o:5967 Recovery of sulfur, copper, and gold by reprocessing old flotation tailings at Bor, Serbia en Abstract: Pyritic mining and processing tailings often contain significant amounts of valuable metals, representing valuable sources of secondary raw materials. This is especially the case in earlystage mine cycle operations, in which the head grades were higher than nowadays, and the tailings still contain a considerable number of valuable metals due to inadequate separation processes compared to present technologies. Serbia has copper deposits that have been exploited since ancient times, and these operations have generated substantial amounts of mineral processing tailings. They have since been causing acid and metalliferous drainage, which is a substantial risk to the environment. The main objective of this study is to show how harmful and valuable elements such as sulfur, copper, and gold can be recovered from chemically and mineralogically challenging tailings. Flotation experiments were performed to evaluate the effects of particle size, various collectors, pH, and pulp potential on copper and sulfur recovery, and how copper-pyrite selective flotation can be applied. This evaluation included detailed chemical and mineralogical characterization of the tailings on laboratory scale. During the experimental study, copper and gold were recovered effectively into pyrite concentrate. Based on the simulation results with the flowsheet that was developed, a pyrite concentrate containing 48.7% S can be produced at 87% recovery. Moreover, the pyrite concentrate contains 1.59% Cu and nine ppm Au with a recovery of 80% and 49%, respectively. Although the pyrite concentrate produced does not meet with the flash smelter specifications for copper grade, the concentrate can be utilized in flash smelting as a source of energy and precious metals. Moreover, the SO2 generated can be used in sulfuric acid production, thus reducing the environmental impact caused by acid mine drainage. Keywords: copper, gold, mineralogy, tailings, flotation, value recovery, modeling. 91552100 138368777 1552101 2578-0255 2024-11-02T19:48:22.775Z 44 no 46 Erdem Özdemir Metso Outotec Research Center, Pori, Finland 110717193 2023 63 ostalo Vesna Marjanović Institut za rudarstvo i metalurgiju Bor 77047049 0000-0001-8005-5244 2023 application/pdf 1200127 https://unilib.phaidrabg.rs/o:5967 no yes 1 70 549 92000003 71A03 Aspects in mining & mineral science 2023