Acid mine drainage activation mechanism on lime-depressed pyrite flotation from copper sulfide ore

The lime-depressed pyrite from Cu differential flotation tailings with acid mine drainage(AMD)as a natural activator was recovered.The effect of AMD on lime-depressed pyrite flotation was investigated by a series of laboratory flotation tests and surface analytical techniques.Flotation test results indicated that AMD could effectively activate the pyrite flotation with a sodium butyl xanthate(SBX)collector,and a high-quality sulfur concentrate was obtained.Pulp ion concentration analysis results indicated that AMD facilitated desorption of Ca^(2+)and adsorption of Cu^(2+)on the depressed-pyrite surface.Adsorption measurements and contact angle analysis results confirmed that adding AMD improved the adsorption amount of SBX collector on the pyrite surface and increased the contact angle by 31°.Results of Raman spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis indicated that AMD treatment promoted the formation of hydrophobic species(S^(0) hydrophobic entity and copper sulfides)and the removal of hydrophilic calcium and iron species on the pyrite surface,which reinforced the adsorption of collector.The findings of the present research provide important theoretical basis and technical support for a cleaner production of copper sulfide ores.

Enhancing XRF sensor-based sorting of porphyritic copper ore using particle swarm optimization-support vector machine(PSO-SVM)algorithm

X-ray fluorescence(XRF)sensor-based ore sorting enables efficient beneficiation of heterogeneous ores,while intraparticle heterogeneity can cause significant grade detection errors,leading to misclassifications and hindering widespread technology adoption.Accurate classification models are crucial to determine if actual grade exceeds the sorting threshold using localized XRF signals.Previous studies mainly used linear regression(LR)algorithms including simple linear regression(SLR),multivariable linear regression(MLR),and multivariable linear regression with interaction(MLRI)but often fell short attaining satisfactory results.This study employed the particle swarm optimization support vector machine(PSO-SVM)algorithm for sorting porphyritic copper ore pebble.Lab-scale results showed PSO-SVM out-performed LR and raw data(RD)models and the significant interaction effects among input features was observed.Despite poor input data quality,PSO-SVM demonstrated exceptional capabilities.Lab-scale sorting achieved 93.0%accuracy,0.24%grade increase,84.94%recovery rate,57.02%discard rate,and a remarkable 39.62 yuan/t net smelter return(NSR)increase compared to no sorting.These improvements were achieved by the PSO-SVM model with optimized input combinations and highest data quality(T=10,T is XRF testing times).The unsuitability of LR methods for XRF sensor-based sorting of investigated sample is illustrated.Input element selection and mineral association analysis elucidate element importance and influence mechanisms.

Anomaly Models of Spatial Structures for Copper-Molybdenum Ore Deposits and their Application

This paper discusses the enrichment and depletion regularities for porphyry coppermolybdenum ore deposits in different regions and varied deposit genetic types in the same area, taking three porphyry copper-molybdenum ore deposits （i.e., the Chengmenshan in Jiangxi, Wunugetushan in Inner Mongolia, Baishantang in Gansu） and two copper deposits in Gansu Province （the Huitongshan skarn deposit and Gongpoquan composite deposit） as case studies. The results show that porphyry Cu-Mo deposits or skarn copper deposits include both enrichment of the ore-forming elements and associated elements, and depletion of some lithophile dispersed elements, rare earth elements （REE） and some major elements. And the depleted elements vary with deposits, having generality and their own features. On a deposit scale, the positive anomalies of enriched elements and negative anomalies of depleted elements follow in a sequence to comprise regular anomaly models of spatial structures. The exploration in the Tongchang deposit in Jiangxi and Huitongshan deposit in Gansu suggests that anomaly models play a key role in the identification of mineral occurrences and deposits compared to one single enriched element anomaly. And the anomaly models exert a critical effect on the optimization of prospecting targets and their potential evaluation.

