The effect of well water, seawater and treated water on Cu-Mo flotation of Sarcheshmeh copper complex

Following the reduction of fresh water resources and the growing need of society for these resources, the reduction of fresh water consumption in industries, especially the copper industry, is considered. In addition to water recycling, the use of seawater and treated water can be considered as alternatives. Since the highest water consumption of copper and molybdenum sulfide minerals processing is in the flotation unit, the purpose of this study is to investigate the changes of water quality on the efficiency of rougher flotation unit. The results showed that in similar operating conditions, the use of seawater reduces the recovery of copper sulfide minerals from 89.2% to 68.8%. However, the recovery of flotation when using treated water was 80.89% which is close to recovery when using well water (89.20%). Molybdenum recovery in both cases was approx. 100%, compared to 59 percent for seawater. Therefore, the use of treated water can be a good alternative to well water (current conditions).