Copper ore processing Project Cases

Copper has made a significant impact in economic, industrial and social lifein a state. It has many uses such as being used for electricity, wiring, weather stripping, water pipes and architectural trim. If you take a look at any electrical appliance copper has been made use of. This can be found in offices and homes in the likes of computers, air conditioners, automobiles, planes and railroad engines. Copper is a daily necessity in our lives.

Copper mining produced the Magna and Garfield areas in 1906 for fine crushing, coarse crushing and concentrating. An electric generating plant was built in 1906 below the Magna hill. Magna became well developed with many settlers, explorers and businessman. By 1920 a company was being constructed to showcase copper related products such as shingles, copper nails, hips, ridges, copper gutter straps, chimney saddles, pipe fittings and shower fixtures.

Copper Ore Concentrate

The sulfide ores are beneficiated in flotation cells, while the oxide ores are generally leached. First the copper ore from a open pit mine is blasted, loaded and transported to the primary crushers. Then the ore is crushed and screened, with the fine sulfide ore (~-0.5 mm) going to froth flotation cells for recovery of copper. The coarser ore goes to the heap leach, where the copper is subjected to a dilute sulfuric acid solution to dissolve the copper. Then the leach solution containing the dissolved copper is subjected to a process called solvent extraction (SX). The SX process concentrates and purifies the copper leach solution so the copper can be recovered at a high electrical current efficiency by the electrowinning cells. It does this by adding a chemical reagent to the SX tanks which selectively binds with and extracts the copper, is easily separated from the copper.

Copper Ore Flotation

The xanthates are added to the slurry in relatively small quantities. Xanthate is a long hydrocarbon (5 carbons) chain molecule. One end of the chain (the ionic dithiocarbonate) is polar and sticks to copper ore flotation sulfide minerals while the other end is nonpolar, containing the hydrocarbon chain is hydrophobic -- it hates being in the water and is attracted to the nonpolar hydrocarbon pine oil molecules.