Influence of liberation of sulphide minerals on flotation of sedimentary copper ore

Ore liberation is one of the most important parameter in mineral processing, especially in flotation. To separate the valuable components from gangue minerals, it is necessary to liberate one from others. It is achieve primarily through crushing and grinding. These stages are one of the most expensive of mineral production. It is important to determine the adequate mineral liberation which would result in huge savings in the overall cost of flotation plant. The aim of the paper was the analysis of the influence of milling time on the laboratory flotation of the copper ore from stratiform Polish deposit. Three different milling time of copper ore in laboratory ball mill was applied. The flotation results were presented as the recovery-recovery and grade-recovery upgrading curves. The liberation of sulphides and the particle size of sulphides in flotation product were analysed and compared.