XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 2181
and the recovery of chalcopyrite for the same physicochem-
ical conditions of the system.
In Figure 4, it is possible to notice that the longest
induction times were obtained in the presence of NS-PAM,
followed by MS-PAM and finally by SS-PAM. These data
are consistent with those achieved in the microflotation
tests and suggest that the flocculant molecules generate a
hydrophilic coating on the surface of the chalcopyrite par-
ticles. The same trend was observed in Figure 5, although
in this case, the values obtained with SS-PAM increased
compared to those achieved at pH 7. On the other hand,
at pH 11 (Figure 6) the trend is reversed, and the longest
induction times were obtained in the presence of SS-PAM.
These results agree with the low recoveries of chalcopyrite
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
PAM concentration, mg/L
NS-PAM
MS-PAM
SS-PAM
Figure 3. Chalcopyrite recovery as a function of PAM concentration for the different levels of
mechanical degradation evaluated (NS, MS and SS-PAM) at pH 11 using a 0.01 M NaCl solution
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
PAM concentration, mg/L
NS-PAM
MS-PAM
SS-PAM
Figure 4. Induction time of chalcopyrite as a function of PAM concentration for the different
levels of mechanical degradation evaluated (NS, MS and SS-PAM) at pH 7 using a 0.01 M NaCl
solution
Chalcopyrite
recovery,
%
Induction
t
e,
ms