Development of the processing technology for porphyry copper ores of the Tominsky deposit

Abstract

The article presents the results of the studies for the porphyry copper ores of the Tominsky deposit conducted to develop the respective processing technology. These process studies had been carried out since 2011 jointly by the TOMS Institute, Outotec, and JSC Mekhanobr Engineering. The experiments were carried out in 2017 at the laboratory of Mekhanobr Engineering using an ore charge from the Tominsky deposit and its Kalinovsky area with the percentage ratio of 75:25, copper content of 0.37 wt%, gold content of 0.09 g/t, and silver content of 0.89 g/t. The closed-cycle experiments yielded copper concentrates containing 20.7 wt% of copper, 3.95 g/t of gold, and 39.9 g/t of silver, with the recoveries of 90.27, 72.71 and 72.45 %, respectively. According to the results of the studies, the following technology was recommended for the design of the concentrator for the ores of the Tominsky deposit: semi-autogenous grinding and ball milling of the ore to 85 % passing –0.071 mm, rougher and scavenger flotation, rougher concentrate regrinding to 80 % passing –0.035 mm and two cleaner flotation stages for the rougher concentrate to obtain grade KM-5 copper concentrate with the mass fraction of copper of 20 % and copper recovery of 85 %. The concentrator of JSC Tominsky GOK, designed by JSC Mekhanobr Engineering, was put into pilot operation in 2020 and has reached its design performance.