Mineral processing test plan for metal sulfide ore

(A) copper sulfide ore

The beneficiation test of copper sulfide ore without oxidation (or low oxidation rate) basically adopts a flotation scheme. In the copper sulfide ore, in addition to copper sulfide minerals and gangue, iron sulfide (pyrite, pyrrhotite, arsenopyrite, etc.) is contained. Separation of copper sulfide minerals from gangue is relatively easy, and separation from iron sulfide minerals is difficult. Therefore, the main contradiction of copper sulfide ore flotation is copper and sulfur separation.

When the content of iron sulfide minerals in the ore is high, the preferential flotation process should be adopted; conversely, the process of separation after copper-sulfur mixed flotation should be given priority, but the preferential flotation process is not excluded.

The basic prescription for the separation of copper and sulfur is to suppress the iron sulfide mineral with lime and, if necessary, to add a small amount of cyanide.

Activation available sodium iron sulfides, carbon dioxide gas, sulfuric acid, etc., while the need to add a small amount of copper sulfate. In recent years, studies have begun to study the separation of copper and sulfur by hot water flotation. It is possible to add or not add inhibitors such as lime and improve the separation effect of copper and sulfur.

When the ore contains a magnet, it can be recovered by magnetic separation.

When there is a diamond in the ore, cobalt is usually present in the pyrite, and the pyrite concentrate, that is, the cobalt-sulfur concentrate, can be recovered by a metallurgical method.

When the ore contains a small amount of molybdenum , the copper-molybdenum mixed concentrate may be first selected and then separated.

Most of the copper- nickel ore is a mixed flotation process. The mixed concentrate can be first smelted into nickel ice copper and then separated by flotation, or directly by flotation.

(Ii) zinc copper sulfide ores

The copper sulfide zinc ore is mainly treated by flotation.

The copper sulfide zinc ore usually contains iron sulfide minerals. The main task of flotation is to solve the separation of copper, zinc and sulfur, especially the separation of copper and zinc.

The flotation process needs to be tested and compared, but it can be judged based on the composition of the ore material. When the content of sulfide is high, the partial flotation process should be considered firstly after the preferential flotation process or copper-zinc mixed flotation; then, the full flotation process or the preferential zinc-sulfur mixed flotation after floating copper can be considered. . When the particle size of the copper mineral and the zinc mineral symbiosis with each other is finer than the particle size of the symbiotic with the pyrite, a copper-zinc partial mixed flotation process can be used; on the contrary, it is better to float the copper and then mix the floated zinc sulfur.

The basic prescription for the separation of copper and zinc is usually zinc or copper sulphite (including NaSO3, NazS2O3, NaHSO3, H2SO4 gas, etc.), which is mostly used in combination with zinc sulphate.

Also consider trying the following three options:

(1) using sodium sulfide plus zinc sulfate to suppress zinc floating copper;

(2) using red blood salt to suppress copper floating zinc in lime medium;

(3) Warming the slurry in the lime medium (60*C) and suppressing the copper floating zinc.

Because copper-zinc minerals are often densely symbiotic, sphalerite is easily activated by copper ions. Especially the complex sulfide minerals that have been oxidized are activated by sphalerite due to the formation of soluble copper salts. The separation of copper and zinc becomes very difficult, and the general method is still difficult. For separation, a method of adding soluble starch and copper sulfate floating zinc to suppress copper can be considered, and a better index can be obtained. The traditional prescription for the separation of zinc and sulfur is to use lime to suppress sulfur and float zinc. In areas where conditions permit, it is also possible to try to use the slurry heating method instead of lime (or a mixture of the two) to inhibit pyrite. Can also use SO2 ten steam heating method to float sulfur and zinc.

(C) zinc copper sulfide ores lead

The beneficiation of copper sulphide lead-zinc ore is also mainly carried out by flotation. The following two process scenarios should be prioritized during the test:

(1) Partially mixed flotation process, that is, first mixing flotation copper and lead, and then sequentially or mixing flotation zinc and sulfide;

(2) The mixed flotation process, that is, all the sulfides are floated once and then separated.

Copper-lead separation is the main problem in the flotation of copper-lead-zinc ore. The scheme can be lead-free copper or copper-suppressing lead. Which scheme is better, it should be determined through specific tests. The general principle is: when the content of lead in the ore is much higher than that of copper, the lead should be suppressed; in other words, when the copper content is close to or more than lead, copper should be floated.

Common copper and lead separation methods are as follows:

(1) Method heavy chromate

The use of dichromate to inhibit galena and flotation of copper minerals.

(2) Cyanidation

That is, cyanide suppresses copper minerals and floats lead minerals.

(3) Ferricyanide method

When the secondary copper mineral content in the ore is high, the effects of the above two methods are not good enough. If the copper content in the ore is high, the secondary cyanide (yellow blood salt and red blood salt) can be used to suppress the secondary. Copper mineral flotation lead minerals; if the lead content is much higher than copper, two options should be tested.

(4) The sulfurous acid method (sulphur dioxide method) treats the mixed concentrate with sulfur dioxide gas or sulfurous acid, so that the lead mineral is inhibited and the copper mineral is activated. In order to enhance the inhibition, potassium dichromate or zinc dithionite, or starch may be added.

Etc., the pulp can also be warmed (heated flotation method), and finally the lime must be adjusted to 5~7 with lime, and then the copper ore flotation.

(5) sodium sulfite-ferric sulfate method

That is, sodium sulfite and iron sulfate are used as a mixed inhibitor, and the slurry is acidified with sulfuric acid, and stirred under the condition of pH=6-7 to suppress the galena and float the copper mineral.

(6) Ca(ClO)2 method for suppressing copper and lead.

One of the main reasons for the difficulty in separating copper-lead mixed concentrates is due to the presence of excess chemicals ( collectors and foaming agents) in the mixed concentrate. Removal of excess agent from the slurry prior to separation of the concentrate concentrate and removal of the collector film from the mineral surface can greatly improve the separation of the mixed concentrate.

Complex and difficult to choose copper, lead, zinc, pyrite ore, due to the complex composition of ore and the change of floatability, mainly through special effects, to reduce the use of cyanide, use SO2, float at pH=5.5~6.5 Copper is effective in suppressing lead, zinc and iron. It is effective to use a comprehensive inhibitor: SO2 plus dextrin and tannin, NaHSO3 and so on. Secondly, low-grade xanthate and ammonium black medicine are used in the rough selection, and activated carbon is desorbed before selection. In addition, the process considers floating and floating, and then floats and floats (ie, the floatable process). For the case where the size of the inlay is very fine, a stage grinding and floating process is required. First, a copper-lead or zinc-sulfur mixed concentrate is selected, and then the mixing is re-grinded and re-selected, and some even have to adopt a combined metallurgical process. For the case of severe oxidation, the copper-lead ore becomes difficult to float. The sphalerite is affected by the activation of copper, but the iron sulfide is complicated. The measures taken are mainly “hot water flotation method”, and some will be copper and zinc. The mixed concentrate is filtered and placed in the open air for a few days, let it oxidize, then adjust the slurry (35~40% solid), heat the water (50~60 °C) to float the zinc and suppress the copper, and then remove the copper from the zinc concentrate. Some factories will increase the copper-lead mixed concentrate vapor to 70 ° C, and then use sulfite to adjust the pH to 5 ~ 5, 5, lead-free copper. For the case of a large amount of slime, it is necessary to pre-mineralize, separate the mud and sand, and combine the coarse concentrate.