On The 4th. Dapingzhang The Refractory Polymetallic Sulfide Ore Beneficiation Test Study

This paper conducted the mineralogical studies on the complex and refractory copper-lead-zinc sulfide ore of Da ping zhang, Yunnan, with the aid of modern testing instrument MLA. According to the actual operational practice, it's very difficult to separate copper and zinc minerals, resulting in a poor quality of the concentrate, i.e., copper concentrate containing zinc and zinc concentrate containing copper to great extents. Based on the study of the flotation process and the reagent scheme in the system, further study on the separating copper and zinc were carried out to improve the grade and recovery. Finally, better processing performance were obtained. It can provide reference for current production operations.Ore mineralogical studies have shown:the ore contains Cu 0.818%, Pb 0.639%, Zn 3.20%, and S 17.76%. Mineral composition is very complex as it contains more than 30 kinds of minerals. Main metallic minerals are pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, tetrahedrite, pyrrhotite, and galena; main gangue minerals include chlorite, quartz, mica and a small amount of carbonate, oxides and hydroxides in the ore. It can be defined as a multi-metallic sulfide ore with high lead and sulfur contents. Elements that can be utilized in the ore may be Cu, Pb, Zn, Ag, S, and a little Au. Other elements cannot be utilized.Tests are conducted after the research of the mineral composition, dissemination and inclusion relationships of the minerals, and preferential flotation scheme was put forward by using conventional and non-toxic reagents, which is expected to reduce the environmental pollution.Research showed that the disseminated particle size of copper and zinc minerals are relatively fine. In order to achieve a better liberation degree for the target minerals, fine grinding shall be conducted. Therefore, the fine grinding is the key operational factor to improve the flotation performance.The ore contains Cu 0.818%, Pb 0.639%, and Zn 3.20%, preferential flotation was conducted by two roughing stages, and three cleaning stages, copper and zinc concentrates can be obtained, assaying 18.835% Cu at the recovery of 76.14% and assaying 52.675% Zn at the recovery of 88.42%. Above processing performance was obtained under following conditions:95% -400 mesh for grinding, diethyl dithiocarbamate as copper's collector, zinc sulfate and sodium sulfite as zinc mineral's depressants, lime as pyrite mineral's depressants, copper sulfate as zinc mineral's activator, butyl-xanthate as zinc mineral's collector, and pine oil as frother.