A novel dry beneficiation technology for pyrite recovery from high sulfur gangue

Pyrite in the gangue was considered as the waste causing harmful environmental problems. It is of great significance to enrich pyrite from high sulfur gangue. Due to the serious problem of water shortage especially in India, South Africa and North-West China, a novel dry beneficiation technology was firstly proposed for pyrite recovery of <50 mm size fraction in the study, namely combination technology of air dense medium fluidized bed and vibrated fluidized bed. Separation experiments of air dense medium fluidized bed showed that the yield of 13-50 mm and 6-13 mm samples were 67.91% and 64.13%. The recovery rate of 13-50 mm and 6-13 mm samples were 81.69%, 79.51%, respectively. Separation results of vibrated fluidized bed at optimal conditions were shown that the yield of 3-6 mm, 1-3 mm and 0.5 -1 mm were 54.85%, 38.60% and 43.56%. The recovery rate of 3-6 mm, 1-3 mm and 0.5-1 mm were 75%, 65.64% and 71.45%. The results of XRD and XPS showed pyrite was the foremost mineral in the concentrate with the highest proportion. The study indicated that combination technology could be effectively used for pyrite recovery from high sulfur gangue. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.