XXRVIE SANTIAGO-CHICE | xy ternational Mineral IMPC-2014 | Procecsina conoress The flotation of pyrite and chalcopyrite in the presence of biopolymers Yufan Mu!, Yongjun Peng!’ and Rolf Lauten’ 1, School of Chemical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia 2, Julius Kruitschmitt Mineral Research Centre, The University of Queensland, Australia 3. Pionera, Norway ABSTRACT Biopolymers, produced from cellulosic biomass, have promising prospects of application as depressants in mineral processing. In this study, three different types of biopolymers (i.e,, DP-1775, DP-1777 and DP-1778) were used to study the effect of polymer structure on flotation of un: activated pyrite, copper activated pyrite and chalcopyrite. It was found that the depressing effect of DP-1775 and DP-1778 was much stronger than that of DP-1777, and pyrite was depressed to a greater content than chalcopyrite with the same biopolymer at the same dosage. The biopolymer concentration played a vital role in determining the degree of depression. For each biopolymer, the higher the concentration, the greater the minerals were depressed. ‘The mechanism underpinning the depressing effect of these biopolymers was explored in this paper. The concentration of biopolymers could determine the properties of the adsorption layer and the confirmation of biopolymer chains on mineral surfaces. The biopolymer molecules may aggregate when polymer concentration was over a critical value. Molecular weight and functional groups of biopolymers were the key factors characterizing the depressing capability of different biopolymers. Differences between the tested biopolymers and features of the adsorbed layer might account for the observed trends in ability to depress pyrite and chalcopyrite flotation. The greater depressing effect of biopolymers on pyrite over chalcopyrite might result from the preferential adsorption of biopolymers on pyrite over chalcopyrite. 132,XXVIISANTIAGO-CHILE | xy international Mineral IMPC-2014 | Procossina conorece INTRODUCTION Pyrite (FeS), as a quasi-ubiquitous and usually barren mineral, is often found associated with copper sulfide minerals, such as chalcopyrite (Huang et al, 2013, Wang and Peng, 2013, Derycke et al, 2013, Liu et al,, 2009). When present in base metal concentrates it lowers the grade of the more valuable base metals. Accordingly, itis desirable to separate pyrite from a base metal concentrate, for instance chalcopyrite. One example of such a process, where the target was to optimize the recovery of copper and gold, was described by Burns et al. (2012). In another study, Boulton et al. (2001b) examined how polyarylamides with different functional groups modified the separation of pyrite from sphalerite. Depending upon details of a flotation operation one may aspire to either float or depress pyrite and in doing so, increase the purity and value of the concentrate. The flotation behavior of pyrite is greatly influenced by pulp pl1 and activating ions (Li et al, 2012). Many researchers have demonstrated that pyrite exhibits good flotation performance in acidic to neutral pH conditions in the presence of xanthate, where dixanthogen, the oxidation product of xanthate, is formed At alkaline conditions, dixanthogen (if used as a collector) is less stable and degrades to xanthate. At the surface of pyrite, xanthates, hydroxyl ions and different iron hydroxides resulting from the oxidation of pyrite will adsorb. The competitive adsorption process arising from this reduces the hydrophobicity of the pyrite surface and lowers its flotation recovery (Li et al, 2012, Fuerstenau et al, 1985, Wang and Eric, 1991, He et al, 2005). However, pyrite flotation can be significantly improved after activation by cupric species in alkaline conditions, either added intentionally or dissolved from copper minerals present in the system, resulting, in the misreporting of pyrite to the concentrate, thus lowering the concentrate grade Goulton et a., 20012, He etal, 2005, Peng etal, 2003a), Chalcopyrite (CuFe&:) is one of the most important minerals for the production of copper, and floats readily with thionocarbamate collector in a pH region 5-11.5, However, the separation of chalcopyrite and other copper minerals from pyrite in many industry flotation plants is not straight forward and the use of cyanide and other inorganic modifiers to depress pyrite is a