PROMISING WAYS TO INTENSIFY THE FLOTATION PROCESS OF COPPER-PORPHYRY AND GOLD-SILVER ORES BY APPLYING ELECTROCHEMICAL PROCESSING

Abstract

The paper deals with the problem of enrichment of
persistent ores whit complex material composition
containing precious metals in a fine state. It notes the
relevance of involving methods of flotation enrichment intensification using electrochemical solution
preparation for flotation pulp preparation. Experimental studies were conducted on two different types
of ores to compare the efficiency of increasing the
extraction of valuable components into concentrates.
When processing copper-porphyry ores, the use of
catholyte and a mixture of catholyte and anolyte significantly (by 13.5-19%) increases the conversion of
gold into a foam product. Electroflotation of goldquartz ores, using a solution of catholyte, helped to
increase the extraction of gold by more than 6%,
which can be of great practical importance in the
processing of man-made raw materials. The loss of
gold to tailings is possible due to the oxidation of
pyrite containing gold in the ore, which is partially
oxidized in the presence of an anolyte, and the particles acquire hydrophilic properties. The extraction of
gold into tailings is identical to the extraction of iron
into tailings, which once again confirms the tenacity
of the ore, gold-bearing sulfides are represented by
both chalcopyrite and pyrite.
Copper recovery is characterized by positive dynamics. The best indicators result from the experiments
conducted with the use of additional ultrasonic treatment of the solution. Copper extraction under these
conditions increases by 3.75% and reaches 91.5%,
due to the dispersion of the catholyte solution and the
formation of micron-sized bubbles that allow the finer
fractions to be flowed. The obtained results proved
and experimentally confirmed the feasibility of using
combined pneumatic and electric flotation in the
processing of fine-grained copper-porphyry and gold-quartz ores with accompanying noble metal mineralization.