The Effect Of Optimized Combination Of Depressants On The Flotation Separation Of Copper-nickel Ore In Hami

The copper-nickel ore in Hami,Xingjiang province is characterized by low content of copper and nickel,complex composition and close distribution among minerals.Due to the opposite electrical properties,heteroaggregation easily occurs between the minerals,and magnesium silicate minerals are easy to enter the concentrate in the flotation,which seriously affects the concentrate quality.In this paper,the copper-nickel ore is taken as the research object,and the flotation separation effects of chalcopyrite,pentlandite,serpentine and talc were investigated by turbidity test,Zeta potential,Infrared spectral(IR)and SEM-EDS test.To understand the influence of magnesium silicate minerals on the separation effect of copper-nickel ore,reveal the influence mechanism of different depressants on the four minerals,and guide the flotation production practice of actual ore,and conclusions can be reached as follows.The results of process mineralogy show that the content of copper and nickel in raw ore is0.30% and 0.42%,respectively.The main target minerals are pentlandite and chalcopyrite,and gangue minerals include chlorite,talc and serpentine.Chalcopyrite and pentlandite are closely related,and some of them are embedded in gangue minerals in the form of masses and disseminated.The key physicochemical properties of pure minerals,such as chalcopyrite,pentlandite,serpentine and talc,and the interaction between depressants and minerals were studied in PBX flotation system.The flotation results show that chalcopyrite,pentlandite and talc have better floatability than serpentine.The results of turbidity test and Zeta potential test show that serpentine is easy to flocculate with chalcopyrite,talc and pentlandite due to the opposite electrical properties,and a large amount of serpentine covers the surface of talc and copper-nickel sulfide minerals,thus reducing the flotation recovery of the mixed ore.The addition of SHMP can eliminate the flocculation between minerals,effectively disperse and depress the flotation of serpentine,and further inhibit the flotation of talc under the action of GA.The results of infrared spectral(IR)and SEM-EDS test showed that SHMP was adsorbed on the surface of serpentine by chemical reaction,while GA inhibited talc mainly by hydrophobicity and hydrogen bonding.Through the artificial mixed ore test,it is further verified that the combined depressants of SHMP and GA has a good flotation separation effect on copper-nickel sulfide minerals and magnesium silicate minerals.The flotation test of Hami copper-nickel ore containing 0.30% copper and 0.42% nickel was carried out with SHMP and GA.Under the condition of grinding fineness of-74 ?m accounting for 74%,single factor test,open circuit and closed circuit test of the whole process were carried out for copper nickel mixed flotation-copper nickel separation test.Finally,copper concentrate with copper grade of 21.23%,recovery of 75.54% and Mg O content of 4.02% and nickel concentrate with nickel grade of 6.90%,recovery of 74.88% and Mg O content of 5.93% were obtained.The grade of copper concentrate is greater than 20%and less than 25%,reaching the third-grade standard of copper concentrate.The grade of nickel concentrate is greater than 6.5% and less than 7.5%,reaching the four-grade standard of nickel concentrate.