XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 3123
both the copper recovery become lower. A study has shown
that mineral particle size has an impact on the formation
of froth in flotation. Suitable medium-sized particles will
form smaller and more stable bubbles and the floatability of
the mineral particles is higher with relatively small bubbles
(Jamson, 2010 Feng and Aldrich, 1999). On the other
hand, Luo (2018) found that when the dissociation degree
of coarse minerals was low, the collector couldn’t work suf-
ficiently, resulting in low recovery of minerals. Additionally,
too fine particles will form a large amount of slime that
covers the surface of valuable minerals. This prevents the
adsorption of collectors on the surface of valuable minerals,
resulting in slow and low flotation recovery and low prod-
uct quality. These explain the copper recovery decrease at a
particle size of –45 μm and –160 μm as shown in Figure 7.
The particle size below 75 μm was confirmed as the opti-
mum size for collector 2-OA and PAX in the flotation of
the copper sulfide ore tested in this study.
Effect of Flotation Time
The effect of flotation time was conducted under the opti-
mum flotation conditions of pH 10, particle size below 75
μm, pulp density of 10%, and a collector dosage of 100 g/t,
which were obtained from the previous test results. Figure 8
demonstrates that the cumulative copper recovery rapidly
increases from 0 to 2 min and then gradually increases after
2 min. The increase flattens out after 8 min, and the cumu-
lative copper recovery reaches a maximum, and flotation is
nearly over at 10 min. After 10 min, the copper recovery of
collector 2-OA was 80% while that of PAX was 70%. This
indicates that more copper ores can be recovered by collec-
tor 2-OA than PAX during the same period.
Flotation Kinetics
To further investigate the flotation behavior and study the
excellent floatation effect of 2-OA, the flotation kinetics
study was performed using collector PAX and 2-OA under
the same optimum conditions with the effect of flotation
time study. The slope of Figure 9 is the flotation constant k
(The fitting error was ≧0.91), which suggests the flotation
(Flotation condition: particle size –45 μm ~–160 μm, pulp
density 10%, pH 10, collector dosage 100 g/t)
Figure 7. Effect of particle size using collector 2-OA and
PAX
(Flotation condition: particle size below 75 μm, pulp density
10%, pH 10, collector dosage 100 g/t)
Figure 8. Comparison of cumulative copper recovery over
time between collector 2-OA and PAX
(Flotation condition: particle size below 75 μm, pulp density
10%, pH 10, collector dosage 100 g/t)
Figure 9. Comparison of flotation rate constants between
collector 2-OA and PAX
both the copper recovery become lower. A study has shown
that mineral particle size has an impact on the formation
of froth in flotation. Suitable medium-sized particles will
form smaller and more stable bubbles and the floatability of
the mineral particles is higher with relatively small bubbles
(Jamson, 2010 Feng and Aldrich, 1999). On the other
hand, Luo (2018) found that when the dissociation degree
of coarse minerals was low, the collector couldn’t work suf-
ficiently, resulting in low recovery of minerals. Additionally,
too fine particles will form a large amount of slime that
covers the surface of valuable minerals. This prevents the
adsorption of collectors on the surface of valuable minerals,
resulting in slow and low flotation recovery and low prod-
uct quality. These explain the copper recovery decrease at a
particle size of –45 μm and –160 μm as shown in Figure 7.
The particle size below 75 μm was confirmed as the opti-
mum size for collector 2-OA and PAX in the flotation of
the copper sulfide ore tested in this study.
Effect of Flotation Time
The effect of flotation time was conducted under the opti-
mum flotation conditions of pH 10, particle size below 75
μm, pulp density of 10%, and a collector dosage of 100 g/t,
which were obtained from the previous test results. Figure 8
demonstrates that the cumulative copper recovery rapidly
increases from 0 to 2 min and then gradually increases after
2 min. The increase flattens out after 8 min, and the cumu-
lative copper recovery reaches a maximum, and flotation is
nearly over at 10 min. After 10 min, the copper recovery of
collector 2-OA was 80% while that of PAX was 70%. This
indicates that more copper ores can be recovered by collec-
tor 2-OA than PAX during the same period.
Flotation Kinetics
To further investigate the flotation behavior and study the
excellent floatation effect of 2-OA, the flotation kinetics
study was performed using collector PAX and 2-OA under
the same optimum conditions with the effect of flotation
time study. The slope of Figure 9 is the flotation constant k
(The fitting error was ≧0.91), which suggests the flotation
(Flotation condition: particle size –45 μm ~–160 μm, pulp
density 10%, pH 10, collector dosage 100 g/t)
Figure 7. Effect of particle size using collector 2-OA and
PAX
(Flotation condition: particle size below 75 μm, pulp density
10%, pH 10, collector dosage 100 g/t)
Figure 8. Comparison of cumulative copper recovery over
time between collector 2-OA and PAX
(Flotation condition: particle size below 75 μm, pulp density
10%, pH 10, collector dosage 100 g/t)
Figure 9. Comparison of flotation rate constants between
collector 2-OA and PAX