Mineralogical and Technological Assessment of Tin–Sulfide Mining Waste Dressability

Resumo

Mineralogical composition, structural changes and floatability of minerals in the content of the Novosibirsk Tin Works waste are examined. It is shown that casserite is totally unfloatable after long stay in tailings pond, while iron sulfides preserve flotation ability despite the fact that their structure is partly X-ray amorphous. Combining key beneficiation techniques allows production of concentrates with the tin content of 10% and higher, though the tin recovery is no more than 17.2% in this case, which prevents from recommending the combination dressing for application. In the article, the flotation circuit producing tin concentrate at the yield of 5% and recovery of 80%, which meets the requirements of fuming process and electric melting, is proposed and substantiated.