Decoupling rehology and slime coatings effect on the natural flotability of chalcopyrite in a clay-rich flotation pulp

Clay minerals are a commonly occurring gangue in mineral beneficiation operations and occur in a variety of ore deposits, including porphyry copper ores. The presence of clays in mineral beneficiation circuits can cause a wide range of different problems, including that of slime coatings on valuable minerals and elevated viscosities of flotation pulps. The aim of this work was to decouple and estimate the relative magnitudes of the slime coatings and pulp rheology effects on the natural floatability of chalcopyrite in a model mineral system. It was found that the two phenomena can be partially isolated and that they both have a detrimental effect on flotation performance. It was also found that the level to which these two phenomena affect chalcopyrite recovery is of a similar order of magnitude. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.