The valuable metals distribution in grinded low-sulfide platinum-metal ores from the Kola Peninsula
Platinum-metal mineralization of the Kola Peninsula intrusions is universally associated with sulfide copper-nickel mineralization, and platinum mineral grains and their aggregates are often found in the edge or internal parts of sulfides. The article presents the results of the liberation of the main sulfide minerals of low-sulfide platinum-metal ores studying on the material of two samples taken from the Monchegorsk pluton and the Pansky intrusion, and its effect on the processing indexes. For pentlandite, the most common are the poor aggregates with pyrrhotine, as well as three-phase aggregates composed of non-metallic mineral with pyrrhotine and pentlandite phases. For chalcopyrite, on the contraiy, poor aggregates with nonmetallic minerals are typical. It is shown that the main minerals of non-ferrous metals - pentlandite and chalcopyrite -are liberated from aggregates with rock minerals only in a material smaller than 25 pm. Between the number of aggregates of non-ferrous metals with rock aggregates in ore and losses in non-ferrous and noble metals with flotation tails, there is a close direct correlation with a correlation coefficient of at least 0.85. The maximum concentration of noble and non-ferrous metals in the Kola Peninsula low-sulfide ores is observed in a material with a particle size of 10 to 25 pm.