Mineral Processing
Zaheer Ahmed; Muhammad Bilal; Zulfiqar Ali; Muhammad Badar Hayat; Kazutoshi HAGA; Atsushi Shibayama
Abstract
Low-grade copper–gold porphyry ores present significant processing challenges due to poor mineral dissemination and high gangue content. In this study, a representative ore sample from the Saindak Copper–Gold Project, Pakistan, with an average copper grade of 0.4 wt%, was investigated to ...
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Low-grade copper–gold porphyry ores present significant processing challenges due to poor mineral dissemination and high gangue content. In this study, a representative ore sample from the Saindak Copper–Gold Project, Pakistan, with an average copper grade of 0.4 wt%, was investigated to optimize flotation parameters for improved copper recovery. Mineralogical characterization using XRD, XRF, SEM–EDS, and ICP-OES confirmed chalcopyrite as the primary copper-bearing mineral finely disseminated within silicate gangue and iron sulfides. A series of batch flotation experiments were conducted by systematically varying particle size, slurry pH, collector dosage, and flotation time. The results showed that optimal conditions (particle size <75 μm, pH 12, and 1-min flotation time) enabled selective chalcopyrite recovery. Optimal flotation performance was achieved at pH 12 with a collector dosage of 5 g/t and a flotation time of 1 min, yielding a copper recovery of approximately 93% and a concentrate grade of 23 wt% under multistage flotation conditions. Flotation kinetics analysis indicated that the first-order kinetic model provided the best fit to the experimental data. The findings demonstrate that efficient copper upgrading from low-grade Saindak ore can be achieved with minimal collector consumption, offering a potentially cost-effective and sustainable processing strategy for similar porphyry copper deposits.
M. Ibrahim; N. Mohammad; Z. Ahmad; Sh. Bacha; N. Muhammad Khan; M. Iftikhar Khan
Abstract
In this work, we focus on the up-gradation of the copper ore of Qilla Saifullah in Pakistan through the froth flotation technique. The chemical analysis of the head copper ore sample reveal the presence of 2.85% Cu, 22% Fe2O3, 52.9% SiO2, and other minor minerals. The optimum grinding time and ...
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In this work, we focus on the up-gradation of the copper ore of Qilla Saifullah in Pakistan through the froth flotation technique. The chemical analysis of the head copper ore sample reveal the presence of 2.85% Cu, 22% Fe2O3, 52.9% SiO2, and other minor minerals. The optimum grinding time and liberation size of the copper ore have been determined as 30 minutes and +149-105 µm, respectively, for further processing. The chemical reagents are optimized in order to get a maximum grade and recovery of the copper ore. After comparisons and analysis of the results obtained, it can be concluded that the maximum grade and recovery of the copper ore are achieved at the dosage 300 (g/t) of the collector potassium amyl xanthate (C6H11KOS2), 250 g/t of pine oil, 250 g/t of a depressant (Na2SiO3), conditioning time of 10 minutes for a collector, flotation time of 6 and 10 minutes, and pH of 10 using the froth flotation technique.
