Research on the material composition of Ta-Phoi copper tailings and accompanying gold recovery orientation

Abstract

Everyyear,theTa-Phoicopperprocessingplantdisposesofabout970,000tonsoftailingswithanAugradecontentofapproximately0.1g/t.Intheoperatingtechnology,therehasnotyetbeenconsiderationforrecoveringusefulcomponentssuchasgold.Theamountofgoldlostannuallyintailingproductsisabout116.4kgAu.Asof2023,theamountofsludgeis3,531,682tons(equivalentto353.2kgAu).Theamountoftailingsaftertheprocessingissignificantlylarge,andtheAugradecontentinthetailingsisstillrelativelyhigh.Theamountoftailingsiscurrentlystoredatthetailingpond,ifnottreated,itwillwasteresourcesandcausearisktoenvironmentalpollution.ThearticlepresentstheresultsofresearchonthechemicalcompositionandcharacteristicsoftailingscontainingAuusingsieveanalysis,X-raydiffraction(XRD)analysis,inductivelycoupledplasmamassspectrometry/atomicemissionspectrometry(ICP-MS/AES)analysisandscanningelectronmicroscopywithenergydispersiveX-rayspectroscopy(SEM-EDS).TheresearchresultsprovideatechnologicaldirectionforAurecoveryusinggravityseparationmethods(spiral,shakingtable,andjig),centrifugalgravityseparation(Knelson,Falcon),andflotationmethod.ToincreasetheprocessedAucontent,theproductsshouldbethoroughlytreatedthroughtheleachingmethodusingsuitablechemicallixiviantstomeetthesafetyandenvironmentalprotectionrequirements,followingregulationsinVietnam.Thisisthefirsttimethattherearecomprehensivestudiesonthematerialcompositionofcoppertailingsforthepurposeofrecoveringthetailingsbearinggold.Thestudyopensupprospectsfortherecoveryofusefulmineralsinthetailingsofcopperbeneficiationplants,inparticularandthetailingsofthemineralprocessingplantsingenera