Many copper sulphide mines around the world have significant
copper oxide ore reserves associated with the larger primary copper
sulphide deposit. The traditional techniques for processing
oxide ores, either by leaching – SX/EW or flotation have caused
many problems for these operations. Leaching – SX/EW requires
capital expenditure to construct a dedicated plant to process oxide
ore. Until recently, flotation of copper oxides would normally have
been conducted in distinct campaigns to produce a copper concentrate
which may not be saleable under existing contracts. With the
introduction of n-octyl hydroxamate as a complementary collector
to traditional sulphide collectors, flotation plants can now process
blends of sulphide and oxide minerals to produce saleable
concentrates.
Generally copper oxide minerals do not respond well to traditional
sulphide copper collectors and require alternative flotation