Four Types of Common Cobalt Ore Beneficiation Processes

With the continuous popularization of the concept of carbon neutrality and new energy technologies, the development and utilization of cobalt mineral resources has attracted more and more attention. In nature, most cobalt minerals are symbiotic with iron, copper, nickel and other metal minerals, and single cobalt minerals are relatively rare. Common cobalt-containing metal deposits include copper-nickel-cobalt deposits, copper-cobalt deposits, iron-cobalt deposits and cobalt-earth deposits. This article will focus on these four types of cobalt deposits to let you get the beneficiation process of common cobalt ores.

1. Copper-Nickel-Cobalt Ore Beneficiation Process

Copper-nickel-cobalt ores are generally processed using a mixed flotation process to obtain a relatively rich copper-cobalt-nickel mixed concentrate, which can be priced and sold at the same time or smelted. It should be noted that this kind of ore contains a lot of gangue minerals easy to float, and it is easy to produce secondary sludge during the grinding process, which will affect the enrichment of copper, nickel and cobalt concentrate. You can choose flocculation desliming. The mixed flotation process first mixes and flotates the copper, nickel and cobalt concentrates with relatively high enrichment, and then separates and extracts the cobalt minerals through hydrometallurgy.

2. Copper-Cobalt Ore Beneficiation Process

There are two types of copper-cobalt deposits, one often contains polymetallic minerals such as copper, lead, zinc, and silver, and the other contains minerals such as copper, cobalt, and uranium. The two types of deposits have different beneficiation processes. Most of them are based on the difference in flotability of copper and cobalt minerals is determined, generally including a preferential flotation process and a mixed flotation process.

When using the priority flotation process to treat copper-cobalt ores, copper is generally flotated first and then cobalt is flotated. Lime is used as an inhibitor, YK1-11 is used as a copper collector, and butyl xanthate is used as a cobalt collector. Copper concentrate and cobalt sulfur concentrate are obtained respectively.

When using a mixed flotation process to separate copper and cobalt ores, you can use butyl xanthate as a collector and BKNL as a regulator for flotation to obtain a copper-cobalt mixed coarse concentrate. Inhibitors such as water glass and lime are added to the process. The gangue minerals are suppressed to obtain a copper-cobalt mixed concentrate.

3. Iron-Cobalt Ore Beneficiation Process

The main cobalt-containing minerals in iron-cobalt deposits are pyrite, pyrrhotite and a small amount of chalcopyrite. The main gangue minerals are quartz, trypsin, epidote, biotite, chlorite, etc. The composition is relatively complex. Cobalt minerals are generally closely associated with iron minerals.

This type of ore can be processed by flotation. First, sulfide and magnetite can be separated, and then a small amount of chalcopyrite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite can bex separated by flotation. At the same time, magnetic separation can be used to separate the magnetic minerals. Iron ore, copper concentrate, cobalt sulfur concentrate and iron concentrate are obtained respectively.

4. Cobalt-Earth Ore Beneficiation Process

Cobalt earth minerals are mostly produced in weathered mineral deposits. In addition to cobalt, they also contain metal elements such as manganese, copper, nickel, and iron. The recyclable part of the ore is often dominated by a complex formed by manganese oxide and cobalt oxide. Cobalt minerals and manganese minerals are symbiotic. Closely related, containing more clay, iron slime and limonite, manganese minerals are generally recovered together with cobalt minerals.

In terms of mineral processing methods, cobalt-earth ore can be adopted a single or combined mineral beneficiation process. Single beneficiation methods include gravity separation, magnetic separation, flotation, acid leaching, etc,.And the combined beneficiation methods include roasting-flotation, acid leaching-flotation, among which acid leaching-flotation is the more commonly used beneficiation method for cobalt-earth ores at present.

The above is about the beneficiation process of common cobalt ore beneficiation. The composition of cobalt minerals is complex. When formulating a mineral processing plan, it is necessary to consider the comprehensive recovery and utilization of different mineral resources. Therefore, in actual production, depending on the type and composition of cobalt-containing ores, the mineral processing process plans are also different. The properties of the components of the cobalt deposit should be analyzed first, and a scientific and reasonable mineral beneficiation process plan should be determined through experiments to avoid improper processes, which may cause economic losses and waste of resources.