A cleaner production strategy for acid mine drainage prevention of waste rock:A porphyry copper case

An in-process technology approach is proposed to identify the source of acid mine drainage(AMD)generation and prevent its formation in a porphyry copper waste rock(WR).Adopting actions before stockpiling the WR enables the establishment of potential contaminants and predicts the more convenient method for AMD prevention.A WR sample was separated into size fractions,and the WR’s net acidgenerating potential was quantified using chemical and mineralogical characterization.The diameter of physical locking of sulfides(DPLS)was determined,and the fractions below the DPLS were desulfurized using flotation.Finally,the WR fractions and tailing from the flotation test were submitted to acid-base accounting and weathering tests to evaluate their acid-generating potential.Results show that the WR’s main sulfide mineral is pyrite,and the DPLS was defined as 850μm.A sulfide recovery of 91%was achieved using a combination of HydroFloat^(®)and Denver cells for a size fraction lower than DPLS.No grinding was conducted.The results show that size fractions greater than DPLS and the desulfurized WR are unlikely to produce AMD.The outcomes show that in-processing technology can be a more proactive approach and an effective tool for avoiding AMD in a porphyry copper WR.

Extraction of molybdenum and nickel from Ni-Mo ore by pressure acid leaching

A direct hydrometallurgical route for nickel and molybdenum extraction from a nickel-molybdenum （Ni-Mo） ore using pressure acid leaching was studied. The nickel and molybdenum were extracted by acid leaching under oxygen pressure. Compared with traditional roasting methods, this hydrometallurgical method eliminates SO2 and As203 emission （the Ni-Mo ore containing 15%-25% S）. Compared with existing alkali leaching recovery of molybdenum process, almost all the nickel and considerable molybdenum were extracted in the acid leaching process. Under oxygen pressure conditions, almost all the nickel and a substantial part of the molybdenum were dissolved into the acid leaching liquor and the other part of the molybdenum was left in the acid leach residue. The acid leach residue was further leached under alkaline （NaOH） conditions. Under optimal experimental conditions, the extraction rates nickel and molybdenum reached 97% and 96%, respectively.

Leaching kinetics of low-grade copper ore containing calcium-magnesium carbonate in ammonia-ammonium sulfate solution with persulfate

The leaching kinetics of copper from low-grade copper ore was investigated in ammonia-ammonium sulfate solution with sodium persulfate. The effect parameters of stirring speed, temperature, particle size, concentrations of ammonia, ammonium sulfate and sodium persulfate were determined. The results show that the leaching rate is nearly independent of agitation above 300 r/min and increases with the increase of temperature, concentrations of ammonia, ammonium sulfate and sodium persulfate. The EDS analysis and phase quantitative analysis of the residues indicate that bornite can be dissolved by persulfate oxidization. The leaching kinetics with activation energy of 22.91 kJ/mol was analyzed by using a new shrinking core model （SCM） in which both the interfacial transfer and diffusion across the product layer affect the leaching rate. A semi-empirical rate equation was obtained to describe the leaching process and the empirical reaction orders with respect to the concentrations of ammonia, ammonium sulfate and sodium persulfate are 0.5, 1.2 and 0.5, respectively.

Leaching of nickel-molybdenum sulfide ore in membrane biological reactor

The bioleaching of molybdenum from its sulfide ore using a Mo-resistant thermophilic bacterium sulfolobus metallics combined with a membrane biological reactor（MBR） was studied.The experimental results showed that the concentration of Mo can be controlled by filter of the membrane in MBR and the toxicity of Mo to microorganism is decreased in the process of bioleaching.It was also evidenced that there were different leaching rates of Ni and Mo when the concentration of Mo was different.After leaching for 20 d in the MBR at Mo concentration of 395 mg/L,the leaching rates of Ni and Mo reached the maximum of 79.57% and 56.23% respectively under the conditions of 100 g/L of mineral density,65 ℃,pH=2 and 1.0 L/min of the aeration rate.While 75.59% Ni and 54.33% Mo were leached out in column without membrane under the same conditions.

