Optimization of Conditions for Processing of Lead–Zinc Ores Enrichment Tailings of East Kazakhstan

Abstract

This article presents the results of studies of a low-waste technology for processing enrichment tailings using a combined enrichment–hydrometallurgical method. After washing the enrichment tailings from harmful products and reducing their size, multi-stage flotation of the crushed material of the enrichment tailings was carried out. The use of a new reagent in the flotation process was studied in order to ensure the maximum recovery of the main valuable components from the enrichment tailings. A new collector of Aero 7249 (Shenyang Florrea Chemicals Co., Ltd., Shenyang, China) type was used for the flotation. The recovery of valuable components was as follows: Cu, 6.78%; Zn, 91.69%; Pb, 80.81%; Au, 95.90%; Ag, 82.50%; Fe, 78.78%. Tailings of the flotation were re-enriched using a fatty acid collector (sodium oleate). Additional (reverse) flotation resulted in obtaining a product corresponding to the composition of building sand in terms of the content of valuable components of the waste rock. The studies of the conditions for processing the enrichment tailings of lead–zinc ore indicate the possibility of its optimization in order to maximize the involvement of waste in the production.

Reuse and Mechanochemical Processing of Ore Dressing Tailings Used for Extracting Pb and Zn

“…In our case, we managed to achieve 36% or more, while the local maximum area became more focused in the region of optimal concentrations of H 2 SO 4 and NaCl. The obtained results of the optimum yield values of Zn (54%) and Pb (36-48%) correlated well with the results of the flotation of the lead-zinc ores of the Belousovskaya enrichment factory (Kazakhstan), where the recovery percentage was 58% and 29%, respectively [47]. In the study of Chinese researchers, applying the mechanical activation of sphalerite for 15 min allowed increasing the zinc yield from 5% to 30% [104].…”

“…This system of measures is primarily aimed at optimizing material flows based on their cyclicity at all stages of production [36][37][38][39][40]. Another approach within the framework of the "circularity" concept is the re-extraction of metals from technogenic raw materials of old tailings [41,42] or after the direct formation of enrichment tailings [43][44][45], ash residue of solid household waste [46], and the reuse of various kinds of waste [47][48][49].…”

Contemporary Research and Developments in the Low-Toxic Chelating Reagents for the Extraction of Non-Ferrous and Noble Metals from Poor Polymetallic Ores and Processing Tailings

“…The use of the new Aero 7249 collector reagent for lead-zinc tailing flotation confirmed the possibility of maximizing the waste involvement in metal production, with the recovery of valuable metals achieving the following indicators-Cu, 6.78%; Zn, 91.69%; Pb, 80.81%; Au, 95.90%; Ag, 82.50%; Fe, 78.78% [54].…”

Smelting a Zn – Pb Sulfide Ore with Magnetite and Carbon for the Production of a Silicon Alloy and Extraction of Zinc and Lead into Sublimates

“…Such raw materials increase the formation degree of zinc silicates during the roasting; they dissolve easily in sulfuric acid and form colloidal silicic acid ( H 2 SiO 3 ), which makes the subsequent thickening and filtering of the resulting solutions difficult [15]; • low degree of the raw materials' comprehensive use as 30-50% of zinc and lead and almost all non-metallic components of the ores pass into the resulting flotation tailings. (For this reason, there are additional problems associated with the processing and disposal of concentration tailings (as well as leaching tailings) of not only zinc ores but also other ores [16][17][18][19][20][21][22]). In recent years, various methods and schemes have been introduced into the lead-zinc ores concentration technology to improve its efficiency and to increase the complexity of the use of the raw materials [23][24][25][26].…”