A method for recovering copper from copper tailings

Abstract

The present invention belongs to the field of mineral processing technology, and more particularly relates to a method for recovering copper from copper tailings. This method pre-flotates the copper tailings to obtain a coarse copper concentrate. A mill is then used to evenly grind the material, achieving efficient copper mineral dissociation at a relatively fine grinding fineness. Combining various microbubble flotation methods achieves efficient copper capture and deep enrichment, ultimately producing a high-enrichment, low-yield copper concentrate and flotation tailings with a significantly reduced copper grade. This method can significantly reduce the copper content of the final tailings, effectively improving the comprehensive utilization rate of resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of mineral processing, and in particular relates to a mineral processing method for recovering copper from copper tailings. Background Art

[0002] Currently, copper ore beneficiation typically involves grinding and flotation. First, the ore is crushed and ground to separate the copper metal into its individual components. Flotation then separates the copper ore from other impurities to produce a high-purity copper concentrate. In recent years, growth in my country's domestic copper production capacity and output has been limited. Achieving greater copper yields from limited resources and improving copper beneficiation performance have become key industry priorities. Due to production costs and technological advancements, copper tailings often contain valuable components such as copper, gold, and silver. As rich ore resources gradually decrease, extracting these elements from tailings could help alleviate resource shortages.

[0003] In order to further improve the comprehensive utilization rate of resources, a mineral processing method for recovering copper from copper tailings is designed to further improve the economic, social and ecological benefits of mines and promote the green and high-quality development of mines. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The invention discloses a beneficiation method for recovering copper from copper tailings, so as to solve any of the above and other potential problems in the prior art.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, the technical solution of the present invention is: a beneficiation method for recovering copper from copper tailings, the beneficiation method specifically comprising the following steps:

[0006] S1) flotation of the copper tailings to be processed to obtain a copper concentrate and flotation tailings;

[0007] S2) pre-classifying the copper coarse concentrate obtained in S1), mixing the pre-classified sediment with a certain amount of adjusting agent A and feeding it into a regrinding mill; inspecting and classifying the regrinding discharge product using a cyclone, and returning the inspected and classified sediment to the regrinding mill;

[0008] S3) The pre-classified overflow product and the inspection-classified overflow product of S2) are processed through one roughing selection and two scavenging selections, and finally a high enrichment ratio, low-yield copper concentrate and flotation tailings with a significantly reduced copper grade are obtained. The flotation tailings are returned to the primary flotation.

[0009] Furthermore, the specific process of the primary flotation in S1) is as follows: a certain amount of flotation regulator, flotation collector and flotation frother are added during the flotation process, mixed evenly, and then the copper tailings are processed with a coarse particle flotation machine to obtain a copper concentrate with a copper grade of 0.5% to 1.5%.

[0010] Furthermore, the flotation adjusting agent is lime, and the addition amount is 1000-2000 g / t; the flotation collector is ethionamide, and the addition amount is 3-10 g / t; the flotation foaming agent is pine oil, and the addition amount is 1-2 g / t.

[0011] Furthermore, the specific steps of S2 are:

[0012] S2.1) The copper concentrate obtained in S1) is slurried to a slurry having a mass concentration of 35% to 45%, and pre-classified using a hydrocyclone, with the pre-classified overflow fineness controlled to -0.074 mm, accounting for 90% to 95%;

[0013] S2.2) The pre-classified grit is fed to the regrinding mill for grinding. Conditioning agent A is added during the grinding process. The ground product is inspected and classified using a hydrocyclone. The overflow fineness of the inspection classification is controlled to be -0.074 mm, accounting for 90% to 95%. The inspected and classified grit is fed to the regrinding mill for grinding.

[0014] S2.3) The pre-classification overflow of S2.1) and the inspection classification overflow of S2.2) are taken as the total overflow of regrinding and enter the subsequent flotation operation; wherein the adjusting agent A is lime, and the addition amount is 2000-3000g / t.

[0015] Furthermore, the total overflow of the regrind in S2.3) enters the mixing barrel, and a certain amount of regrind collector and regrind foaming agent C are added, followed by high-intensity modification and slurry mixing;

[0016] Furthermore, the regrinding collector is ethiocarbamate, and the addition amount is 20-40 g / t; the regrinding foaming agent is pine oil, and the addition amount is 5-10 g / t.

[0017] Furthermore, the primary roughing and secondary scavenging in S3) adopt an aerated stirring flotation machine; and the copper concentrate is directly obtained from the roughing, and the concentrates from the primary scavenging and secondary scavenging are directly returned to the mixing barrel.

