International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 167–176

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International Journal of Mining Science and Technology

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijmst

Effect of pyrite content of feed and configuration of locked particles on

rougher flotation of copper in low and high pyritic ore types
Sahar Agheli a, Ahmad Hassanzadeh b,c,⇑, Behzad Vaziri Hassas d, Mohammad Hasanzadeh e
a
Mining Engineering Department, Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman 76169-14111, Iran
b
Faculty of Mines, Mineral Processing Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul 34469, Turkey
c
Department of Mineral Resources Engineering, Montan University of Leoben, Leoben 8700, Austria
d
College of Mines and Earth Science, University of Utah, Salt Lake City 84112, USA
e
Drug Applied Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz 51664, Iran

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Misreported pyrite into copper concentrates dramatically declines copper grade and recovery. Copper
Received 20 January 2017 flotation can be also more complicated if flotation feed comes from an elevated-pyritic copper ore. In this
Received in revised form 6 March 2017 investigation, the effect of two different ore types (high pyritic and low pyritic feeds) was studied on
Accepted 3 April 2017
rougher stage of industrial copper flotation circuit. Samples were taken from different streams and the
Available online 14 December 2017
structure of chalcopyrite within the pyrite and non-sulfide gangue minerals was examined in various size
fractions for mentioned ore types. Results indicated that 72% and 56% of the total floated pyrite was
Keywords:
transferred to concentrate in first four cells in the low and high pyritic feeds, respectively. Whereas, this
Liberation degree
High pyritic feed
proportion for floated SiO2 in last ten cells was detected as 72% and 71%, respectively. A detailed inter-
Pyrite pretation of the effect of locked particles in different size fractions on rougher flotation cells is studied
Froth flotation from industrial point of view.
Chalcopyrite Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology. This is an open
access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction
Flotation is a significant mineral processing technique used for
selective separation of valuables from gangue minerals. Industrial
practice of froth flotation is widely recognized to be a complex pro-
cess [1]. In addition to hydrodynamics and mechanical parameters
of flotation cells, surface properties and crystal structure of parti-
cles are the most crucial factors which affect the flotation process
[2]. The efficiency of a flotation circuit operation depends on sev-
eral factors related to minerals’ nature and structure (mineralogy,
morphology and particle size) as well as type of instrumentation
and operational variables (air flowrate, pulp density and reagent
type and dosage) which have been extensively investigated both
theoretically and practically [3–15]. Also, each process has its
own specifications and properties in operation according to its par-
ticular constraints and restrictions which should be separately and
precisely investigated in order to achieve the maximum possible
recovery and efficiency in the plant.
Aside from hydrodynamics circumstances and physicochemical
properties, particle size is an important parameter in flotation pro-
⇑ Corresponding author at: Faculty of Mines, Mineral Processing Engineering
Department, Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul 34469, Turkey.
E-mail address: hassanzadeh@itu.edu.tr (A. Hassanzadeh).
cesses. The relationship between particle size and flotation recov-
ery has been the subject of several studies. It is reported that the
behavior of fine and coarse particles in flotation follows different
trends [16,17]. In the case of copper flotation, maximum recovery
can be achieved at the intermediate particle size range of 50–70
mm [18–20]. Obviously, particles of extreme sizes (too coarse and
too fine) are more difficult to be recovered by froth flotation com-
pared to the intermediate particles. Mineral liberation also plays an
important role in efficiency of the flotation processes as demon-
strated by studies on particles-bubble detachment as well as flota-
tion kinetics rate of liberated and locked particles [21]. As the
particle size decreases, floatability of ore diminishes gradually
due to the increase in the number of particles per unit weight
(bubble surface coverage restriction), deteriorating conditions for
particle-bubble collision (such as dwindled inertial force), and
the changes in surface properties such as surface oxidation
[17,22,23]. Sudden decrease in flotation recovery above the opti-
mum particle size was suggested to be due to either lack of liber-
ation of valuable minerals or reduction in ability of bubbles to lift
up the heavy coarse particles [17,24–26]. According to previous
reports, most of the copper loss which is misreported to flotation
tailings virtually in all operating concentration plants occurs in
particle sizes below 20 mm (50%) and over 150 mm (30–40%) [27–
29].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmst.2017.12.002
2095-2686/Ó 2017 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of China University of Mining & Technology.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
168 S. Agheli et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 167–176
In practice, non-valuable iron sulfides (mostly pyrite) are often
associated with valuable sulfide minerals (chalcopyrite, covellite
and chalcocite) in copper flotation concentrate. These iron sulfides
play a significance role especially in porphyry copper flotation con-
cerning their devastating effect on quality of product (concentrate
grade) and efficiency of the process (mineral recovery) [30,31].
