Surface properties of Cu-poor bornite in dynamics

Research subject. Cu-poor bornite from copper ores of Volkovskoye deposit (Middle Urals). Materials and methods. Specimens with bornite have been sampled from the industrial copper ores at the North-West quarry of the Volkovskoye deposit. Properties of the bornite have been studied in dynamics with optical microscopy in reflected light, energy dispersive spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy; optical properties have been analyzed using diffusion reflectance spectroscopy. Results. Absence of elements diffusive processes into the subsurface layer from bulk bornite during mechanical treatment has been demonstrated, at the surface changing the bornite composition stays be saved in the limits of the measurements accuracy by energy dispersive spectroscopy. The dynamics of surface properties changes for the Cu-poor pink bornite using diffusion reflectance spectroscopy has been established. Conclusions. On the basis of the study results a new approach to develop a quantitative criterion for bornite varieties determination for mineralogical-technological mapping and prediction of processing indicators of copper ores has been proposed.