Recovery of molybdenum and copper from porphyry ore via iso-flotability flotation

A copper–molybdenum iso-flotability flotation process has been developed to efficiently improve the recovery of molybdenite from Duobaoshan porphyry Cu–Mo ores. The effects of flotation approach, type of collector, feed particle size distribution, rougher pH value and reagent dosage on the recovery of molybdenite were evaluated systematically. The results suggest that compared with kerosene and diesel oil, transformer oil has stronger dispersion capability in water media and better flotation selectivity for molybdenite, providing a higher molybdenum recovery under low reagent dosage. Moreover, compared with bulk flotation approach, the iso-flotability flotation approach using transformer oil as a collector can obtain superior Mo recovery (90.77%) and grade (0.80%) in the cleaner concentrate, and increase the Mo recovery and grade by over 18% and 5% in the final Mo concentrate, respectively. The results of commercial flotation further indicate that the iso-flotability flotation approach is a rational and effective route to beneficiate the porphyry Cu–Mo ores.