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The effect of microwave pre-treatment on the magnetic properties of tennantite and enargite was investigated. Magnetic susceptibility, XRD, and XPS characterization of tennantite and enargite before and after treatment were conducted to explore the changes in their magnetic properties. Moreover, magnetic separation of chalcopyrite binary mixtures with enargite and tennantite was performed. The results showed insignificant effects on the magnetic susceptibility of the two minerals after microwave pre-treatment. Magnetic separation results showed arsenic rejection by 84.2%, and 76.3% in the case of enargite and tennantite binary mixtures with chalcopyrite; respectively.

Sodium metabisulfite (MBS) was used in this study for selective flotation of chalcopyrite and molybdenite. Microflotation tests of single and mixed minerals were performed to assess the floatability of chalcopyrite and molybdenite. The results of microflotation of single minerals showed that MBS treatment significantly depressed the floatability of chalcopyrite and slightly reduced the floatability of molybdenite. The results of microflotation of mixed minerals demonstrated that the MBS treatment could be used as a selective chalcopyrite depressant in the selective flotation of chalcopyrite and molybdenite. Furthermore, the addition of diesel oil or kerosene could significantly improve the separation efficiency of selective flotation of chalcopyrite and molybdenite using MBS treatment. A mechanism based on X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis results is proposed in this study to explain the selective depressing effect of MBS on the flotation of chalcopyrite and molybdenite.

The copper ore in Chilean copper porphyry deposits is often associated with molybdenum minerals. This copper–molybdenum (Cu–Mo) sulfide ore is generally mined from various locations in the mining site, thus, the mineral composition, oxidation degree, mineral particle size, and grade vary. Therefore, in the mining operation, it is common to blend the ores mined from various spots and then process them using flotation. In this study, the floatability of five types of Cu–Mo ores and the blending of these ores in seawater was investigated. The oxidation degree of these Cu–Mo ores was evaluated, and the correlation between flotation recovery and oxidation degree is presented. Furthermore, the flotation kinetics of each Cu–Mo ore were calculated based on a mineralogical analysis using mineral liberation analysis (MLA). A mineralogical prediction model was proposed to estimate the flotation behavior of blended Cu–Mo ore as a function of the flotation behavior of each Cu–Mo ore. The flotation results show that the recovery of copper and molybdenum decreased with the increasing copper oxidization degree. In addition, the recovery of blended ore can be predicted via the flotation rate equation, using the maximum recovery (Rmax) and flotation rate coefficient (k) determined from the flotation rate analysis of each ore before blending. It was found that Rmax and k of the respective minerals slightly decreased with increasing the degree of copper oxidation. Moreover, Rmax varied greatly depending on the mineral species. The total copper and molybdenum recovery were strongly affected by the degree of copper oxidation as the mineral fraction in the ore varied greatly depending upon the degree of oxidation.

An electrode system to study the mechanism of fine microgram powder sulfide mineral dissolution was developed by using a relatively simple method that enables the attachment of micrograms of fine powder to a platinum plate surface. This system yields highly reproducible results and is sensitive compared with conventional electrode systems for various sulfide minerals such as pyrite, chalcopyrite, chalcocite, enargite, and tennantite. The leaching behavior of chalcopyrite was re-examined in a test of the application of this electrode system. Chalcopyrite dissolution is enhanced in specific potential regions because it is believed to be reduced to leachable chalcocite, but this result is inconclusive because it is difficult to detect the intermediate chalcocite. Powder chalcopyrite in the new powder electrode system was held at 0.45 V in the presence of copper ion and sulfuric acid media followed by an application of potential in the anodic direction. Besides the chalcopyrite oxidation peak, a small peak resulted at ∼0.55 V; this peak corresponds to reduced chalcocite, because it occurs at the same potential as the chalcocite oxidation peak.