Thus, the efficient separation of pyrite from copper sulfide miner-
als during the flotation process is vital [32]. In copper flotation
plants, the general strategy is to maximize the recovery of copper
minerals along with floating some pyrite at the rougher stage (non-
selective bulk flotation) followed by further rejection of iron sul-
fides at the cleaner stage after regrinding. Despite an increase in
number of liberated particles after regrinding, rejection of pyrite
can be difficult if fresh pyrite surfaces become activated by dis-
solved copper ions [33]. This process would be even more compli-
cated if the flotation feed contains higher grades of pyrite, which
may result in a plunge in copper grade and overall recovery. Con-
sequently, most flotation circuits processing complex sulfide ores,
use regrinding (to liberate pyrite and chalcopyrite) and depression
strategies to minimize the pyrite flotation by means of aeration,
adding sodium cyanide or sulfite and applying high pH values
(pH > 10). Leppinen pointed out that adsorption of xanthate onto
the pyrite surface without activation reaches a maximum at pH
of 5 and a minimum at pH of 7 [34]. Flotation results presented
that around 80–90% of pyrite can be recovered through flotation
(without activation) at pH 4–5, while recovery is extremely lower
at other pH values [35].
Basically, in flotation of complex sulfide ores, a higher pH is
generally used to separate valuable sulfide minerals from pyrite
or pyrrhotite in the presence of xanthate collectors [36]. Several
works extensively discussed the impact of pyrite on copper flota-
tion [37–42]. It was reported that beside its hydrophobic nature
in fresh surfaces, the surface reactions and electrochemical pro-
cesses promote pyrite activation, which was indicated as the main
reason for its floatability [43]. It was also shown that both acti-
vated and bare pyrite surfaces interact with thiol collector mole-
cules such as xanthates [34]. Trahar et al. indicated that under
alkaline conditions, recovery of pyrite is mostly dominated by
entrainment [44]. Nevertheless, interactions between sulfide min-
erals may also promote pyrite floatability. Kawatra and Eisele sug-
gested that flotation of liberated pyrite in coal cleaning flotation
plants is not an important recovery mechanism compared to that
of entrainment and mechanical contiguity with floatable particles
[45]. Bulut and Goktepe investigated the effect of copper activation
on five different high grade pyrite samples [46]. They concluded
that although the flotation of bare pyrite was achieved at acidic
pH ranges, they also can be floated at basic pH regions in the pres-
ence of copper ions. Mielczarski et al. studied the adsorption of
xanthate on chalcopyrite [47]. They showed that xanthate mole-
cules should be in contact with a fresh chalcopyrite surface in
order to produce cuprous complex and dixanthogen as a
hydrophobic site. If a mineral surface is covered with hydrophilic
species (i.e., iron hydroxides) a larger amount of collector will be
required to remove the hydrophilic surface species and produce
hydrophobic surface on particles. It was also represented that in
copper complex ores with higher locked copper particles, separa-
tion is more difficult even in cleaner flotation stage after regrinding
[48]. Therefore, it is essential to take the role of pyrite into account
in the copper flotation process, not only for being aware of its
extremely detrimental effects on copper grade and recovery but
also particularly from environmental point of view, to reduce SO2
emission through further smelting processes.
Despite decades of research on activated and bare pyrite surface
in porphyry copper flotation process, there is still a considerable
lack of industrial investigation and data in this area. The motiva-
tion of the current study is to understand floatation response of
high and low pyritic copper ore types as well as a detailed indus-
trial study in variety of size fractions regarding mineralogical
aspects and liberation factors. In addition, a comparison of results
in terms of copper grade and recovery for the mentioned ore types
have been provided. In this work, mineralogical and metallurgical
data are analyzed and reconciled in various size classes for two
both feeds of low and high pyritic contents. In addition, locked
and liberated particles of concentrate streams of each cell in
rougher circuit have been evaluated with the aim of transferring
liberated chalcopyrite concentrate directly to recleaner section
instead of cleaner cells to avoid its unnecessary regrinding. To
determine the role of free and locked minerals (chalcopyrite, pyrite
and silicate) in two mentioned feed types, liberation degree analy-
sis was established. Moreover, contribution of each mineral in dif-
ferent particle size fractions of concentrate streams for each cell
has been investigated in the rougher flotation stage.
