Sulfidation reconstruction methods for improving the floatability of copper oxide minerals: A review

Abstract

Copper oxide minerals are important raw materials for copper production, mainly including malachite, chrysocolla and cuprite. Flotation is the main method to extract copper from copper oxide minerals. However, the high surface polarity of copper oxide minerals restricts the flotation process. In this paper, the mineralogical characteristics of copper oxide minerals are described briefly. The treatment methods of sulfidation including surface sulfidation, mechanochemical sulfidation and sulfidation roasting are summarized to improve the floatability of copper oxide minerals. In particular, this paper analyses the sulfidation reaction mechanism. An efficient way to promote flotation recovery is to form a sulfide film on the mineral surface. The research direction for further utilization of copper oxide minerals is prospected.