Froth Flotation (Sulphide & Oxide)

Froth Flotation (Sulphide & Oxide)

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Replacing/substituting PAX completely/partially in pyrite-arsenopyrite gold ore flotation (2 replies and 1 comment)

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newmet94
5 years ago
newmet94 5 years ago

Greetings everyone,

I am working with a project involving a refractory gold ore where arsenopyrite and pyrite carry disseminated, sub-microscopic gold particles. There is little (only a few percent) free gold in the ore.

Currently, the sulfide flotation process uses PAX to float pyrite and arsenopyrite, but due to the increased procurement risk of xanthates, an alternative for PAX should be discovered. The aim is to either fully or partially replace PAX with some other collector (e.g. dithiophosphate-based collectors). Would there be anyone in this forum who has dealt with a similar project? I would really appreciate some good discussion about the replacement of PAX, for according to my knowledge, it has never been fully replaced by some other collector in a sulfide ore gold operation.

Looking forward to some interesting discussion!

BR,

newmet94

J
Jorge
5 years ago
Jorge 5 years ago
Like

You should perform kinetic tests to evaluate the effect of collectors on gold recovery. Try to evaluate 3894 and PAX at different proportions, also include copper sulphate. It is important to determine the main gold bearing mineral because it could be necessary to evaluate the arsenopyrite/pyrite separation. Don't forget to consider a good mineralogical study 

T
newmet94
5 years ago

Thank you for your comment Jorge. We use copper sulfate to activate pyrite and arsenopyrite, so the collectors used in copper ore processing should also work. Arsenopyrite carries most of the gold in this case.We were thinking about conducting mineralogical studies from the best collector tests' concentrate and tailings.

S
Shani
5 years ago
Shani 5 years ago
Like

Hi there!

I agree that Xanthates should be replaced and that it can be done. I have worked on a few projects where kinetics and overall performance was improved with DTP blends from Clariant - Copper, Gold and PGM case studies are available. 

Lower cost, higher recoveries of value bearing minerals and reagents that comply with the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

This applies to all base metals and precious metals - Sometimes CuSO4 can even be neglected.

Warm Regards

Shani Engelbrecht

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