Behavior of talc and mica in copper ore flotation

Talc and mica are major gangue minerals in many base metal ores including sulfide ores. Talc is a naturally hydrophobic mineral, and therefore it is easily floatable. There have been many studies to overcome this problem, and depress talc with various reagents. In this study the flotation of a copper ore in the presence of talc and muscovite was studied. It was found that talc can affect copper flotation mainly via froth phase. The copper grade and recovery were affected in the presence of only 7% talc. On the other hand, muscovite influenced the pulp phase via affecting the pulp rheology. The copper flotation grade was reduced in the presence of high amount (30%) of muscovite due to the entrainment, but its effect on the copper recovery was negligible.