B. Das et Ar. Prasad, ENHANCING THE FLOTABILITY OF MALANJKHAND (INDIA) MIXED SULFIDE OXIDE COPPER ORE WITH LIX-65NS, Scandinavian journal of metallurgy, 24(3), 1995, pp. 100-105
Background/aims: in the treatment of the Malanjkhand copper ore, the o
xide component remains unaffected and either goes to tailings or is se
parately stockpiled for future treatment by hydrometallurgical route.
To overcome these drawbacks, the application of the reagent LIX 65 NS
as collector has been undertaken in the laboratory to enhance the roug
her flotation recovery with satisfactory concentrate grade. Methods: B
atch flotation experiments were carried out with feed charge of 200 g
in a standard Denver D-12 sub-aeration machine using a 1 litre cell. A
t the end of the flotation test, both concentrate and tailing were dri
ed, weighed and analysed for copper as per standard procedure. The kin
etic studies were carried out by collecting the concentrate at the cum
ulative time interval of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 min. Results and conclusions
: The effect of reagent concentration, pH, conditioning time, frother
etc., were studied. The results of the batch flotation experiments wit
h LIX 65NS had demonstrated better results than with sodium isopropyl
xanthate being practiced in the plant. It was possible to obtain a cop
per grade of 17.7% with more than 92% recovery in a single stage flota
tion from the mixed ore containing around 0.5% copper. The flotation p
erformance using collectors LIX 65NS and xanthate were studied both wi
th respect to kinetics and selectivity.