Pyrite-gold recovery in copper rougher flotation tailings
Date
2013
Authors
Agorhom, A.E.
Skinner, W.
Zanin, M.
Editors
Advisors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Type:
Conference paper
Citation
2013 Chemeca proceedings - challenging tomorrow, 2013, pp.704-709
Statement of Responsibility
Conference Name
Chemeca 2013 (29 Sep 2013 : Brisbane, Australia)
Abstract
The present study investigates the effect of regrinding and aeration on the separation of pyrite from gold in copper rougher flotation tailings (0.07% Cu, 0.61g/t Au, tail grades). An aeration stage was applied both at the head of copper flotation (copper rougher feed) and after regrinding of the copper rougher tailings, before gold/pyrite selective flotation. Also, different collector regimes, involving sodium iso-butyl xanthate (SIBX) and N-butoxycarbonyl-nbutyl thionocarbamate (XD5002), have been tested. It was found that aeration of the copper rougher feed produced lower gold (71%) and copper (95%) recoveries than the non-aeration of the copper rougher feed (73% Au and 98% Cu recoveries). Fine regrinding of the copper rougher tails increased both gold and copper recoveries in the subsequent flotation stage, due to improved liberation. The highest gold recovery from the rougher tailings (45%) was achieved without aeration of the reground product. However, in these conditions poor rejection of pyrite was achieved, and the concentrate gold grade was low (1.3 g/t, versus 2.3 g/t obtained after aerating the pulp). With respect to the collector scheme, increased gold and copper recoveries were achieved blending the two collectors (SIBX and XD5002) compared to XD5002 alone. However, higher gold (3.0 g/t) and copper (1.0%) grades were observed with XD5002 alone, due to better pyrite rejection. This is believed to be due to the high affinity of xanthates (e.g., SIBX) for the copper activated pyrite.
School/Discipline
Dissertation Note
Provenance
Description
Access Status
Rights
Copyright 2013 Engineers Australia