MME 351

Principles of Ore Dressing and

Extractive Metallurgy
Lecture 2
21.10.09

Problems and solutions

Problem 1

Chemical analysis has indicated that an ore contains,

percent: 5.65 Cu; 20 Fe; 6.2 Zn; 25.9 S; 23.3 SiO2; 10.2
Al2O3; 4.0 CaO; 1.0 BaO; 3.1 CO2; 0.7 H2O.

Mineralogical investigations have shown the presence in

the ore of chalcopyrite CuFeS2, pyrite FeS2 and
sphalerite ZnS.

Determine the mineralogical composition of the ore.

Solution 1

Basis of 100 grams of ore

Minerals that have been identified by mineralogists
are composed of copper, iron, zinc and sulphur.

Contents of these elements by the quantities of

gram-atoms in 100 grams of ore are:

5.65/63.54 = 0.0889 Cu
20/55.84= 0.358 Fe
6.2/65.38= 0.095 Zn
26/32.07 = 0.811 S
 Solution 1
1 g-atom of copper gives 1 mole of CuFeS2,
therefore, the amount of chalcopyrite in the ore
is 0.0889 mole, the chalcopyrite also carrying
0.0889 g-atom Fe, and 2 x 0.0889 = 0.1778 g-
atom S.
The content of iron in pyrite is 0.358 – 0.089 =
0.269 g-atom, and that of pyrite in the ore, 0.269
mole, inclusive of 2 x 0.269 = 0.538 g-atom S.
The quantity of sulphur in sphalerite is then 0.811 -
0.538 – 0.1778 = 0.095 g-atom, and the amount
of sphalerite, 0.095 mole.
 Solution 1

For a re-conversion to percent by mass, the mole

contents of minerals should be multiplied by the
corresponding molecular masses.

We thus obtain,

CuFeS2 .0.0889 x 183.4 = 16.3 percent

FeS2 0.269 x 120 = 32.3 percent
ZnS 0.095x 97.4 = 9.2 percent
Solution 1
 There are no other data for expressing the mineralogical
composition of , and so the composition of the ore in
terms of component minerals is, percent

CuFeS2 16.3 CaO 4.0

FeS2 32.3 BaO 1.0
ZnS 9.2 CO2 3.1
SiO2 23.3 H2O 0.7
Al2O3 10.2 Total 100.1*
Problem 2

Chemical Composition of Ore

A copper ore carries 30 percent chalcopyrite

(CuFeS2), 20 pyrite (FeS2) and 50 SiO2. What
percent of copper, Iron and sulphur does it
contain?
Solution 2

Analysis of the ore:

CuFeS2 = 30 percent
FeS2 = 20 percent
SiO2 = 50 percent
Basis: 100kgms ore.
30 kg CuFeS2
20 kg FeS2
50 kg SiO2
Solution 2

Total weight of copper in the ore:

= (63.5/[63.5+56+64])× 30 kg

= 63.5/183.5 = 10.38 kg.

Percent copper = 10.38
Solution 2

Total weight of Iron in the ore:

= Iron in CuFeS2 + Iron in FeS2
=(56/183.5) (30) + (56/[56+64])(20) kg
= 9.155 + 9.333 kg
= 18.488 kg.
Percent Iron = 18.49.
Solution 2

Total weight of Sulphur in the ore

= Sulphur in CuFeS2 + Sulphur in FeS2

= (64/183.5)(30) + (64/120)(20) kg.
= 104.63 + 106.67 = 21.130 kg.

Percent Sulphur = 21.13

Problem 3

Chemical Composition of Ore

Determine the percentage of gangue in a cuprite
(Cu2O) ore containing 10.38 percent copper.
Solution 3

Percentage of copper in cuprite ore = 10.38

percent.

Percentage of Cu2O in the ore =

10.38 ×[(127+16)/127] = 11.69 percent

Percentage of gangue in the ore = 88.31 percent