Recovery of molybdenum using sodium metabisulfite and a thiocarbonate depressant

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10654048-B2
Application number	US-201815908992-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 1, 2018
Priority date	Mar 9, 2017
Publication date	May 19, 2020
Grant date	May 19, 2020

Abstract

The present invention discloses mining collector compositions containing sodium metabisulfite and a thiocarbonate compound. Flotation processes for recovering molybdenum from a copper-molybdenum concentrate using the collector compositions also are disclosed.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flotation process for the recovery of molybdenum from a copper-molybdenum concentrate, the process comprising:
contacting a molybdenum collector composition comprising sodium metabisulfite and a thiocarbonate compound; with
the copper-molybdenum concentrate, the copper-molybdenum concentrate comprising water, copper, and molybdenum to form a flotation composition; and
subjecting the flotation composition to flotation to recover the molybdenum.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein:
a weight ratio of the thiocarbonate compound to sodium metabisulfite in the molybdenum collector composition is in a range from about 1:10 to about 10:1; and
the thiocarbonate compound comprises a trithiocarbonate compound.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein:
a weight ratio of the thiocarbonate compound to sodium metabisulfite in the molybdenum collector composition is in a range from about 1:2 to about 6:1; and
the thiocarbonate compound comprises disodium carboxymethyltrithiocarbonate.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the percent recovery of molybdenum from the copper-molybdenum concentrate is at least about 92 wt. %.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the copper-molybdenum concentrate comprises, on a dry basis:
from about 5 to about 50 wt. % copper; and
from about 0.1 to about 5 wt. % molybdenum.

6. The process of claim 5 , wherein:
the percent recovery of molybdenum from the copper-molybdenum concentrate is at least about 90 wt. %; and
the percent recovery of copper from the copper-molybdenum concentrate is less than about 10 wt. %.

7. The process of claim 6 , wherein the copper-molybdenum concentrate further comprises iron.

8. The process of claim 7 , wherein:
the copper-molybdenum concentrate comprises from about 20 to about 40 wt. % iron, on a dry basis; and
the percent recovery of iron from the copper-molybdenum concentrate is less than about 8 wt. %.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein:
the collector composition further comprises an additional collector agent; and
the copper-molybdenum concentrate further comprises a frothing agent.

10. The process of claim 1 , wherein the molybdenum collector composition and the copper-molybdenum concentrate are contacted at a weight ratio from about 1 to about 25 lb of the molybdenum collector composition per ton of the copper-molybdenum concentrate, on a dry basis.

11. The process of claim 1 , wherein the molybdenum collector composition and the copper-molybdenum concentrate are contacted at a pH in a range from about 7 to about 10.

12. The process of claim 1 , wherein process is characterized by a percent recovery of molybdenum from the copper-molybdenum concentrate that is greater than that of a percent recovery using a molybdenum collector composition without sodium metabisulfite, under the same flotation conditions.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein:
the percent recovery of molybdenum from the copper-molybdenum concentrate is at least about 90 wt. %; and
the process is characterized by a percent recovery of copper from the copper-molybdenum concentrate that is less than or within about 5 wt. % of a percent recovery of a molybdenum collector composition without sodium metabisulfite, under the same flotation conditions.

14. The process of claim 1 , wherein the process is characterized by:
a percent recovery of molybdenum from the copper-molybdenum concentrate that is greater than or within about 2 wt. % of a percent recovery using NaSH instead of the molybdenum collector composition, under the same flotation conditions; and
a percent recovery of copper from the copper-molybdenum concentrate that is less than or within about 2 wt. % of a percent recovery using NaSH instead of the molybdenum collector composition, under the same flotation conditions.

15. The process of claim 14 , wherein:
the percent recovery of molybdenum from the copper-molybdenum concentrate is at least about 91 wt. %; and
the percent recovery of copper from the copper-molybdenum concentrate is less than about 8 wt. %.

16. A molybdenum collector composition comprising sodium metabisulfite and a thiocarbonate compound at a weight ratio of the thiocarbonate compound to sodium metabisulfite in a range from about 1:10 to about 10:1 and the thiocarbonate is a trithiocarbonate.

17. The collector composition of claim 16 , wherein:
the weight ratio of the thiocarbonate compound to sodium metabisulfite is in a range from about 1:5 to about 5:1.

18. The collector composition of claim 16 , wherein:
the weight ratio of the thiocarbonate compound to sodium metabisulfite is in a range from about 1:2 to about 6:1; and
the thiocarbonate compound comprises disodium carboxymethyltrithiocarbonate.

19. A flotation composition comprising:
the molybdenum collector composition of claim 16 ; and
a copper-molybdenum concentrate comprising:
water;
from about 10 to about 35 wt. % copper on a dry basis; and
from about 0.3 to about 3 wt. % molybdenum on a dry basis.

20. The flotation composition of claim 19 , wherein;
a weight ratio of the molybdenum collector composition to the copper-molybdenum concentrate in the flotation composition is in a range from about 0.5 to about 10 lb of the molybdenum collector composition per ton of the copper-molybdenum concentrate, on a dry basis; and
the flotation composition has a pH in a range from about 8 to about 10.

Assignees

• Chevron Phillips Chemical Co Lp

Inventors

• Ramos Benigno

Classifications

• B03D2201/06

  Depressants · CPC title

• B03D1/012 Primary

  containing sulfur · CPC title

• B03D2203/02

  Ores · CPC title

• B03D1/002

  Inorganic compounds · CPC title

• B03D1/018

  Mixtures of inorganic and organic compounds · CPC title