[0018] Furthermore, a scavenging collector and a scavenging foaming agent are added during both the primary scavenging and the secondary scavenging; wherein, the primary scavenging collector B is ethylthiocarbamate, and the addition amount is 10-20 g / t, and the primary scavenging foaming agent is pine oil, and the addition amount is 3-5 g / t; the secondary scavenging collector B is ethylthiocarbamate, and the addition amount is 5-10 g / t, and the secondary scavenging foaming agent is pine oil, and the addition amount is 1-3 g / t.

[0019] The copper concentrate obtained by the beneficiation method has a grade of not less than 15.00%, and a copper recovery rate of not less than 14.00%. The beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: due to the adoption of the above technical solution, the beneficiation method for recovering copper from copper tailings of the present invention enriches the copper in the coarse-grained ore in the copper tailings through a single flotation, recovering 15% to 40% of the copper in the copper tailings; then, regrinding is used to evenly grind the material to achieve efficient dissociation of copper minerals. The surface of the mineral is scrubbed by a reformer to achieve sufficient mixing of copper and reagents; copper concentrate is directly obtained through a single roughing process, and the concentrates of the primary and secondary scavenging processes are returned to the stirring barrel to reduce the circulation of middlings, and the flotation tailings are reselected to further improve the copper recovery rate; the method of the present invention can effectively reduce the copper content of the tailings, solve the technical problem of insufficient utilization of copper resources, and improve the utilization efficiency of copper resources. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] Figure 1 The present invention is a process flow chart of a beneficiation method for recovering copper from copper tailings. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0022] On the contrary, the present invention covers any alternatives, modifications, equivalents, and solutions that fall within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the claims. Furthermore, to facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, certain specific details are described in detail below in the detailed description of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will be able to fully understand the present invention without these details.

[0023] Example 1

[0024] This embodiment provides a method for recovering copper from copper tailings. The raw ore is copper tailings from Ruichang City, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province. The copper grade of the tailings is 0.105%. Figure 1The separation process is as follows: (1) Pre-flotation operation: add 1500g / t lime, 8g / t ethoxycarbamate and 2g / t pine oil to the copper tailings, and pre-flotate at a concentration of 30% to 45% by mass to obtain a coarse concentrate with a copper grade of 1.15%. (2) Middling regrinding operation: the coarse concentrate product is slurried to a concentration of 40%, pre-graded by a cyclone, and the overflow of -0.074mm is checked and the proportion is 93.51%. The sand is ground by a regrinding mill, and 3000g / t lime is added. The regrinding discharge product is checked and graded by a cyclone, and the overflow of -0.074mm is checked and the proportion is 90.63%. (3) Mixing, reforming and slurrying operation. Add 35g / t ethoxycarbamate and 5g / t pine oil to the mixing barrel and act for 3 minutes; the mixed product enters the reformer, the reformer speed is 40Hz, and the action is 2 minutes. (3) Copper flotation roughing: The stirred product is fed into a KYF fine-grain flotation machine for sorting for 3 minutes to obtain copper concentrate and roughing tailings. (4) Copper primary scavenging: 20 g / t ethionamide and 2 g / t pine oil are added to the roughing tailings, and the mixture is fed into a KYF fine-grain flotation machine for sorting for 3 minutes to obtain copper primary scavenging concentrate and primary scavenging tailings. (5) Copper secondary scavenging: 10 g / t ethionamide and 1 g / t pine oil are added to the roughing tailings, and the mixture is fed into a KYF fine-grain flotation machine for sorting for 3 minutes to obtain copper secondary scavenging concentrate and secondary scavenging tailings. (6) The primary scavenging concentrate and secondary scavenging concentrate are returned to the mixing tank, and the secondary scavenging tailings enter pre-flotation. (7) The grade of the obtained copper concentrate is 18.65%, and the copper recovery rate is 18.47%.

