Experimental study on the separation of a shrend copper slag

Abstract An experimental study on copper separation from a shrend copper slag in Yunnan province was carried out. The test contents included: grinding curve test, grinding process determination test, comparison tests of different flotation processes. The results shown that: the main ingredients of shrend copper slag were iron, silicon and the main valuable metallic elements were Cu, Fe, grade of 0.70%, 40.14%, consistent with the main components of the copper smelting slag. When the grinding time exceeded 35 minutes, the grinding fineness curve tended to flatten, indicating that the grinding effect was not obvious after the time exceeded 35 minutes, and the grinding fineness did not change much, which may be the shrend copper slag crystallized into a dense structure during the cooling process. Finally, the two stages grinding and regrinding process was adopted. Under the fineness of -0.074 mm 70% on the first grinding, the fineness of -0.037 mm 100% on the second grinding, and the fineness of -0.026 mm 85% on the regrinding, the process of regrinding and recleaning for combined cleaning middling of sulfide copper with roughing and scavenging middling of oxidized copper was suitable for the shrend copper slag.