A study on selective flotation in low and high pyritic copper sulphide ores

Abstract

The effect of chemical reagent configurations was investigated on two different copper sulphide ore types, including high and low pyritic feeds. Three different combinations of collectors as isopropyl-n-ethyl thionocarbamate (C-4132), mixture of mercaptobenzothiazole and butyl sodium dithiphosphate (Flomin 7240) and sodium isopropyl xanthate (Z11) were used in flotation experiments. Solely using C-4132 was selected as the best pattern for both feed types with regard to achieving the highest copper grade and the lowest iron recovery. However, the selectivity index (SI) results showed that the combination of Z11+F7240 provides the highest selectivity of chalcopyrite against pyrite in either low or high pyritic ores.