A copper mine is a copper ore dressing plant that processes the raw copper ore in a series of processes, ultimately producing copper concentrate. When processing copper ore, it is necessary to build a copper ore production line and use various equipment. So, what equipment does a copper mine require? Here is a brief introduction.
The beneficiation and processing of copper ore requires four stages: crushing, grinding, sorting, and dehydration to obtain the ultimate product copper concentrate. Although it may seem simple, there are still many types of equipment used in each stage, including:
1. Crushing and screening equipment
The crushing stage usually starts with a crusher for multi-stage crushing, crushing minerals to 7-8 inches, and then completing it in conjunction with a screening machine. The crushing stage can also be divided into coarse crushing, medium crushing, and fine crushing stages. The commonly used equipment for coarse crushing is a jaw crusher, while the cone crusher is used for medium crushing and fine crushing. The commonly used equipment for the screening stage is a circular vibrating screen or a linear vibrating screen.
2. Grinding and grading equipment
The grinding and grading stage involves feeding screened qualified materials into a wet ball mill for grinding, grinding them to a certain particle size, and then grading them through screening equipment. During the grinding process, the commonly used equipment for coarse grinding and primary grinding is a grid type ball mill, while for fine grinding and secondary grinding, overflow type ball mills are commonly used; The commonly used equipment in the grading stage is a spiral classifier and a hydrocyclone.
3. Flotation sorting equipment
For the separation process of copper ore, flotation process is generally adopted, and the frequency of rough selection, selection, and sweeping is determined based on the properties of the ore. Commonly used flotation equipment includes XCF-KYF or SF-JJF combined units. Before entering the flotation machine, it is necessary to thoroughly stir the ore, medicine, and gas. At this time, stirring equipment is also needed, and the commonly used stirring equipment is an efficient stirring drum.
4. Concentration and dehydration equipment
During the concentration stage, high-efficiency thickeners or deep cone thickeners are usually used for concentration. Copper concentrate dewatering equipment usually uses a cyclone+filter press or thickener to concentrate and dehydrate the copper concentrate to a moisture content below 25%, and then send it to the smelting plant to obtain copper metal.
Commonly used copper ore concentration and dehydration equipment includes thickeners, hydrocyclones, filter presses, filters, etc.
1. Mineral processing equipment for disseminated copper ore
When dealing with disseminated copper ore, a process flow of one stage crushing (mineral crushing to 7-8 inches) and one stage grinding (grinding fineness of -200 mesh accounting for 50-70%) is often used, with one rough selection, 2-3 selections, and 1-2 sweeps. When the particle size of disseminated copper ore is fine, a staged grinding flotation process can be adopted.
The commonly used equipment for beneficiation of disseminated copper ore includes lattice ball mills, spiral classifiers, XCF flotation machines, KYF flotation machines, thickeners, etc.
2. Copper ore beneficiation equipment
When processing bornite, the commonly used process is coarse concentrate regrinding - a grinding process in the beneficiation stage, where a stage of coarse grinding, coarse selection, and sweeping is carried out first, followed by regrinding of the reduced coarse concentrate and beneficiation to obtain high-quality copper and sulfur concentrates. The main beneficiation equipment includes wet overflow ball mills, hydrocyclones, SF flotation machines, JJF flotation machines, BF flotation machines, high-efficiency stirring tanks, etc.
3. Dense copper ore beneficiation equipment
Dense copper ore is generally composed of dense coexistence of chalcopyrite and pyrite, where pyrite is often activated by secondary copper minerals, resulting in a high content of pyrite. To obtain both copper and sulfur concentrates simultaneously, a two-stage grinding (or stage grinding)+flotation process can be used.
Precautions for selecting flotation equipment for copper mines: Generally, for rough and sweeping processes, flotation machines of the same specification are usually used, and equipment with smaller specifications than rough selection is often used for selection operations.
In addition to the above equipment, copper mines also require some auxiliary equipment to connect various stages, such as feeders, belt conveyors, slurry pumps, valves, etc. In actual production, it is necessary to conduct beneficiation tests on representative ore samples, determine beneficiation processes, and then select beneficiation equipment in order to better apply these equipment and achieve twice the result with half the effort. It is not advisable to blindly apply and buy equipment according to others' lists.
