Malachite ore, also known as copper glaze, is a mineral ore that is mainly composed of copper carbonates, and is composed of copper hydroxides and copper sulfates. It is characterized by bright colors, such as emerald green. The main mineral composition of Malachite ore is malachite, and a small amount of Turquoise and Chrysocolla may also exist.
The ore of Malachite, is mainly used for smelting copper. At present, Malachite ore has been found in many countries around the world, including China, Congo, Zambia, Russia, Egypt, Peru and the United States. Malachite ore is one of the main copper resources in China, and the mining areas are mainly in Shandong, Guangdong and Yunnan provinces.
The beneficiation of Malachite ore mainly includes hand selection and gravity separation. When hand picking, since the grain size of the ore blocks is not the same and the color is obvious, it is easy to hand pick the useful mineral out according to the color. After the hand selection, the ore block is classified according to the size and processed by gravity separation or strong magnetic separation.
The density of Malachite ore is greater than or equal to 3.6, and the crystal size is generally coarse. When sorting by gravity separation, heavy medium beneficiation is usually used. The heavy medium used in the beneficiation of Malachite ore is usually Zinc sulfate solution. The inclusions in the ore can be roughly divided into three categories: organic matter, clay and ore-forming minerals. Generally, organic matter and oxide minerals can be removed by hand prior to selection and classification. After sorting with a heavy medium, use the flotation method to separate the associated minerals and the desired mineral to obtain a qualified concentrate.
Moreover, due to the large amount of slested ore water in the beneficiation process of Malachite ore, pad washing can be used to reduce its acidity and reduce the ore loss. After the heavy medium ore dressing is used, the tailings are usually treated by the flotation method. Because the floatability of Malachite ore is poor, the reagent does not require too many. The main flotation reagents include oxidizing agent (generally sodium hydrosulfite or Sodium hydrosulfite and activator), collector and foam stabilizer, of which the collector (Xanthate) is indispensable.
In summary, the beneficiation of Malachite ore includes hand selection and gravity separation, heavy medium beneficiation and flotation. It has good application effect and can significantly improve the grade of Malachite ore. Generally, the beneficiation process is reliable and the operation is not complicated. In the processing of Malachite ore, due to its different nature, scientific and reasonable ore dressing processes must be adopted.
