Optimisation of the dose of basic solutions by controlling the pH during the flotation of mixed ores treated at the KAPULO concentrator

This work presents the results of a study of optimization of the dose of basic solutions by control of the pH during the flotation of mixed ores treated at the KAPULO concentrator. The plant was designed to operate in oxide and sulfide campaigns with a production of 500 thousand tons per year for oxides, with a feed of 90 tons per hour and a grade of 5.5%, while for sulfides, the production should be 600 thousand tons of concentrate per year for the same tonnage of feed but at a grade of 4.4%. The grade of the concentrate produced varies from 26 to 51% of CopperThe results of the sulphide flotation show that the tests carried out led to overall performance in terms of recovery yield and copper content since the lowest yield of 3.53% and the highest of 91.17% for lime, while for caustic soda, these values are limited to 1.40% and 95.75%. While the extreme values of the contents in the sulfuric concentrates are 0.20% and 1.30% for lime; 0.20% and 1.20%.