Separation of Copper and Molybdenum from Bulk Cu-Mo Concentrate Using a Novel Process Combined Pressurized Water Leaching with Flotation

This work investigated the separation of copper (Cu) and molybdenum (Mo) from bulk Cu-Mo concentrate using pressurized water leaching (PWL) and Hallimond tube flotation. The effects of pressure, temperature, stirring speed, and solid-liquid ratio on the dissolution efficiency of copper and molybdenum were investigated using PWL. The results showed that under the optimal conditions, the copper and molybdenum leaching rate was 95.28% and < 5%, respectively. The Hallimond tube flotation of the residue obtained by PWL showed that 99% of Mo was recovered in the concentrate, and its grade reached around 56.57%, while the Cu grade was less than 0.53%. Moreover, 98% of Cu was rejected into the tailing, and its grade is about 8%. A novel process for separating copper and molybdenum from bulk Cu-Mo concentrate was proposed by combining PWL with Hallimond tube flotation, in which the overall copper and molybdenum recovery was 95.28 and 94.54%, respectively.