Abstract:
The flotation tailings of a lead-zinc mine in Yunnan contain 0.21% lead, 0.25% zinc, 0.76 g/t gold, 44.72 g/t silver and 26.55% sulfur. Gold, silver and sulfur have certain recycling value expect lead and zinc. In order to comprehensively recover the gold, silver and sulfur, a systematic experimental study was carried out on the tailings. According to the study of process mineralogy, the mineral to be recycled has a finer dissemination size and a higher distribution rate of fine grain size. What's more, the high content of pyrite in the sample was closely related to the symbiosis of the mineral to be recovered, so it is difficult to fully recover the useful elements. Based on the properties of the sample and the investigation of process mineralogy, this experiment has established the principle process of "lead-zinc bulk flotation- sulfur dressing of tailings", and adopted the combination agent of ethyl sulfide and BK-N to strengthen the collection of gold and silver. The closed-circuit test results of the laboratory showed that the lead-zinc mixed concentrate with lead grade of 15.62%, zinc grade of 38.55%, gold content of 15.83 g/t, silver of 2 268.57 g/t, lead recovery of 28.03%, zinc recovery of 53.69%, gold recovery of 7.63%, silver recovery of 18.47%; and the sulfur concentrate with sulfur grade of 48.77%, sulfur recovery rate of 89.70% were obtained. The content of useful components in tailings was further reduced through experiments, and the effective resources were maximized.