2. Material and methods
2.1. Sarcheshmeh copper concentrator
Sarcheshmeh concentration plant is the largest copper concen-
trator in Iran which is located in Kerman province. Reserve con-
tains one billion tons of 0.70% copper and 0.03% molybdenum in
average. Its flotation circuit is producing 50,000 tons copper con-
centrate per month with an average grade of 28–32% of copper
in final recleaner banks. A schematic diagram of flotation circuit
of Sarcheshmeh concentrator is presented in Fig. 1. Rougher flota-
tion cells comprise eight rows of flotation machines, and consist of
two sections. Each section has four rows of flotation cells. The vol-
ume of each flotation cell is 8.5 m3. Subsequently, each row
includes fourteen mechanical flotation cells which are stepped in
three units (4 cells-5 cells-5 cells) gravitationally [49]. The com-
bined rougher flotation circuits are designed to process ground
ore feed at a rate of 43,360 dry metric tons per day. The concen-
trate of the first stage of flotation is reground and its tailing consti-
tutes the main portion of the plant’s final tailings. A concentrate
with an average grade of 30% Cu is obtained after cleaning and
recleaning stages. Total recovery of the plant varies between 88%
and 90% depending on the operating conditions and the feed ore
type [50,51].
Rougher cells in this plant are expected to produce a concen-
trate of 7.6% Cu with a recovery of 96%. In fact, rougher tailings
contain 80% of final tailings of the flotation circuit. Therefore, it
is very important to reach a maximum possible recovery in
rougher banks in order to avoid misreporting of valuable copper
Fig. 1. Flotation circuit of Sarcheshmeh copper concentrator.
 S. Agheli et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 167–176
minerals to tailing stream. Nevertheless, due to some reasons
recovery of rougher cells has been decreased to 88% recently,
whilst, the layout is designed to satisfy a recovery of 96%. In recent
years, with regard to the increase of open pit depth, content and
proportions of associated gangue minerals were changed in mine
products and consequently in flotation feed. It leads to some prob-
lems such as enhancement of pyrite’s proportion in gangue miner-
als, over-consumption of reagents, declination of ultimate copper
grade, the increase of SiO2 in concentrate which in turn results in
higher temperature requirement in further copper smelting pro-
cess as well as increase in sulfur emission.
In addition, desired particle size in studied rougher flotation
cells is expected to be 70% passing 74 lm according to optimiza-
tion studies conducted in process design. Particle size distribution
analysis in the circuit reveals that the variation of feed characteris-
tics, non-optimized operating conditions, and increase of through-
put from 225 tons per hour to 300 tons per hour led to an increase
in particles size (62% passing 74 lm) as reported by previous stud-
ies [52].
2.2. Sampling procedure and method
To evaluate the rougher flotation circuit, one of the above men-
tioned eight parallel rougher feed rows was selected for sampling.
Separate samples were taken from each low and high pyritic feeds
on six different days. Table 1 indicates the chemical analysis of
rougher feed representing each survey.
The sampling was carried out in different streams. Totally, 21
samples were taken in each run from different points as shown
in Fig. 2. A sampling period of 3 h was chosen, and one increment
was taken during every 30 min. The concentrate of each unit rep-
resents the overall concentrates of the related cells of sub-units.
Concentrates and tailings of units were sampled with an interval
of 5 min to cover the retention time of solid particles in each unit.
The samples taken from flotation circuit were dried, weighed, and
kept for further analysis. All samples were wet screened with a 400
mesh (38 mm) sieve. The under-sieve sizing analysis was carried
out using cyclosizer developed by CSIRO Company. Particle size
distribution of each sample was determined. Each size fraction
was assayed for copper, iron, and silica contents using XRF tech-
nique. Flow rates of each stream were calculated and balanced
using copper assays of head samples. The obtained data were bal-
anced using USIM PACK 3.1 mass balancing software. It should be
noted that during sampling, Z11 (sodium isopropyl xanthate) along
with flomin-C4132 (isopropyl ethyl thionocarbamate) were used
as collectors, as well as MIBC (methyl isobutyl carbonyl) and A65
(pine oil and poly propylene glycol) as frothers.
2.3. Mineralogical and liberation analysis
During a six-month period, composite samples of feed and tail-
ing streams of flotation circuits for each month were collected.
Firstly, polished samples were prepared and later liberation
degree, locking type, and spatial configuration of valuable minerals
were determined. Liberation degree was defined as a ratio of the
number of free particles of a commodity to the total number of
Table 1
Rougher circuit feed analysis in two different feeds (%).
Feed type High pyritic ore Low pyritic ore
Survey 1 Survey 4 Survey 3
Cu grade 0.69 0.79 1.04
Fe grade 6.72 6.80 4.57
SiO2 grade 55.07 57.57 54.12
169
Fig. 2. Arrangement and sampling points in the rougher flotation circuit.
particles containing it [53]. To obtain the liberation degree of cop-
per bearing minerals in the flotation concentrate, the line scanning
method for point counting was used. The total length of free valu-
able particles was divided by the total length of free and locked
particles containing copper minerals. Polished sections were pre-
pared by mixing 1 g of the sample with 10 g of the molding pow-
der. The blended mixture was then pressed and hardened in the
sample maker equipment under the pressure of 4200 Pa and tem-
perature of 140 °C for 20 min. Leica (DM-LP) microscope was used
for liberation degree measurement.
