Antimony circuit optimization in flotation of gold-bearing antimony ore

The test subject is the gold-bearing antimony ore from an East Siberian deposit. This ore is a moderate sulphide type: sulphides are mostly antimonite, arsenopyrite, pyrite–marca site and pyrrhotine, and the main rock-forming minerals are quarts and mica–hydromica. The ore contains 5.14% antimony, 0.51% arsenic and 0.86 g/t gold. The concentration flowsheet of the ore assumes two-stage milling, selective extraction of the antimony concentrate, flotation of gold-bearing sulphides, and then thickening and filtration of the marketable concentrates. The experimental design for optimizing the agent mode of antimony flotation used a statistical method by Box–Wilson. The operating conditions of antimony flotation to ensure the antimony concentration with Sb recovery of 69% at Sb content of 52% are: рН = 6, flotation time = 8 min, consumption of Pb(NO3)2 = 500 g/t, consumption of DBDFA = 25 g/t, consumption of T-92 = 30 g/t. These operating conditions enable the increase in the antimony recovery in the concentrate by 37.5% at the increased metal content from 29% to 52% and at the decreased content of antimony in the antimony concentrate by 2 times as compared with the flotation process variables in the factory-adopted regime.

Algebraistova N. K., Ananenko E. S., Prokopev I. V., Golsman D. A. Antimony circuit optimization in flotation of gold-bearing antimony ore. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2023;(8):128-137. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2023_8_0_128.

N.K. Algebraistova¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Assistant Professor, e-mail: algebraistova@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0185-8389,
E.S. Ananenko¹, Graduate Student, e-mail: ananenkoes@inbox.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1299-5397,
I.V. Prokopev, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Assistant Professor, e-mail: prokopiev.iv@yandex.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-9230-6415, M.K. Ammosov North-Eastern Federal University, 677000, Yakutsk, Republic of Sakha, Russia,
D.A. Golsman¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Assistant Professor, e-mail: golsman_d@mail.ru,
¹ Siberian Federal University, 660025, Krasnoyarsk, Russia.

E.S. Ananenko, e-mail: ananenkoes@inbox.ru.

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