Characterization of a Copper Mine Tailing and Comprehensive Recovery of Cu and S from the Tailing.

Copper mine tailing should be reused for environmental and economical benefits. A copper mine tailing from Liaoning province was studied by AAS, XRD, and SEM-EDS. It was shown that chalcopyrite and pyrite were the main valuable minerals in the tailing. Chalcopyrite was embedded closely in the pyrite mineral as revealed in SEMEDS. By regrinding, the chalcopyrite was liberated from pyrite. Besides, ammonium humate is a good organic surfactant. With ammonium humate as the selective depressor, chalcopyrite can be separated from pyrite by flotation in a relative low pulp pH of 10.6. Comprehensive flotation tests conducted on the copper mine tailing indicated that Cu concentrate with Cu grade of 20.16% and S concentrate with S grade of 48.02% were obtained, achieving a good recovery result from the tailing. The mechanism of ammonium humate was proved by IR spectrum and XPS spectrum, showing that there was a chemical adsorption between ammonium humate and pyrite, thus depressing pyrite from flotation. The research can offer a way to treat similar copper tailing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]