Copper sulfide minerals are the major raw materials for copper products. Copper sulfide minerals are mined at copper mines and concentrated by flotation process. In recent years, the mining of refractory copper ores, which is difficult to concentrate by flotation due to their fine grain size, presence of multiple copper mineral species, and fluctuation of the content ratio of these minerals in feed ore. In addition, the hydrophilization of copper mineral surfaces due to oxidation and the mineral content variation of ore result in poor and unpredictable performance of flotation operation. In this study, therefore, we focused on the activation of the copper mineral surfaces using sodium hydrosulfide (NaHS) to render the surfaces hydrophobic and tried to quantify the effect of the fluctuation of mineral content ratio by using a new flotation kinetic model. Two samples showing different content ratios of chalcocite, bornite, and chalcopyrite and having fully oxidized surface were used in the flotation tests. We established a new flotation kinetic model by considering the reaction between the copper mineral surface and NaHS and the depression of floatability by adsorption of hydrogen sulfide ions onto the copper mineral surface. As a result, a good relation was confirmed between the model and the flotation test results for both ore samples. This result showed that our model can accurately predict the flotation results of refractory copper ores and will encourage the further usage of these refractory copper ores in the future.

In decades, various studies on passive treatment methods of acid mine drainage (AMD) have been actively conducted in order to reduce the cost of AMD treatment. Open limestone channel is one of the most common methods and has already been implemented mainly in overseas. On the other hand, it is difficult to secure large channels in Japan due to its topography, we need to consider the use of alkaline materials with higher acid neutralization potential which enables successful treatment with narrower space. In this study, therefore, PAdeCS, a cement-derived environmental remediation agent, was used to remove the harmful metal elements by neutralization treatment. Then, we developed a simulation model assuming a combined system of open limestone channel and alkaline material (PAdeCS) channel and predicted the behavior of harmful metal elements within the combined channel. The simulation results showed that PAdeCS has extremely high acid neutralization potential, that high temperature is advantageous for neutralization treatment of harmful metal elements, and that the channel design needs to be changed depending on the initial drainage composition. Finally, a new flowchart for selecting the appropriate passive treatment method was proposed, which consists of three steps of the preferential removal of Fe, neutralization by limestone, and additional treatments.