976-12-07 | Flotation separation of copper and nickel sulfides |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1062819A true CA1062819A (en) | 1979-09-18 |
Family
ID=4107463
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA267,349A Expired CA1062819A (en) | 1976-12-07 | 1976-12-07 | Flotation separation of copper and nickel sulfides |
Country Status (2)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| AU (1) | AU510245B2 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1062819A (en) |
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AU611059B2 (en) * | 1988-10-11 | 1991-05-30 | Inco Limited | Flotation process |
| CN103230839A (en) * | 2013-05-17 | 2013-08-07 | 山东黄金矿业(莱州)有限公司精炼厂 | Comprehensive recovery production method with gold concentrate flotation and cyanide flotation |
| CN106179770A (en) * | 2016-07-18 | 2016-12-07 | 刘合琼 | A kind of copper sulfide ore beneficiation technique |
| CN114515651A (en) * | 2022-01-24 | 2022-05-20 | 宜昌邦普循环科技有限公司 | Compound inhibitor and preparation method and application thereof |
Families Citing this family (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| YU11692A (en) * | 1991-02-06 | 1994-06-24 | Denehurst Limited A.C.N. | PROCEDURE FOR TREATMENT OF MATERIAL CONTAINING BASE METAL |
| CN101780428A (en) * | 2009-01-20 | 2010-07-21 | 江西铜业集团公司 | Method for adding lime for concentrating mill |
| CN112619889B (en) * | 2021-01-06 | 2022-08-09 | 矿冶科技集团有限公司 | Method for selecting copper and nickel from copper-nickel ore |
-
1976
- 1976-12-07 CA CA267,349A patent/CA1062819A/en not_active Expired
-
1977
- 1977-12-07 AU AU30820/77A patent/AU510245B2/en not_active Expired
Cited By (4)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AU611059B2 (en) * | 1988-10-11 | 1991-05-30 | Inco Limited | Flotation process |
| CN103230839A (en) * | 2013-05-17 | 2013-08-07 | 山东黄金矿业(莱州)有限公司精炼厂 | Comprehensive recovery production method with gold concentrate flotation and cyanide flotation |
| CN106179770A (en) * | 2016-07-18 | 2016-12-07 | 刘合琼 | A kind of copper sulfide ore beneficiation technique |
| CN114515651A (en) * | 2022-01-24 | 2022-05-20 | 宜昌邦普循环科技有限公司 | Compound inhibitor and preparation method and application thereof |
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| AU3082077A (en) | 1979-05-31 |
| AU510245B2 (en) | 1980-06-19 |
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