3. Result and discussion
3.1. Performance monitoring
Fig. 3 represents the variation of total chalcopyrite and pyrite
contents in rougher feed during the period of 6 months. It can be
clearly seen that the pyrite grade in feed fluctuates continually
compared to that of chalcopyrite which follows a narrower inter-
val. As given in Table 2, average weight ratio of pyrite in feed is
8.40%, while that of chalcopyrite is only 1.61%. Standard deviation
of pyrite content in rougher feed is also considerably greater than
that of chalcopyrite, which indicates the necessity of an investiga-
tion on effect of feed type on process efficiency. Regarding these
analyses, a significant attention should be paid to pyrite mineral
content and its role in rougher flotation of chalcopyrite. Moreover,
according to the liberation degrees of chalcopyrite (which will be
given in detail in next section), it is obvious that around 30% of
chalcopyrite appears as locked particles. Consequently, it is also
important to consider the locked particles and their configuration
as a main and potent factor in the flotation process.
Fig. 4 demonstrates mineralogical images of both low and high
pyritic feed samples. Abundance of pyrite is evident in the high
pyritic ore (Fig. 4a) compared with the low pyritic one (Fig. 4b).
Furthermore, chalcopyrite particles seem to be locked with pyrite
particles rather than silicates. This gives rise to more liberated
chalcopyrite particles in the low pyritic feed type.
3.2. Process mineralogy and liberation analysis
Fig. 5 shows the amount of locked chalcopyrite-pyrite particles
(CP/PY) in concentrate streams of all rougher cells for various size
fractions of two feed types. It can be seen that almost in every cell,
the amount of CP/PY locked particles below 50 mm is significantly
low and that below 25 mm is almost zero, which represents that
there are no middling particles in rougher cells within this size
fractions. Considering Fig. 5 into consideration, it is clear that the
floated 50 mm fraction is almost involved in free chalcopyrite par-
ticles. Moreover, liberation analysis shows that the amount of
locked particles moved to the concentrate streams does not change
Survey 5 significantly for two different feed types. This means that the
0.92 higher content of pyrite in the concentrate is not due to floated
4.07 locked CP/PY particles and the reason for this misreporting is not
58.82
related to higher pyrite content in the feed. It can be suggested that
170 S. Agheli et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 167–176
Fig. 3. Variations of weight contribution of chalcopyrite (CP) and pyrite (PY) in the
rougher feed from August, 2013 to February, 2014.
Table 2
Total and free contribution of chalcopyrite and pyrite minerals within ore (wt.%).
Component Pyrite Chalcopyrite
Total Free Total Free
Mean 8.40 7.86 1.61 1.10
Standard deviation 1.71 1.62 0.28 0.81
Fig. 4. Photomicrographs of polished sections of feed in two different ore types.
most of the pyrite transfer to concentrate by means of mechanical
entrainment and entrapment as these particles are transferred to
concentrate in either feed types [17]. This is in good agreement
with research results of Yianatos et al. where they concluded that
in first rougher cells of flotation circuit 40–60% of pyrite in the finer
class of the concentrate ( 45 mm) is recovered by entrainment
[54]. Fig. 5 also denotes that in high pyritic ore type, finer particles
do not have a significant impact on pyrite content of the concen-
trate while particles coarser than 50 mm play a significant role par-
ticularly in cells 1–4 as locked pyrite mostly recovered together
with chalcopyrite in these cells.
In the case of the low pyritic ore type, almost for all cells, it can
be seen that for particles coarser than 100 mm, the amount of the
CP/PY locked particles decreases (Fig. 5). In this fraction, the pyrite
which is transferred to concentrate is mostly misreported due to
either self-induced hydrophobicity (composition of sulfur and
poly-sulfur ligands), or collector-induced hydrophobicity (after
surface activation by copper ions) and collectorless floatability
(with regard to interaction of hydrophobic molybdenite with pyr-
Fig. 5. Amount of locked chalcopyrite-pyrite minerals (CP/PY) in concentrate streams of each rougher cell in various particle size fractions for low and high pyritic feeds.
ite) [55]. For the same ore, Azizi et al. observed that flotation rate
constant and ultimate recovery are strongly affected by chemical
properties of medium, particularly by water quality [56]. Although
pH is kept over 11.2 to avoid the flotation of pyrite. Indeed, in the
high pyritic ore type the main part of recovered pyrite (about 70%)
occurs in first four cells; while for the low pyritic ore just 56% of
pyrite floats in these cells. Therefore, the idea of transferring the
concentrate of the first bank directly to recleaner section is not
sensible neither in the high nor in the low pyritic feed conditions.
