Selective flotation of carbon in the Pb–Zn carbonaceous sulphide ores of Century Mine, Zinifex

Century Mine, operated by Zinifex, is one of the largest zinc and lead deposits in Australia. The ore contains sphalerite and galena as valuable minerals, and carbonaceous material is present among the gangue minerals. The presence of carbonaceous matter is detrimental to the concentration of zinc and lead by flotation. Therefore, preflotation, which is flotation in the absence of collector and prior to galena flotation, is employed to remove some of the organic carbon, some of which is naturally hydrophobic, from the flotation feed. The main issues affecting the effectiveness of preflotation are: (i) low carbon recovery, (ii) low selectivity against zinc, and (iii) very high frother (methyl isobutyl carbinol, MIBC) consumption. The present study revealed that: (a) most of the MIBC added during flotation disappears from solution due to its high adsorption onto ore particles and especially on fine carbon enriched particles which have high surface area, (b) the addition of diesel oil can reduce MIBC consumption by 50% (in laboratory flotation tests) and (c) polypropylene glycol (PPG 192) showed lower affinity for carbon surfaces due to this reagent’s higher hydrophilic/lipophilic balance, producing stable froths at 50% of the current MIBC addition.