common practice. To eliminate the use of toxic inorganic chemicals, different polymers have been tested as depressants for pyrite. However, the depression of iron sulfide minerals, especially pyrite, of which the surface is often covered with iron oxidefhydroxide during grinding and can be activated by copper and other metal ions, is a very difficult problem and existing polymer depressants have not gained a wide application. In this work, the depressing effect of three different types of biopolymers being modified lignosulfonates, con the flotation behavior of un-activated pyrite, copper activated pyrite and chalcopyrite was investigated. The similarity and difference in depressing the effect of biopolymers were also discussed in relation to their difference in molecular structure. The biopolymers are produced from renewable cellulosic biomass. Similar biopolymers have been found effective in mitigating problems with hydrophilic alumina-silicate clay gangue in the flotation of a copper-gold ore. In an attempt to address the problem relating to processing clay ores, Newerest’s Telfer Operation investigated the addition of a small amount of three dispersants (polyacrylate, modified carboxylic acid and Pionera’s F-100 lignosulfonate- based polymer) in the flotation process, and found that the addition of all three dispersants, in particular F-100, improved copper recovery and grade significantly in the laboratory (Seaman et a, 2012). However, Seaman et al. (2012) indicated that there existed an inconsistent observation in the laboratory and in the full-scale plant trial, where the positive effect of F-100 in improving copper and gold flotation from high 133XXUIE SANTIAGOCHILE | yn itematinat neat IMPC-2014 | Procossina conorece clayey ores was not clearly observed. In an attempt to resolve this Wei et al. (2013) performed floatation in a similar system at different grinding conditions. When mild steel was used as the grinding media a large amount of iron oxidation products formed in the pulp. In the presence of these oxidation products, the F- 1100 was less efficient as a clay gangue dispersant. If this lack of efficiency arises from interaction with iron ‘oxidation products or a competitive adsorption process similar to that described above for the floatability of pyrite is uncertain, It is conjectured that lignosulfonate-based biopolymers have a potential to be used as depressants for iron sulfide minerals due to its possibly selective interaction with iron oxide species. Similar polymers have been used to depress calcite and barite, but it has seldom been reported to depress sulfide minerals (Ansari and Pawlik, 2007). EXPERIMENTAL Materials and reagents Single minerals, pyrite and chalcopyrite, were crushed through roll crushers and then screened to collect, the +0.6-3.2 mm particle size fraction. The processed samples were then sealed in polyethylene bags. The biopolymers used in the experiments were DP-1775, DP-1777, and DP-1778 powder supplied from Pionera, Norway. The detailed composition of these three biopolymers is listed in Table I. ‘The collector, potassium amyl xanthate (PAX, AR grade), and frother, NASCOL 442 (AR grade), were used in pyrite flotation. An industrial grade IPETC (isopropyl ethyl thionocarbamate) and plant frother (an aliphatic alcohol based mixture) were used as collector and frother, respectively, in chalcopyrite flotation. The collectors and frothers used in this study were based on those used in the industry flotation plants chosen as case studies. Copper sulfate (CuSOrSHL:O, AR grade) was used to introduce copper ions during flotation to activate pyrite. The pH was adjusted by the addition of AR grade NaOH and H:SO+ solutions. Brisbane tap water was used in the grinding and flotation. Table 1 The molecular weight of the biopolymers used in this work and the content of main functional groups Molecular weight Main functional groups Biopolymers Counterion Mw Ms Sulfonic (%) _Carboxyl (%) DP-175 Nav 39000 2400 61 a7 Dp-777 Nav 13700 2000 85 95 bp.178 car 6000800 48 145 Mineral grinding and flotation Pyrite or chalcopyrite mineral (100g) was combined with 100 cm’ water and ground with 3.6 kg of grinding media in a laboratory stainless steel rod mill for 6.45 min and 5.16 min respectively so that 80 wt% of the particles were less than 106 um and 75 um in diameter for pyrite and chalcopyrite, respectively. 134