Catalytic epoxidation of olefin over supramolecular compounds of molybdenum oxide clusters and a copper complex

The catalytic epoxidation of olefin was investigated on two copper complex-modified molybdenum oxides with a 3D supramolecular structure, [Cu（bipy）]4[Mo15O47].2H2O （1） and [Cu1（bix）][（Cu1bix） （δ-MoVl8O26）0.5] （2） （bipy = 4,4＇-bipyridine, bix = 1,4-bis（imidazole-1-ylmethyl）benzene）. Both compounds were catalytically active and stable for the epoxidation of cyclooctene, 1-octene, and styrene with tert-butyl hydroperoxide （t-BuOOH） as oxidant. The excellent catalytic performance was attributed to the presence of stable coordination bonds between the molybdenum oxide and copper complex, which resulted in the formation of easily accessible Mo species with high electropositivity. In addition, the copper complex also acted as an active site for the activation of t-BuOOH, thus im- proving these copper complex-modified polyoxometalates.

Extraction of molybdenum and nickel from roasted Ni-Mo ore by hydrochloric acid leaching, sulphation roasting and water leaching

To extract molybdenum and nickel from the roasted Ni-Mo ore, a process of hydrochloric acid leaching, sulphation roasting and water leaching was investigated. The results showed that this process could get a high leaching rate of Mo and Ni. Under the optimum conditions of hydrochloric acid leaching （roasted Ni-Mo ore leached with 0.219 mL/g hydrochloric acid addition at 65 ℃ for 30 min with a L/S ratio of 3 mL/g）, sulphation roasting （51.9% sulfiaric acid addition, roasting temperature 240 ℃ for 1 h）, followed by leaching with the first stage hydrochloric acid leaching solution at 95 ℃ for 2 h, the leaching rates of Mo and Ni reached 95.8% and 91.3%, respectively.

Investigating the first-order flotation kinetics models for Sarcheshmeh copper sulfide ore

This study was performed in two phases of work.In the first stage,four conventional first-order flotation kinetics models were fitted to the measured recoveries data and the best model were selected.In the second stage,influence of pH,solid concentration,water chemistry and the amount of collector dosage were investigated on kinetics parameters including flotation rate constant and ultimate recovery.The results indicated that that perfectly mixed reactor model and Kelsall model gave the best and the weakest fit to the experimental data,respectively.It was observed that flotation rate constant and ultimate recovery were strongly affected by chemical factors investigated especially water quality.The flotation rate constant decreased with increasing the solids content,while ultimate recovery increased to certain value and thereafter reduced.It was also found that the most values of flotation rate constant and ultimate recovery obtained in dosage of collector are 30 and 40 g/t,respectively.

Preparation and characterization of molybdenum powders with copper coating by the electroless plating technique

Molybdenum powders with a diameter of approximately 3 μn were coated with copper using the electroless plating technique in the pH 12.5-13 and temperature range of 55-75℃. The optimization of the electroless copper bath was evaluated through the combination of process parameters like pH and temperature. The optimized values ofpH and temperature were found to be 12.5 and 60℃, respectively, which attributes to the bright maroon color of the coating with an increase in weight of 46%. The uncoated and coated powders were subjected to microstructural studies using scanning electron microscope （SEM） and the phases were analyzed using X-my diffrction （XRD）. An attempt was made to understand the growth mechanism of the coating. The diffusion-shrinkage autocatalytic model was suggested for copper growth on the molybdenum surface.

Bioleaching of low-grade copper sulfide ores by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans

The grown conditions of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans were investigated,and then experiments were conducted to research the bioleaching behaviors of crude ore of copper sulfide and hand-picked concentrates of chalcopyrite by Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans and Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans.The experimental results show that the bacteria grow best when the temperature is(30±1) °C and the pH value is 2.0.The bacteria concentration is 2.24×107 mL-1 in this condition.It is found that the copper extraction yield is affected by the inoculum size and the pulp density and the extraction yield increases as the inoculum size grows.The bioleaching rates reach their highest point in sulfide copper and chalcopyrite with a pulp density of 5% and 10%,respectively.Column flotation experiments of low-grade copper sulfide ores show that the bioleaching recovery reaches nearly 45% after 75 days.