[0025] Example 2

[0026] This embodiment provides a method for recovering copper from copper tailings. The raw ore is copper tailings from Chaisang District, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province. The copper grade of the tailings is 0.095%. Figure 1The separation process is as follows: (1) Pre-flotation operation: add 2000g / t lime, 10g / t ethoxycarbamate and 2g / t pine oil to the copper tailings, and pre-flotate at a concentration of 35% to 40% by mass to obtain a coarse concentrate with a copper grade of 0.96%. (2) Re-grinding operation of the middlings: slurry the coarse concentrate product to a concentration of 40%, pre-grade it through a cyclone, check the overflow -0.074mm and the proportion is 94.58%, grind the ore using a re-grinding machine, and add 2000g / t lime. The re-grinded ore product is checked and graded through a cyclone, and the overflow -0.074mm is checked and the proportion is 93.36%. (3) Mixing, reforming and slurrying operation. Add 40g / t ethoxycarbamate and 6g / t pine oil to the mixing barrel and let it act for 3 minutes; the mixed product enters the reformer, the reformer speed is 45Hz, and it acts for 2 minutes. (3) Copper flotation roughing: The stirred product is fed into a KYF fine flotation machine for sorting for 3 minutes to obtain copper concentrate and roughing tailings. (4) Copper primary scavenging: 20 g / t ethionamide and 2 g / t pine oil are added to the roughing tailings, and the mixture is fed into a KYF fine flotation machine for sorting for 3 minutes to obtain copper primary scavenging concentrate and primary scavenging tailings. (5) Copper secondary scavenging: 10 g / t ethionamide and 2 g / t pine oil are added to the roughing tailings, and the mixture is fed into a KYF fine flotation machine for sorting for 3 minutes to obtain copper secondary scavenging concentrate and secondary scavenging tailings. (6) The primary scavenging concentrate and secondary scavenging concentrate are returned to the mixing tank, and the secondary scavenging tailings enter pre-flotation. (7) The grade of the obtained copper concentrate is 15.35%, and the copper recovery rate is 15.98%.

[0027] Example 3

[0028] This embodiment provides a method for recovering copper from copper tailings. The raw ore is copper tailings from Dexing City, Shangrao City, Jiangxi Province. The copper grade of the tailings is 0.045%. Figure 1The separation process is as follows: (1) Pre-flotation operation: add 1200g / t lime, 5g / t ethoxycarbamate and 2g / t pine oil to the copper tailings, and pre-flotate at a concentration of 35% to 45% by mass to obtain a coarse concentrate with a copper grade of 0.58%. (2) Middling regrinding operation: the coarse concentrate product is slurried to a concentration of 35%, pre-graded by a cyclone, and the overflow is checked to be -0.074mm, accounting for 92.17%. The sedimentation is ground by a regrinding mill, and 2000g / t lime is added. The regrinding discharge product is checked and graded by a cyclone, and the graded overflow is checked to be -0.074mm, accounting for 91.58%. (3) Mixing, reforming and slurrying operation. Add 25g / t ethoxycarbamate and 5g / t pine oil to the mixing barrel and act for 3 minutes; the mixed product enters the reformer, the reformer speed is 45Hz, and acts for 2 minutes. (3) Copper flotation roughing: The stirred product is fed into a KYF fine flotation machine for sorting for 3 minutes to obtain copper concentrate and roughing tailings. (4) Copper primary scavenging: 10 g / t ethionamide and 1 g / t pine oil are added to the roughing tailings, and the mixture is fed into a KYF fine flotation machine for sorting for 3 minutes to obtain copper primary scavenging concentrate and primary scavenging tailings. (5) Copper secondary scavenging: 5 g / t ethionamide and 1 g / t pine oil are added to the roughing tailings, and the mixture is fed into a KYF fine flotation machine for sorting for 3 minutes to obtain copper secondary scavenging concentrate and secondary scavenging tailings. (6) The primary scavenging concentrate and secondary scavenging concentrate are returned to the mixing tank, and the secondary scavenging tailings enter pre-flotation. (7) The grade of the obtained copper concentrate is 15.74%, and the copper recovery rate is 14.31%.

[0029] The above is a detailed description of a method for recovering copper from copper tailings provided in the examples of this application. The description of the above examples is only intended to help understand the method and core concept of this application; at the same time, those skilled in the art will find that the specific implementation methods and application scopes may vary based on the concepts of this application. In summary, the contents of this specification should not be construed as limiting this application.

[0030] For example, certain words are used in the specification and claims to refer to specific components. Those skilled in the art should understand that hardware manufacturers may use different nouns to refer to the same component. This specification and claims do not use differences in names as a way to distinguish components, but use differences in the functions of components as the criteria for distinction. For example, "including" and "comprising" mentioned throughout the specification and claims are open-ended terms, so they should be interpreted as "including / including but not limited to". "Approximately" means that within an acceptable error range, those skilled in the art can solve the technical problems within a certain error range and basically achieve the technical effects. The subsequent description in the specification is a preferred embodiment of the present application, but the description is for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the present application, and is not used to limit the scope of the present application. The scope of protection of the present application shall be as defined in the attached claims.

