Geometallurgical Modeling of Influence of Mineral Composition of Sulfide Copper Ore (Southwest Poland) on Enrichment Selectivity

The aim of this research was to determine a relationship that would allow the results of the enrichment process to be predicted from the mineral and chemical composition of the of sedimentary copper ores present in the Fore-Sudetic monocline (SW Poland). A series of laboratory flotation tests of feeds with different lithological compositions of copper ores (sandstone, dolomitic, and shale) as well as detailed chemical and mineral analyses of feeds and flotation products were carried out. Based on the obtained results, enrichment selectivity indicators were determined and used in modeling. Among the methods of statistical dimensional analysis, multivariate correlation was used for modeling. The result of modeling was the equation that allowed the prediction of the results of the copper ore enrichment process from the contents of the main rock-forming minerals (clays/micas and carbonates) and copper in the feed. The equation is highly precise and can be used to predict the results of copper ore enrichment on the basis of the mineral and chemical compositions of the feed (correlation coefficient of 0.78). The proposed equations may be employed in an industrial process to determine its metallurgical result in the case of variable ore lithology.