It is seen that the amount of CP/PY increases for coarser particles in
both feed types especially for intermediate size fraction followed
by a slight decrease for particles coarser than 100 mm. One possible
reason for this can be related to surface activation of pyrite with
copper ions as a result of the interactions between copper ions
and surface active sites of pyrite [33]. These ions are mainly
derived from surface oxidation, dissolution, and fluid inclusion
release, which eventually promotes the floatability of pyrite [57].
In view of foregoing, mainly exposed chalcopyrite sites on CP/PY,
together with activated pyrite sites on these particles give rise to
higher flotation recovery of these fractions. Reduction of recovery
in coarser fractions, however, can be due to the fact that pyrite
ratio in CP/PY locked particles increases by increasing particle size,
which declines the exposed partial surface of chalcopyrite to the
flotation media which is responsible for floated CP/PY particles.
Fig. 6 displays the amount of locked chalcopyrite-gangue min-
erals (CP/G) versus particle size in various cells for both low and
high pyritic feeds. It can be seen that in both feed types proportion
of CP/G locked particles is the highest in last four cells (Fig. 6d). It
implies that most of locked CP/G particles are misreported to con-
centrates through these cells. Gangue or CP/G particles in froth
phase are loosely held in the inter-bubble water and can reach
the concentrate either in voids between adjoining bubbles or by
hydraulic entrainment [58]. By increasing particle size, amount of
CP/G locked particles increases. This boost, however, is more evi-
dent in the last cells (Fig. 6c and d).
Fig. 7 shows the liberated chalcopyrite particles recovered
through the process versus particle size fractions. It is clear that
floated free chalcopyrite in first cells is the highest which decreases
in further cells. In terms of particle size, proportion of chalcopyrite
in size fraction below 50 mm is considerably high throughout the
whole process. It should be noted that the feed type has almost
no effect on the flotation of free chalcopyrite. Considering Figs. 5–
7, it can be concluded that, main part of free chalcopyrite is floated
in first cells (1–4). In the middle cells (5–10) notable amount of
chalcopyrite in concentrate appears as CP/PY particles. Eventually,
in the final cells (10–14), floated portion is mostly CP/G locked par-
ticles. According to mineralogical analyses, it is revealed that for
the size fraction below 53 mm, quantity of the locked
chalcopyrite-pyrite particles is greater than the chalcopyrite-
gangue locked particles. Nevertheless, with increasing particle size
over 53 mm, CP/G proportion becomes fairly greater than CP/PY.
The trend of gangue minerals rejection with maximizing the size
reduction and reducing the size from 53 lm to 38 lm is in good
agreement with previous research [28]. Foregoing studies sug-
gested that in order to decrease the amount of misreported CP/G,
flotation can be carried out in lower pulp density (below 28 wt.
 S. Agheli et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 167–176
Fig. 6. Amount of locked chalcopyrite-gangue minerals (CP/G) in concentrate streams of each rougher cell in various particle size fractions for low and high pyritic feeds.
%), which can improve grade and recovery of copper and declines
gangue minerals flotation [56].
Fig. 8 illustrates the content of concentrate streams as well as
the proportion of pyrite and gangue minerals associated with
floated chalcopyrite as a locked particle. For all cells in both feed
types, it is obvious that the value of locked CP/G is notably higher
than that of CP/PY. Despite in the low pyritic ore feed there is a
steady and regular trend for proportion of both CP/G and CP/PY
particles in terms of the cell number. While, in case of the high
pyritic feed this continuous systematic trend seems to be inter-
rupted in Cells 5–9, as the content of both CP/PY and CP/G locked
particles show a sudden increase. Comparing the two low and high
pyritic ore types, it is found that in the high pyritic feed total
floated free chalcopyrite decreases by 1.15%, while it is compen-
sated by an increase in CP/PY and CP/G locked particles of 0.95%
and 0.2%, respectively. Moreover, misreported CP/PY and CP/G in
all cells are increased except for the last cells (cells 10–14). Here
the amount of recovered free chalcopyrite particles promotes by
9.5% whilst the floated CP/PY and CP/G locked particles are cut
by 1.53% and 7.96%, respectively. This demonstrates that the flota-
tion kinetics of pyrite and gangue minerals increases in high pyritic
feed and these particles are recovered within the first 10 cells.
