Flotation of selected copper

sulfide minerals in saline waters

Leanne Smith, Liza Forbes and Kevin Davey
 Background
• Given the scarcity and value of potable water there is
increasing interest in using water of lower quality, in
particular, seawater and highly saline water
• Both sea water and hypersaline water have been
used successfully in operations around the world
– Seawater at Las Luces, Chile and Batu Hijai, Indonesia
– Hypersaline at Kalgoorlie and Mt Keith, Australia
• Reports of adverse effects
 Previous studies
• Collectorless flotation of chalcopyrite and bornite
– Tests conducted at the natural pH (~pH 8)
– No need for any additional reagents other than frother
• Batch flotation tests on single mineral-quartz
mixtures eliminates composite behaviour
• Stainless steel grinding media
• Any response obtained can be related directly to the
influence of the saline water
• Four waters of varying salinity tested
 Chalcopyrite
100

90

80

70
Copper recovery (%)

60
Distilled Water - 34.9% water recovery
50
Brackish water - 45.2% water recovery
40
Sea water - 45.5% water recovery
30
Hypersaline water - 52.2% water recovery
20

10 Hypersaline water repeat - 52.4% water recovery

0
0 2 4 Time (min) 6 8 10
 Bornite
100

90 Distilled Water - 30.2% water recovery

80 Brackish water - 42.0% water recovery
Sea water - 55.4% water recovery
70
Copper recovery (%)

Hypersaline water - 55.0% water recovery

60
Hypersaline water repeat - 55.4% water recovery
50

40

30

20

10

0
0 2 4 Time (min) 6 8 10
 Bornite - quartz
100

90
Distilled water
80 Brackish water
Sea water
70
Hypersaline Copper recovery
Feed distribution
Recovery (%)

60

50 (flotation +
40 entrainment)
30

20

10

0
1 10 100 1000
Particle size (mm)
 Bornite - quartz
100

90
Distilled water
80 Brackish water

70
Sea water
Hypersaline
Quartz recovery
Feed distribution
Recovery (%)

60
(measure of
50
entrainment)
40

30

20

10

0
1 10 100 1000
Particle size (mm)
 Bornite - quartz
100

90
Distilled water
80 Brackish water
Sea water
70
Hypersaline True flotation
Recovery (%)

60

50 (total Cu recovery
40 – quartz recovery)
30

20

10

0
1 10 100 1000
Particle size (mm)
 Current study
• Extended to chalcocite
• Chalcocite is not flotable without collector
– Starvation amount of potassium ethyl xanthate (KeX)
• Tests conducted at the natural pH (~pH 8)
• Four waters of varying salinity tested
Water Type Ca K Mg Na TDS
(g/L) (g/L) (g/L) (g/L) (g/L)
Distilled water nd nd nd nd nd
Brackish water 0.052 0.012 0.16 1.26 4.26
Sea water 0.42 0.48 1.30 10.6 39.0
Hypersaline 0.48 1.38 2.32 16.4 73.6
Chalcocite
 Differences between minerals
• Unclear why chalcocite and bornite are
affected by saline waters but not chalcopyrite
• It is known that chalcocite and bornite are
more prone to oxidation than chalcopyrite
• This oxidation may be exaberated by the
electrochemical nature of saline waters
 Metal hydroxides
• Oxidation of sulfide minerals releases metal
ions into solution which precipitate as
hydrophilic hydroxides in alkaline solution
• The effect of metal hydroxides can be
overcome through the use of a metal
complexant
• Increased collector additions have also been
shown to reduce the effects of metal
hydroxides
Effect of EDTA and extra collector
 Pulp filtrate analysis

Filtrate Ca Cu Mg Fe
(g/L) (g/L) (g/L) (g/L)
Before EDTA 380 4.2 2050 0.5
After EDTA 370 28 1970 4.0
Effect of collector
Effect of water components
 Conclusions
• Chalcocite floats strongly in the presence of collector at pH 8
in distilled water but the flotation of chalcocite with collector
is depressed in brackish water, sea water or hypersaline water.
• The detrimental effect of hypersaline water can be overcome
by the addition of EDTA, a metal ion complexant, or further
collector additions.
• Solutions of sodium chloride and sodium sulfate each have a
detrimental effect on the flotation of chalcocite.
 Acknowledgements
• The authors wish to acknowledge the financial
support of the CSIRO Chile Centre of Excellence and
the CSIRO Mineral Resources Flagship.
• They would also like to acknowledge the Chemical
Analysis team at the CSIRO Mineral Resources
Flagship for the sample analysis.