Arsenic in complex orebodies

There is an increasing trend in the extraction and development of copper resources from complex deposits. The complex deposits pose mineral processing challenges, as they often contain low grade copper ore, relatively large quantity of clay minerals, complex texture, very fine disseminated ore, high amount of pyrite, and high level of impurity elements such as arsenic. With the amount of arsenic in concentrates increasing and with environment, occupational health and safety regulations becoming more restrict, there is a need for a processing method that results in no arsenic emissions and captures all arsenic while immobilizing it in a compound that is stable under a wide range of conditions, so it is suitable for long-term disposal. Some development work has been undertaken to examine the most effective arsenic treatment option for complex orebodies that contain arsenic, but a technically robust and economically viable option has not yet been developed. Previous research has demonstrated the possibility of separating arsenic-copper sulphides from other copper minerals by controlling the potential of the flotation pulp in the single mineral systems. The selective flotation of enargite from copper sulphides in a real complex ore system was studied by Tayebi-Khorami (2016), which is summarised in this paper

Relating the mineralogical characteristics of Tampakan ore to enargite separation

The mineralogical characteristics of enargite-bearing copper ores from the Tampakan deposit have been investigated as the means to understanding the separation of enargite from other copper sulphides (chalcopyrite and bornite). It was found that a separation of these minerals was possible after grinding the ore samples to a P of 90 microns; enargite tends to be ground more readily than the other copper sulphide minerals present in ore samples tested, and consequently, it mostly reported to the fine size fractions

Re-Thinking Mining Waste Through an Integrative Approach Led by Circular Economy Aspirations

Mining wastes, particularly in the form of waste rocks and tailings, can have major social and environmental impacts. There is a need for comprehensive long-term strategies for transforming the mining industry to move toward zero environmental footprint. “How can the mining industry create new economic value, minimise its social and environmental impacts and diminish liability from mining waste?„ This would require cross-disciplinary skills, across the social, environmental, technical, legal, regulatory, and economic domains, to produce innovative solutions. The aim of this paper is to review the current knowledge across these domains and integrate them in a new approach for exploiting or “re-thinking„ mining wastes. This approach includes five key areas of social dimensions, geoenvironmental aspects, geometallurgy specifications, economic drivers and legal implications for improved environmental outcomes, and circular economy aspirations, which are aligned with the 10 principles of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM). Applying circular economy thinking to mining waste presents a major opportunity to reduce the liability and increase the value of waste materials arising from mining and processing operations

Effect of mineralogy on the selective flotation of enargite

Arsenic (As) is highly toxic inorganic pollutant, which causes human health and environmental problems. Enargite is a copper-arsenic bearing mineral with surface properties that bear strong similarities to common copper minerals. Recent research by CSIRO demonstrated promising results showing that it is possible to separate copper arsenic sulphides from copper sulphides using controlled potential flotation at laboratory scale with model mineral systems. However, the selective removal of copper arsenic minerals in real ore systems is less well understood, particularly, the effects of mineralogical properties such as liberation and mineralogical association. This study seeks to investigate selective separation of copper-arsenic minerals from a copper sulphide ore in a batch flotation system under controlled pulp potential. This Part I paper summarizes the current state of knowledge related to enargite separation. It then describes the results of the mineralogical characterization of the ore samples, the experimental method, and the initial results

Selective flotation of enargite from copper sulphides in Tampakan deposit

Recent research has demonstrated promising results showing the possibility of separating arsenic-copper sulphides from other copper minerals by controlling the potential of the flotation pulp. Most of these studies were conducted on single mineral systems, and the selective removal of arsenic-copper minerals in real ore systems is not well understood, particularly, the effects of mineralogical properties such as liberation and mineralogical association. In this study, two distinct ore samples, termed low arsenic sample (LAS) and high arsenic sample (HAS) were selected from the Tampakan copper-gold deposit in the Philippines, providing a range of arsenic levels. The selective separation of enargite from other copper sulphide minerals in a rougher flotation system under controlled pulp potential was investigated for both samples