The main reason of increasing pyrite recovery by increasing cell
number, in the low pyritic feed, is related to time dependent sur-
face activation and electrochemical sub-processes which promote
pyrite flotation. In other words, pyrite activation takes place in
connection with dissolution degree of copper species from chal-
copyrite. These ions boost formation of hydrophobic species such
as sulfides and collectors (e.g., xanthene) on the pyrite surface,
upon which its flotation is being promoted. Since dissolution of
copper ions enhances by dispersion within flotation cells during
agitation, pyrite activation is expected to increase through the
flotation bank by increasing cell number. This trend is also valid
for the high pyritic feed where a decrease in very last cells can
be due to lack of presence of pyrite because a huge portion of
CP/PY particles have already been recovered in previous cells.
Although its value is extremely high, the recovery of CP/G locked
particles also follows the same trend as CP/PY particles does. It is
well known that the presence of a large number of CP/G particles
in concentration can result in some problems such as overcon-
sumption of collector and frother, plunge in copper grade, increas-
ing of SiO2 in the concentrate which can cause higher temperature
requirement in further smelting processes and difficulties in slug
discharging. Moreover, presence of considerable value of gangue
minerals in concentrate may lead to instability of the froth zone,
overwhelming fine particles in crushing and regrinding circuits,
and flocculation in the froth zone. These issues with respect to cop-
per flotation in the presence of pyrite and other gangue minerals
are extensively reported in previous studies [39,57–60].
3.3. Grade and recovery performance
Fig. 9 shows the CP, CP/PY, and CP/G ratios in feed, concentrate,
and tailing streams versus particle size fractions for both ore types.
171
Considering these curves, it is obvious that the best cut point size
for this process is 53 mm, below which concentrate streams have
maximum amount of free chalcopyrite as well as minimum CP/
PY and CP/G locked particles. This fraction should be directly sent
to the cleaner stage and avoided regrinding in either the low or the
high pyritic feeds.
Taking the contents of tailing streams into account, it shows
significant loss of copper in terms of both free and locked chalcopy-
rite particles which is presented in detail in Table 3. Based on met-
allurgical surveys, 15–20% of copper is sent to tailings from the
rougher circuit. Fig. 9 represents that the CP/G locked particles
seem to be greater than CP/PY in concentrates for both feed types.
In fact, content of both CP/PY and CP/G in concentrate do not
change by increasing pyrite in feed, while a considerable increase
of CP/PY can be seen in feed of the high pyritic ore compared with
the low pyritic feed. On the contrary, Table 3 demonstrates a con-
siderable increase in recovery of Fe in case of the high pyritic feed.
Another important point is the significant decrease in CP/PY rejec-
tion. Content of CP/PY in tailing in case of the low pyritic feed is
high, which plunges in higher pyritic feed. Consequently, it can
be asserted that there is a massive mass transfer of CP/PY particles
to the concentrate with regard to processing the high pyritic ore
type. Furthermore, free chalcopyrite content of the feed also
decreases. This implies that the breakage function for CP/PY and
CP/G particles in size reduction processes, and the inclusion config-
uration of chalcopyrite in pyrite or gangue minerals may not be the
same (Fig. 4) which is required further detailed investigations.
Variation of copper grade in concentrate streams of rougher
cells is presented in Fig. 10. Sampling procedure was performed
based on the standard condition given the previous studies [53].
The samples are shown as low pyritic (SN.3 and SN.4) and the high
pyritic feed (SN.1 and SN.2). As shown in Fig. 10, copper grade
reduces significantly with increasing cell number. Generally, liber-
ated particles (fine and medium size fractions) have greater flota-
tion rate rates compared with the coarse ones. This phenomenon
results in higher recovery of chalcopyrite in initial cells of the bank
which is also shown in Figs. 7 and 10 as free chalcopyrite particles.
These results coincide well with those reported in previous works
[25,61,62].
To rise the process efficiency, collector and frother should be
distributed in different steps and points to provide more dispersion
and uniform supply of chemicals in cells. In studied process, how-
ever, collector was added to first stage with no further distribution
(single point dosing). Consequently, coarser particles are not
expected to be recovered in last stages through cells 10–14 with
respect to the lack of required flotation agents. Furthermore, in
case of the high pyritic feed type (SN.1 and SN.4), copper grade is
relatively poor compared with the low pyritic feed especially in
the first cells (Fig. 10) which might originate from the single stage
addition of the chemical agents. Floatation of pyrite in the high
pyritic ore through these cells causes reduction in copper grade.
Another interesting point is the sharp plunge in copper grade from
cells 5 to 10 in the case of high pyritic ore seems to decrease more
gradually and smoothly for the low pyritic feed. This trend and
172 S. Agheli et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 167–176

Fig. 7. Amount of free chalcopyrite minerals in concentrate streams of each rougher cell in various particle size fractions for low and high pyritic feeds.

Fig. 8. Proportion and composition of locked and free particles in concentrate of rougher cells for both low and high pyritic feeds.