[0031] It should also be noted that the terms "include," "comprises," or any other variations thereof are intended to encompass non-exclusive inclusion, such that a product or system comprising a series of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such product or system. In the absence of further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprises a..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the product or system comprising the element.

[0032] It should be understood that the term "and / or" as used herein is merely a description of the relationship between associated objects, indicating that three possible relationships exist. For example, "A and / or B" can represent: A exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, or B exists alone. Furthermore, the character " / " in this document generally indicates that the associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

[0033] The above description shows and describes several preferred embodiments of the present application. However, as previously mentioned, it should be understood that the present application is not limited to the form disclosed herein and should not be construed as excluding other embodiments. Instead, the present application can be used in various other combinations, modifications, and environments and can be modified within the scope of the application concept described herein through the above teachings or technology or knowledge in the relevant field. Modifications and variations made by those skilled in the art that do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present application should be protected by the claims appended hereto.

Claims

1. A method for recovering copper from copper tailings, characterized in that: The mineral processing method specifically comprises the following steps: S1) flotating the copper tailings to be processed to obtain a copper concentrate and flotation tailings; The specific process of the primary flotation is as follows: adding a certain amount of flotation regulator, flotation collector and flotation frother during the flotation process, mixing them evenly, and then treating the copper tailings with a coarse particle flotation machine to obtain a copper concentrate with a copper grade of 0.5% to 1.5%; The flotation adjusting agent is lime, and the addition amount is 1000-2000 g / t; the flotation collector is ethionamide, and the addition amount is 3-10 g / t; the flotation frother is pine oil, and the addition amount is 1-2 g / t; S2) pre-classifying the copper coarse concentrate obtained in S1), mixing the pre-classified sediment with a certain amount of adjusting agent A and feeding it into the regrinding mill; inspecting and classifying the regrinding discharge product using a cyclone, and returning the inspected and classified sediment to the regrinding mill; The specific steps are: S2.1) The copper concentrate obtained in S1) is slurried to a slurry having a mass concentration of 35% to 45%, and pre-classified using a hydrocyclone. The pre-classified overflow fineness is controlled to -0.074 mm, accounting for 90% to 95%; S2.2) The pre-classified grit is fed to the regrinding mill for grinding. Conditioning agent A is added during the grinding process. The ground product is inspected and classified using a hydrocyclone. The inspection overflow fineness is controlled to -0.074 mm, accounting for 90% to 95%. The inspected and classified grit is fed to the regrinding mill for grinding. S2.3) The pre-classification overflow from S2.1) and the inspection classification overflow from S2.2) are used as the total regrinding overflow and fed into subsequent flotation operations; wherein the adjusting agent A is lime, and the addition amount is 2000-3000 g / t; The regrinding process in S2.3) is as follows: the total overflow of the regrinding is fed into a mixing barrel, a certain amount of regrinding collector and regrinding foaming agent are added, and then high-strength modification and slurry preparation are performed; The regrinding collector is ethiocarbamate, and the addition amount is 20-40 g / t; the regrinding foaming agent is pine oil, and the addition amount is 5-10 g / t; S3) The pre-classified overflow products and the inspection-classified overflow products of S2) are processed through one roughing and two scavenging processes, and finally a high enrichment ratio, low-yield copper concentrate and flotation tailings with a significantly reduced copper grade are obtained. The flotation tailings are returned to the primary flotation.

2. The mineral processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The primary roughing and secondary scavenging in S3) adopt an aerated stirring flotation machine; the copper concentrate is directly obtained from the roughing, and the concentrates from the primary scavenging and secondary scavenging are directly returned to the mixing tank.

3. The mineral processing method according to claim 2, characterized in that: A scavenging collector and a scavenging foaming agent are added during both the primary scavenging and the secondary scavenging; wherein, the primary scavenging collector is ethylthiocarbamate, and the addition amount is 10-20 g / t, and the primary scavenging foaming agent is pine oil, and the addition amount is 3-5 g / t; the secondary scavenging collector is ethylthiocarbamate, and the addition amount is 5-10 g / t, and the secondary scavenging foaming agent is pine oil, and the addition amount is 1-3 g / t.

4. The mineral processing method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The copper concentrate obtained by the beneficiation method has a grade of not less than 15.00%, and a copper recovery rate of not less than 14.00%.

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