Flotation Separation of Chalcopyrite and Molybdenite Assisted by Microencapsulation Using Ferrous and Phosphate Ions: Part I. Selective Coating Formation

Metals

Seunggwan Hong¹  Mayumi Ito²  Sanghee Jeon²  Naoki Hiroyoshi²  Ilhwan Park² 

[1] Cooperative Program for Resources Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan;Division of Sustainable Resources Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8628, Japan;

关键词: porphyry deposits;    chalcopyrite;    molybdenite;    flotation;    microencapsulation;    FePO₄ coating;   

DOI  :  10.3390/met10121667

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Porphyry Cu-Mo deposits, which are the most important sources of copper and molybdenum, are typically processed by flotation. In order to separate Cu and Mo minerals (mostly chalcopyrite and molybdenite), the strategy of depressing chalcopyrite while floating molybdenite has been widely adopted by using chalcopyrite depressants, such as NaHS, Na₂S, and Nokes reagent. However, these depressants are potentially toxic due to their possibility to emit H₂S gas. Thus, this study aims at developing a new concept for selectively depressing chalcopyrite via microencapsulation while using Fe²⁺ and PO₄³⁻ forming Fe^(III)PO₄ coating. The cyclic voltammetry results indicated that Fe²⁺ can be oxidized to Fe³⁺ on the chalcopyrite surface, but not on the molybdenite surface, which arises from their different electrical properties. As a result of microencapsulation treatment using 1 mmol/L Fe²⁺ and 1 mmol/L PO₄³⁻, chalcopyrite was much more coated with FePO₄ than molybdenite, which indicated that selective depression of chalcopyrite by the microencapsulation technique is highly achievable.

【 授权许可】

Unknown