ABRASIVENESS EVALUATION OF PRE-CONCENTRATION OF COPPER SULFIDE ORE PRODUCTS THROUGH LCPC TEST

Abstract

Ore abrasiveness is usually quantified through the Bond Abrasiveness Index (AI), which is based on the capability of a material wearing out and polishing other materials. This index finds widespread application in the assessment of how much wear a given ore is set to cause in ore processing equipment. Several test methods may be used to determine ore abrasiveness, but the Bond Method is the one most frequently used in the mining industry. Despite being simple, this test has certain limitations as to grain size and required amount of ore sample, which very often makes it difficult or even impossible to apply it in the early stages of a project, geometallurgical and pre-concentration laboratory studies. The LCPC test may offer an alternative, as it requires a smaller amount of fine-grained material. The core objective of this study is to use the LCPC test to evaluate the abrasiveness index of a copper sulfide ore that went through a pre-concentration process. One of the findings is that the pre-concentration process produced a concentrate whose abrasiveness is lower than that of the feed, which helps enhance the pre-concentration gains, in addition to the expected gain by reducing the mass and increasing the grade of ore to be fed into the mill