Designed Collectors for Selective Flotation of Sulfide Minerals
| Reference number | |
| Coordinator | Luleå tekniska universitet - Luleå tekniska universitet Inst f samhällsbygg & naturresurser |
| Funding from Vinnova | SEK 1 000 000 |
| Project duration | November 2023 - June 2025 |
| Status | Completed |
| Venture | The strategic innovation programme for Swedish mining and metal producing industry - SIP Swedish Mining Innovation |
| Call | Technical and social innovations for sustainable mineral and metal supply |
Important results from the project
The main objective was to improve copper grades in the flotation tailings of the Aitik mine, owned by Boliden AB. Conventional flotation collectors cannot recover the remaining copper minerals in these tailings, making the task highly challenging. By using our specially designed collectors, we managed to recover part of this ‘lost’ copper. While progress has been made, further advancements are necessary, as not all copper present has yet been extracted.
Expected long term effects
In the long term, these results demonstrate that minerals once deemed unrecoverable can be extracted, enabling more efficient resource use low-grade deposits. This may reduce metal losses, extend mine life, and lower environmental impacts by decreasing the need for new extraction. The development of tailored collector chemistry also advances flotation science, supporting sustainable, competitive, and resource-efficient mineral processing strategies.
Approach and implementation
Collectors with two carboxyl groups with different geometric distances between them were synthesized. Flotation tailings from sulfide mines were characterized for mineral identification through mineralogical studies. The adsorption behavior of synthesized collectors on sulfide minerals were studied by flotation, spectroscopy and ζ-potential measurements. This concept was used to extract valuable minerals from tailings, which are otherwise not possible to isolate using traditional collectors.