Fig. 9. Mineralogical content of feed, concentrate, and tailing streams of rougher flotation versus particle size in both low and high pyritic feeds.

Table 3
Copper, iron, and silicate grades and recoveries in the high and low pyritic feeds (%).

Feed type Feed assay Concentrate assay Tailing assay Recovery

Low High Low High Low High Low High
Cu 0.98 0.74 10.27 6.24 0.12 0.12 88.79 85.43
Fe 4.32 6.76 19.57 23.07 4.03 4.74 7.22 37.69
SiO2 56.49 56.32 75.56 73.08 55.40 56.32 12.59 11.27

results for copper content in terms of cell number are in good
agreement with previous reported works [54]. It is also shown that
the copper concentration for the low pyritic feed is greater than
that in the high pyritic one, which is due to the flotation of higher
pyrite in latter feed type as shown in Fig. 11.
Fig. 11 exhibits iron (Fe) grade in different cells of rougher cir-
cuit under both low and high pyritic ores. One should expect that
in the high pyritic ore type, pyrite contribution in iron grade is
higher than that in the low pyritic feed, in which the trend of iron
content continually decreases versus increasing cell numbers.
While, in the case of high pyritic ore, iron proportion is the maxi-
mal and almost constant in initial 5 cells, after which there is a
notable plunge in its grade. This points out the recovery of free
and locked pyrite particles into concentrates and increase in Fe
grade. According to the trend of curves it can be concluded that
most of pyrite is transferred into concentrates in initial cells.
Indeed, pyrite flotation can be reduced when its surface is oxidized.
It is reported that the iron hydroxide, Fe(OH)3, ligands occur on the
 S. Agheli et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 167–176
Fig. 10. Variation of copper (Cu) content in concentration stream of rougher flotation cells.
oxidized pyrite surface which is known to decrease the contact
angle and hydrophobicity of pyrite by increasing the hydration of
pyrite and reducing the reagent adsorption [27,63].
Copper recovery in different size fractions of rougher flotation is
determined and shown in Fig. 12 for both feed types. As it can be
seen, flotation recovery plunges for coarser fractions (>74 lm)
and drops gradually for finer particles (<15 lm). This can be attrib-
uted to single stage addition of collector and frother (all at once)
rather than distributing them among the cells (stage addition).
Since the finer particles have larger specific surface area than the
coarser ones, they consume extensive collector dosage in higher
rate of adsorption [62]. In the present study, all of the required col-
lectors in this process are added at the top of the bank (rougher
feed); hence, they are mostly consumed by fine particles which
in fact need little amount of collector to be floated efficiently. Con-
sequently, there is not sufficient collector remained for coarser
particles to produce enough hydrophobic sites so that enhance
the bubble-particle attachment. Maximum recovery is obtained
for particles in the size ranges between 15 and 33 lm. Further-
more, mineralogical study of the samples indicates that the libera-
tion degree of copper bearing minerals can be maximized (>95%) at
this size fraction. This implies that the lower recovery from coarser
size fractions can be also due to the lack of liberation of copper
minerals. This fact is also represented in Fig. 9.
Fig. 13 shows the iron (Fe) recovery in rougher stage versus size
fractions for both low and high pyritic feeds. There are two peaks of
greater iron content for two different size fractions in both feed
types. Since the size fraction below 44 mm in concentrate is found
to be liberated without being locked with CP/PY particles (Fig. 9),
the higher iron content below this size can be due to the flotation
of free pyrite particles as a result of copper activation and/or
entrainment phenomena, which is not too much different for two
feed types as expected. Whereas, in the case of coarse particles,
it can be in connection with the presence of locked CP/PY particles.
As discussed earlier in Fig. 9, CP/PY particles in concentrate for
both feed types appear to increase above 44 mm which is greater
for the high pyritic ore as can be seen in Fig. 13 as well.
Fig. 11. Variation of iron (Fe) content in concentration stream of rougher flotation cells.
173
Fig. 12. Copper recovery versus size fractions for low and high pyritic feeds.
Grade and recovery of rougher cells for copper, iron, and silicate
for both ore types are listed in Table 3. It is evident that both cop-
per grade in concentrate and its recovery in the low pyritic ore feed
are more than these in the high pyritic one. This clearly indicates
the negative effect of the high pyritic feed on flotation of chalcopy-
rite in rougher cells. In fact, non-floatable hydrophilic particles
especially non-sulfide middling particles are recovered by entrain-
ment, entrapment, and slime coating which are non-selective
mechanisms that reduce separation efficiency and flotation recov-
ery. Recovery of copper in rougher stage is in acceptable range
which is suggested based on pilot tests for process of the low pyri-
tic feed [49]. As can be clearly seen in Table 3, recovery of copper
for the higher pyritic feed decreases by 3.36%. While, separation
efficiency drops significantly as the recovery of iron increases by
a factor of more than five.
