Evaluation of the possibility of copper recovery from tailings by flotation through bench-scale, commissioning, and industrial tests

Abstract The present research aims at recovering copper by reprocessing of tailings at China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. (CMOC) from bench-scale to industrial tests. It focuses on the determination of the reagents' dosage and pulp concentration that enables to obtain the highest recovery of copper by flotation of the studied tailings. Based on the results of bench-scale tests, commissioning and industrial tests were conducted at CMOC and satisfactory results were achieved. Compared to the prior year's database, it was concluded that the reprocessing of tailings by flotation appeared to be an attractive practice because it could enable to minimize the footprint of mineral processing on the local environment. Meanwhile, the reprocessing of tailing could generate an extra profit of $1,205 800 per year for CMOC. Furthermore, the application of this technique at Sanqiang flotation plant was considered to be successful. These results indicate that the studied tailings represents an important source of secondary raw material for the extraction of copper and it opens up an alternative way for greening copper extraction. Finally, it is proved that the reprocessing of tailing by flotation is reliable, economical and promising in copper extraction industry, and therefore, cleaner production of copper concentrate is feasible.

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