Development of a Combined Flotation and High Pressure Leaching Process for Copper and Nickel Recovery from Mine Tailing

Abstract

The present study focused on the re-processing of copper and nickel from mine tailings. In this work, recovery of copper and nickel from mine tailing by combined process of flotation and high pressure oxidative leaching were considered. In the first stage, effects of flotation parameters including collector type, collector dosage, and pH and pulp density were examined. The results showed that over 80% copper recovery was achieved under the optimized flotation conditions while nickel recovery was lower than 30% due to its co-existence with gangue minerals of pyrrhotite, pyrite and other clay minerals. In the second stage, key parameters, particularly concentration of sulfuric acid, temperature, pressure and leaching time were investigated to test the leaching efficiency of copper and nickel from the flotation concentrate with high pressure oxidative leaching (HPOL). A comparison was made between the leaching efficiencies of copper and nickel from flotation concentrates and mine tailing.