There are many kinds of copper ores. Chalcopyrite is the main ore mined in China, chalcocite and bornite are the second. In addition, there are natural copper, tetrahedrite, Azurite and Malachite and so on. So far, more than 280 kinds of copper-bearing minerals have been found. China's copper mines are mainly concentrated in Tongling, Zhongtiao Mountains, Dongchuan District, Heilongjiang and Dexing, Jiangxi. There are many copper ore dressing methods. Today we introduce three common copper ore dressing methods.

1.Flotation of copper ore

Since many copper ores are associated with many other metals, there are three types of copper flotation. The first is preferential flotation: When the ore contains two or more useful minerals, the useful minerals are selected one by one as a single concentrate. The second is the mixed flotation process when the ore contains two or more useful minerals and the flotation process is used to separate the useful minerals into mixed concentrate (and then separate the useful minerals) .

In the third method, flotation equipment is needed. Because of the strong agitation of the flotation machine, the particles with larger size and density can be suspended, and the dispersion of the refractory agent can be promoted. When the copper ore enters the machine, the processing of the layers will float together to the surface of the pulp, forming a layer of mineralized bubbles, while other mineral particles which are easily wetted by water, commonly known as hydrophilicity, will not adhere to the bubbles but remain in the pulp, the aim of beneficiation is achieved by discharging the mineralized bubbles containing specific minerals.

2.Magnetic separation of copper ore

Different magnetic separation methods should be used for different copper ores. Generally speaking, if the impurity in copper ore is mainly magnetic, then the copper ore tailings magnetic separator should be selected for copper ore magnetic separation; if the impurity is mainly strong magnetic, then the permanent magnetic drum magnetic separator should be selected for operation. The more times of magnetic separation, the finer the particle size of copper ore, the better the effect of removing impurities.

After the magnetic drum rotates, the copper ore is uniformly given to the magnetic field area by the electromagnetic vibration feeder. With the rotation of the magnetic drum, the magnetic material is absorbed on the surface of the drum. The magnetic material is removed with the magnetic roller after it is taken to the field, and the non-magnetic and non-magnetic particles have different trajectories because of the different magnetic forces they receive. Through this process, impurities are removed and copper ore is selected.

3.Mechanical separation of copper ore

This method uses the collision and friction of the crusher to remove the impurities in the copper ore. Due to the low efficiency of this mechanical separation method, this method is seldom used at present. We usually choose either flotation or magnetic separation.

Source: Global Mineral Resources Network