Analysis of Operating Flotation Plants

Part I of this chapter is concerned with the description of and metallurgical data pertaining to the flotation circuits used in the London mill of the Tennessee Copper Co., at Copperhill, Tenn. The ores treated at the London mill are massive complex sulfides, in which pyrrhotite and pyrite are the predominant minerals. Other sulfides are chalcopyrite and sphalerite; magnetite is also of economic value. The approximate mineralogical analysis of the ore is shown in Table 1. [ ] The chalcopyrite and sphalerite are closely associated with pyrrhotite as shown by the tracings of micrographs (Fig. I), which are representative of the mill feed. Fig. la illustrates the type of locking between pyrrhotite and chalcopyrite; Fig. lb illustrates the way in which sphalerite is attached. Thesephotographs indicate that it is not practical to break all of these attachments. Hence, in order to produce concentrates with satisfactory grades and recoveries, most of the locked chalcopyrite particles must be recovered into the copper concentrate, and the locked sphalerite-pyrrhotite particles must be separated from the iron concentrate. A copper concentrate, a zinc concentrate, and an iron concentrate are made. Typical metallurgical results are tabulated in Table 2. HISTORICAL In 1922 the London mill started as a copper concentrator, with a capacity of 300 tpd, and in 1926 an additional flotation circuit was added to recover the iron sulfide remaining in the copper tailing. In 1927 a zinc flotation circuit was installed between the copper and the iron flotation circuits. This procedure was not satisfactory because the iron recovery was low, due to the