Experimental Study on Comprehensive Recovery of Valuable Minerals from Flotation Tailings in Copper-Molybdenum Mine

Abstract

In this paper, the mineral processing experimental study on the flotation tailings which are stored in the tailings pond of a copper-molybdenum mine is conducted, with a large content of slimes and kaolinite in the tailings and the fine particle sizes and poor locked particles of most of valuable minerals disseminated in the gangue minerals taken into consideration. Based on the mineralogical characteristics of the ore, a combined process is adopted in order to recover copper, molybdenum, sulfur and iron minerals from the ore, this process contains a series of steps in a particular sequence, which are pre-desliming of the ore, bulk flotation of copper and molybdenum of the coarse fraction, separation of Cu-Mo, separating sulfur from bulk flotation tailings and low-intensity magnetic separation of iron from sulfur flotation tailings. The results of the closed circuit test show that it can be obtained copper concentrate with a Cu grade of 20.61% and a recovery rate of 28.52%, molybdenum concentrate with a Mo grade of 36.00% (containing 20% C) and a recovery rate of 43.35%, sulfur concentrate with a S grade of 35.66% and a recovery rate of 42.58%, and iron concentrate with a Fe grade of 68.40% and a recovery rate of 6.85% (75% of phase recovery of magnetite).