The majority of copper mines generate a large quantity of tailings after their concentration processing. The flotation tailings are, in general, either piled up or stored in dams, although most copper tailings have a huge potential for by-products production leading to improve sustainability and profitability of operations. This paper describes a study aiming at producing a by-product magnetite pellet feed from IOCG (Iron oxide copper–gold) industrial copper processing tailings, located in northern Brazil. The mineralogy of copper tailings indicates around 14% of magnetite in its head composition, making its concentration of economic interest also allowing a considerable reduction in the amount of tailing disposal. The proposed route of this study is composed of hydrocyclones, low and high fields magnetic separation followed by silicates reverse cationic flotation. The complex mineralogy of IOCG deposits leads to the need for regrinding the rougher magnetite pellet feed to a P₈₀ of 20 µm to achieve the desirable magnetite liberation. A saleable magnetite pellet feed within a high chemical quality (Fe > 64.1 wt%, SiO₂ < 2.5 wt%, and Al₂O₃ < 2.0 wt%) and specific surface area of 2600 cm²/g was obtained. The results have shown a total mass recovery of 9.5% and 63% of magnetite recovery. Moreover, it was generated a non-magnetic rougher tailing with low magnetite and high quartz contents that might be used as a by-product as aggregated material in the construction industry and as soil remineralizer. An investigative flotation optimization is being undertaken and will be further published as a continuation of the present work.

大多数铜矿经过浓缩加工后会产生大量尾矿。通常，浮选尾矿要么堆积起来，要么储存在大坝中，尽管大多数铜尾矿具有巨大的副产品生产潜力，从而提高运营的可持续性和盈利能力。本文介绍了一项旨在从位于巴西北部的 IOCG（氧化铁铜-金）工业铜加工尾矿中生产副产品磁铁矿球团饲料的研究。铜尾矿的矿物学表明其头部成分中约有 14% 的磁铁矿，这使得其经济利益的集中也使得尾矿处置量显着减少。本研究的拟议路线由水力旋流器组成，低场和高场磁选，然后是硅酸盐反阳离子浮选。IOCG 矿床的复杂矿物学导致需要将较粗糙的磁铁矿球团进料重新研磨成 P₈₀ of 20 µm 以实现理想的磁铁矿释放。获得了具有高化学质量（Fe > 64.1 wt%、SiO ₂  < 2.5 wt% 和 Al ₂ O ₃  < 2.0 wt%）和比表面积为2600 cm ² /g的适销磁铁矿球团饲料。结果表明总质量回收率为 9.5%，磁铁矿回收率为 63%。此外，它产生了一种具有低磁铁矿和高石英含量的非磁性粗尾矿，可作为副产品用作建筑行业的聚集材料和土壤再矿化剂。正在进行一项调查浮选优化，并将作为当前工作的继续发表。