Technological conditions and kinetics of leaching copper from complex copper oxide ore

The kinetic behavior of leaching copper from low grade copper oxide ore was investigated. The effects of leaching temperature, H2SO4 concentration, particle size of crude ore and agitation rate on the leaching efficiency of copper were also evaluated. And the kinetic equations of the leaching process were obtained. The results show that the leaching process can be described with a reaction model of shrinking core. The reaction can be divided into three stages. The first stage is the dissolution of free copper oxide and copper oxide wrapped by hematite-limonite ore. At this stage, the leaching efficiency is very fast （leaching efficiency is larger than 60%）. The second stage is the leaching of diffiuent copper oxides, whose apparent activation energy is 43.26 kJ/mol. During this process, the chemical reaction is the control step, and the reaction order of H2SO4 is 0.433 84. The third stage is the leaching of copper oxide wrapped by hematite-limonite and silicate ore with apparent activation energy of 16.08 kJ/mol, which belongs to the mixed control.

Techniques of copper recovery from Mexican copper oxide ore

Mexican copper ore is a mixed ore containing mainly copper oxide and some copper sulfide that responds well to flotation. The joint techniques of flotation and leaching were studied. The results indicate that an ore containing 19.01% copper could be obtained at a recovery ratio of 35.02% by using sodium sulfide and butyl xanthate flotation. Over 83.33% of the copper oxide can be recovered from the railings by leaching in suitable conditions, such as 1 h stirring at a temperature around 25 ℃with a mixing speed of S00 r/min, an H2SO4 concentration of 1.0 mol/L and a mass ratio of the ore-slurry-liquid to solid （mL/ms） of 3. The overall yield of refined ore after flotation and leaching is over 89.18% of the copper, which is much better than sole flotation or leaching. A copper product containing more than 99.9% copper was obtained by using the process： flotation-agitation leaching- solvent extraction-electro-winning.

Dissolution kinetics of low grade complex copper ore in ammonia-ammonium chloride solution

The leaching kinetics of Tang-dan refractory low grade complex copper ore was investigated in ammonia-ammonium chloride solution.The concentration of ammonia and ammonium chloride,the ore particle size,the solid-to-liquid ratio and the temperature were chosen as parameters in the experiments.The results show that temperature,concentration of ammonia and ammonium chloride have favorable influence on the leaching rate of copper oxide ores.But,leaching rate decreases with increasing particle size and solid-to-liquid ratio.The leaching process is controlled by the diffusion of the lixiviant and the activation energy is determined to be 23.279 kJ/mol.An equation was also proposed to describe the leaching kinetics.

Interaction effects of flotation reagents for SAG mill reject of copper sulphide ore using response surface methodology

Flotation reagents have a complex behaviour in the beneficiation of base minerals in clayey ores.Interaction effects of reagents on the efficiency of copper flotation for a highly clayey low-grade sulphide ore were investigated using a central composite design.Preliminary results showed that sodium-isopropyl-xanthate(SIPX)and O-isopropyl-N-ethyl-thionocarbamate(IPETC)were found to be the most efficient collectors in the presence of lime as the pH regulator.The effects of dosage of collectors(SIPX and IPETC)and the dosage of methyl-isobutyl-carbonyl(MIBC)as frother on the separation efficiency were evaluated at different pH levels.Based on the analysis of variance(ANOVA),the interaction effects of the collector−pH and collector−frother were significant for the separation efficiency.At the low level of collector dosage,increasing pH from 9 to 11 enhanced copper separation efficiency from 81%to 86%for IPETC and from 77%to 86%for SIPX.Results of ANOVA showed that the maximum copper separation efficiency(88.7%)was obtained at the dosages of 8.6 g/t SIPX,7 g/t IPETC and 20 g/t MIBC at pH 11.Finally,it was concluded that a mixture of SIPX and IPETC collectors was more suitable to treat highly clayey sulphide ores.

