Copper Recovery from Silicate-Containing Low-Grade Copper Ore Using Flotation Followed by High-Pressure Oxidative Leaching

In this paper, we present the results for recovery of copper from silicate-containing low-grade copper ore using flotation followed by atmospheric and high-pressure oxidative leaching. The effects of various flotation parameters, such as flotation time, PAX dosage, slurry pH and air injection rate o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inResources Processing Vol. 64; no. 1; pp. 3 - 14
Main Authors HAN, Baisui, ALTANSUKH, Batnasan, HAGA, Kazutoshi, TAKASAKI, Yasushi, SHIBAYAMA, Atsushi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kyoto The Resources Processing Society of Japan 2017
Japan Science and Technology Agency
Subjects
Air injection
Beneficiation
Chalcopyrite
Copper
Copper ores
Flotation
High-pressure oxidative leaching
Iron
Leaching
Low-grade copper ore
Minerals
Ores
Pressure
Pressure effects
Recovery
Slurries
Sulfuric acid
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Summary:In this paper, we present the results for recovery of copper from silicate-containing low-grade copper ore using flotation followed by atmospheric and high-pressure oxidative leaching. The effects of various flotation parameters, such as flotation time, PAX dosage, slurry pH and air injection rate on beneficiation of copper from the low-grade copper ore were studied. The recovery of copper reached 93.1% and the grade of copper improved to 18.2 mass% from 0.4 mass% under collector-less optimum flotation conditions. The enrichment ratio of copper in the concentrate was 45. The copper concentrate obtained from flotation of the low-grade copper ore was treated by atmospheric leaching and high-pressure oxidative leaching processes. A maximum recovery (>93.0%) of copper was obtained by high-pressure oxidative leaching in the water, whereas the copper recovery was lower than 12% in the sulfuric acid solution under atmospheric leaching conditions. The copper concentration in a pregnant leach solution enriched up to 15.0 g/L under the optimized leaching conditions. The effect of impurity such as iron in the sample on the froth flotation and both leaching processes is also considered. A process flow for the recovery of copper from silicate-containing low-grade copper ores is proposed as a result of these studies.
ISSN:1348-6012
1349-9262
DOI:10.4144/rpsj.64.3