Selective flotation of chalcopyrite over pyrite in a low-grade copper sulfide ore using selective collectors and non-cyanide depressants

In porphyry copper ores, selective flotation of chalcopyrite over pyrite is crucial. The selective flotation process becomes challenging as the ratio of pyrite to chalcopyrite increases. The main contribution of this study is the application of non-cyanide depressants (lime, sodium sulfite, sodium lignosulfonate, and dextrin) in combination with selective collectors (C-4132, PAX, Z11, and Flomin 7240) to enhance the selective flotation of chalcopyrite from pyrite, offering an environmentally friendly alternative for processing low-grade copper sulfide ores (0.11% Cu). According to the findings, a concentrate with a grade of 11.18% and a recovery of 76.41% was produced by using 67 g/t of C-4132 as collector along with 100 g/t of sodium sulfite and 5 kg/t of lime as depressants in the rougher stage and 5 g/t of Z11 in the scavenger stage. These results provided a new route for the environmentally and sustainably sustainable flotation of low-grade copper ores and validated the effectiveness of the designed reagent regime in the selective separation of chalcopyrite from pyrite.