Adsorption mechanism of trimethyl-pyridin and kerosene on chalcopyrite and molybdenite in Cu-Mo bulk flotation

To efficiently enrich fine copper-molybdenum ore, a pioneering method was employed by utilizing MCO (trimethyl-pyridin) and kerosene as high-efficiency composite collectors in the flotation process. Micro-flotation and actual ore flotation tests demonstrated that the composite collector manifested superior collection capacity and selectivity compared to using a single collector. Furthermore, the inclusion of kerosene reduced collector consumption, thereby lowering overall reagent costs. TOC test results indicated that the composite collector possesses a high adsorption quantity on the mineral surface. Additionally, contact angle measurements demonstrated that the composite collector significantly enhanced the surface hydrophobicity of chalcopyrite and molybdenite. FT-IR, XPS, and ToF-SIMS analyses were conducted to investigate the adsorption mechanism. The results illustrated that MCO adsorbed to mineral surfaces by forming complexes with Cu atoms in chalcopyrite and Mo atoms in molybdenite, respectively. The primary interaction between kerosene and copper-molybdenum ore involved hydrophobic attraction with kerosene physically adhering to the mineral surface to form hydrophobic aggregates. Hence, this study presented an effective procedural approach for the flotation of fine copper-molybdenum ore.