Effect of ultraviolet mutagenesis on heterotrophic strain mutation and bioleaching of low grade copper ore

The effect of ultraviolet mutagenesis on a heterotrophic strain(Providencia JAT-1) mutation was studied and bioleaching of low grade copper ore with mutant bacteria was investigated. The results show that the activity of bacteria was improved after ultraviolet mutagenesis; the best irradiation time was 120 s. Compared to the original bacteria, the cells density of mutant bacteria at stationary phase increased by 26% and ammonia produced by mutant bacteria increased by 12%. Higher activity of bacteria leads to a higher copper extraction rate. The bioleaching performance of Providencia JAT-1 was improved after UV mutagenesis. The copper extraction rate with mutant bacteria increased by 10.6% compared to the original bacteria. The ore surface was corroded and the fine particles were absent after bioleaching. Free copper oxide and copper silicates could be leached out easily by using JAT-1; a small part of the copper sulfide can also be leached out. Bioleaching using JAT-1 is more effective than ammonia leaching and copper extraction rate with mutant bacteria was 21.1% higher than that by ammonia leaching under the same condition.

Mechanochemical sulfidization of a mixed oxide-sulphide copper ore by co-grinding with sulfur and its effect on the flotation efficiency

Mechanochemical sulfidization of a mixed sulfide/oxide copper ore by co-grinding with sulfur and additives including Mg(NO3)2 and Fe(NO3)3 salts and iron,aluminum and magnesium powders was investigated for the first time.Also,the influence of sulfidization during the wet-milling process was examined on the separation efficiency and recovery of copper in detail.The results demonstrated that co-grinding with sulfur solely had the best flotation performance at the value of 0.5 wt.%and it was attributed to the possible existence of S\\O bonding on copper oxides surfaces.In addition,adding magnesium nitrate salt,magnesium powder,iron nitrate salt and aluminum powder as additive associated with 0.5 wt%sulfur into ball milling caused the flotation improvement at the amounts of 0.2 wt%,0.2 wt%,0.5 wt%and 0.5 wt%,respectively.Also,the effect of grinding time and sulfidization pH with 0.5 wt%sulfur solely was determined and pH s of 7.5 to 8.5 gave the best results.The highest recovery(75.76%)and separation efficiency(63.44%)were achieved at pH of 7.5 and 8.5,respectively.

Effect of temperature on leaching behavior of copper minerals with different occurrence states in complex copper oxide ores

The effect of temperature on leaching behavior of copper minerals with different occurrence states in complex copper oxide ores was carried out by phase analysis means of XRD, optical microscopy and SEM-EDS. The results indicated that at ambient temperature, the easily leached copper oxide minerals were completely dissolved, while the bonded copper minerals were insoluble. At lukewarm temperature of 40℃, it was mainly the dissolution of copper in isomorphism state. With increasing temperature to 60℃, the copper leaching rate in the adsorbed state was significantly accelerated. In addition, when the temperature increased to 80℃, the isomorphic copper was completely leached, leaving 11.2% adsorbed copper un-leached. However, the copper in feldspar-quartz-copper-iron colloid state was not dissolved throughout the leaching process. Overall, the leaching rates of copper in different copper minerals decreased in the order: malachite, pseudo-malachite > chrysocolla > copper-bearing chlorite > copper-bearing muscovite > copper-bearing biotite > copper-bearing limonite > feldspar-quartz-copper-iron colloid.

Aerosol flotation of low-grade refractory molybdenum ores

The characteristics of aerosol flotation, which include the effect of the concentration and particle size of kerosene aerosol on the molybdenum （Mo） flotation index and the effect of kerosene aerosol dosing method on the kerosene dosage and flotation time, were studied in the flotation of low-grade refractory molybdenum ores using kerosene aerosol. The results revealed that the particle size and concentration of kerosene aerosol had little effect on the Mo grade but had significant effect on the Mo recovery. A smaller particle size and a lower con-centration of kerosene aerosol were beneficial to the Mo aerosol flotation. For the received Mo ore samples, the optimized particle size of kerosene aerosol was 0.3-2 μm and the optimized aerosol concentration was 14 mg/L. The compressed air atomizer had a more uniform dis-tribution of aerosol particles than the ultrasonic atomizer, and the aerosol concentration was controlled easily, so the compressed air atomizer was more suitable for the research of aerosol flotation. Compared with conventional flotation in which kerosene was directly added into the ore pulp, the flotation time was reduced by ~30%, and the dosage was decreased by ~20% in aerosol flotation, while the Mo flotation index was similar.