Research and production practice on flotation effect improvement of SICOMINES high oxidation rate copper-cobalt ore in Congo（Kinshasa）

During the production process of SICOMINES high oxidation rate copper-cobalt ore in Congo(Kinshasa), it is found that due to the unreasonable position of the dosing tube of the flotation machine, the effect of the flotation reagents and minerals is poor, the unit consumption of reagents is high, and through experiments, it is found that the backwater of tailings thickeners with higher pH value contains some effective flotation reagent components, adding to the oxidation section is beneficial for improving the copper grade and recovery rate of the concentrate in the oxidation section. Therefore, the concentrator analyzes the structure of the on-site flotation machine and the flow characteristics of the pulp, as well as conducts laboratory tests, and transforms the flotation machine and the on-site flotation process, that is, by extending the dosing tube of flotation machine to the clamping floor, and adding the backwater of tailings thickeners to the oxidation section. After transformation, sodium hydrosulfide and xanthate are reduced by 3.80 kg/t ore and 0.07 kg/t ore respectively, 42.70% and 14.29% lower than before transformation; the total copper grades and total cobalt grades of copper oxide concentrate and flotation cobalt concentrate are respectively increased by 1.09 percentage points and 0.03 percentage points, the recovery rate of copper and cobalt increased by 0.51 percentage points and 0.72 percentage points respectively, and the recovery rate of copper and cobalt in the total concentrate increased by 0.69 percentage points and 0.71 percentage points respectively compared with before transformation.