Enrichment of metal sulfide ores by oxidant assisted froth flotation

1. A process for treating a metal sulfide ore to separate a desired mineral from a sulfide-containing gangue, comprising:

a) forming a pulp by suspending the ore in water and milling said ore; and

b) enriching the pulp in said desired mineral by froth flotation, wherein hydrogen peroxide is added to said pulp immediately prior to, or during, bubbling of oxygen or air into said pulp;

wherein an amount of hydrogen peroxide to be added in said process is determined by performing assays using varying amounts of hydrogen peroxide added to the pulp, measuring the dissolved oxygen content after hydrogen peroxide addition and plotting the resulting dissolved oxygen content against the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein said process comprises at least one of the following characteristics:

a) said hydrogen peroxide is added continuously during froth flotation without prior conditioning of the pulp with said hydrogen peroxide;

b) no frother, collector, additional depressant or pH modifier is added after addition of oxidant.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution comprising 0.5-20% by weight hydrogen peroxide is added to said pulp.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution comprising 0.5-5% by weight hydrogen peroxide is added to said pulp.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein an aqueous hydrogen peroxide solution comprising 0.5-1% by weight hydrogen peroxide is added to said pulp.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein said process comprises at least one of the following characteristics:

a) said hydrogen peroxide is added without adjustment of pH;

b) said desired mineral is enriched in froth formed by the froth flotation;

c) said desired mineral is a copper sulfide.

7. The process of claim 1 , wherein said desired mineral is a copper sulfide and said sulfide-containing gangue is iron sulfide.

8. The process of claim 1 , wherein said desired mineral is a copper sulfide and undesirable minerals are reduced in said concentrate pulp as a result of the froth flotation procedure.

9. The process of claim 1 , wherein the amount of hydrogen peroxide added is 0.01-0.5 kg/t of ore.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein the amount of hydrogen peroxide added is 0.03-0.3 kg/t of ore.

11. The process of claim 9 , wherein said desired mineral is a copper sulfide.

12. The process of claim 11 , wherein said sulfide-containing gangue is iron sulfide.

13. The process of claim 1 , wherein an optimum amount of hydrogen peroxide to be added in said process is determined by plotting the dissolved oxygen content against the natural logarithm of the amount of hydrogen peroxide added.

14. The process of claim 13 , wherein the optimum amount of hydrogen peroxide is 0.5 to 10 times the amount of hydrogen peroxide added at the inflection point of the plot.

15. The process of claim 1 , wherein said hydrogen peroxide is added without adjustment of pH.