Another important gangue mineral in the process is silicate.
Content of chalcopyrite locked with silicate minerals (CP/G) is
increased in plant feed and consequently in flotation concentrate
with regard to increasing depth of mine pit in recent years. As seen
in Fig. 14, by enhancing cell number, SiO2 content ascends gradu-
ally showing that considerable amount of gangue minerals are
misreported to concentrates through final cells. There are some
known mechanisms which can describe flotation of gangue miner-
als as follows: hydraulic entrainment (i.e., carry-over in the wake
174 S. Agheli et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 167–176
Fig. 13. Iron (Fe) recovery versus size fractions for low and high pyritic feeds.
of rising bubble), mechanical entrainment in connection with tur-
bulence and internal fluid flow patterns in cells, slime coating as a
result of electrostatic attraction, and along with locked CP/G parti-
cles. Major quantity of misreported gangue minerals are coarse
particles as shown in Fig. 9. Moreover, the amount of recovered
gangue minerals seems to be indifferent to pyrite content of feed
as the CP/G content is almost the same in case of either feed types
(Figs. 9 and 14). Previously described single stage collector addi-
tion may also have effect on flotation of gangue minerals as well.
Moreover, it is predicted that the increasing proportion of CP/G,
especially in final cells, can adversely affect the viscosity and pulp
properties and consequently cause a high adhesion as well as
diminish grade and recovery of copper dramatically. It is reported
that the particle size and its surface properties have a strong effec-
tiveness on pulp viscosity and its properties which in turn can
affect the flotation process [63].
Fig. 15 exhibits an overall view of liberation and configuration
of locked particles in concentrates of rougher stage. It is clear that
chalcopyrite particles are 100% liberated below the size fraction of
23–44 mm. Throughout the middle size class of 44–74 mm, chal-
copyrite particles locked with pyrite mineral (CP/PY). By increasing
the particle size up to 210 mm chalcopyrite-silicate locked particles
(CP/G) become dominant. This shows that neither the breakage
mechanism nor the grain size for these two different locked sys-
tems are not the same and should be addressed separately.
Another important point is the effect of high pyritic feed. It is obvi-
ous that the high pyritic ore feed has no effect on the liberation of
particles except for 105 mm size fraction, where content of CP/PY
particles increases by 2-fold and CP/G locked particles decreases
by the same amount. This change disappears in fine size fractions.
4. Conclusions
In this work, performance of rougher flotation circuit of
Sarcheshmeh copper concentrator was studied in order to reveal
the effect of locked particles on flotation efficiency in two low
and high pyritic feeds. Results of mineralogical analysis showed
Fig. 14. Variation of silicate (SiO2) content in concentration stream of rougher flotation cells.
Fig. 15. Configuration of chalcopyrite locked particles versus size fraction for two
feed types.
that in finer sizes (<38 mm) surface activation and entrainment is
the main mechanism for misreported pyrite particles. For the coar-
ser classes (>100 mm), however, pyrite was preferentially recovered
to the concentrate as locked particles. In the high pyritic feed, con-
siderable amount of pyrite is recovered to concentrate which is
detected in cells 5–9. While, in the case of the low pyritic feed, pro-
portion of pyrite increases by rising cell numbers. In addition, most
of SiO2 in rougher concentrate is recovered in last 10 cells for the
low pyritic ore type. Liberation degree for particles finer than 23
mm is 100%. The only associated mineral for locked particles in size
fraction of 23–44 mm is found to be pyrite. In coarser fractions,
however, the number of locked CP/G particles increases. In sum-
mary, in fine fractions chalcopyrite particles are free, while they
are locked with pyrite in middle size classes and locked with
gangue silicate minerals in coarser fractions. One of the main rea-
sons for carrying locked particles to concentrates by mechanical
entrainment and entrapment is intensive air flow rate and turbu-
lence in cells which needs to be investigated to reach its standard
level. For both feed types there is a significant amount of copper in
tailing streams especially for sizes coarser that 53 mm. This prob-
lem is even worse for pyritic feed where 53–74 mm size fraction
contains 70% of free chalcopyrite. Adding chemical reagents only
in conditioning tank can be the possible reason for this problem
that should be addressed. It is estimated that 15–20% loss in copper
can be recovered by distributing collector and frother in the circuit
along with optimization of their dosages.
Acknowledgment
Authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of
National Iranian Copper Industries Company (N.I.C.I.Co.). Apprecia-
tion is also extended to R&D and metallurgical personals for their
valuable comments and continuous help.
 S. Agheli et al. / International Journal of Mining Science and Technology 28 (2018) 167–176 175

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