3. Extractive metallurgy

3.1 Mineral beneficiation

After extraction, ore from primary molybdenum mines is crushed and ground to release the molybdenite, and beneficiated by flotation. The crushing and flotation operations are repeated several times to achieve a recovery rate of around 85%. The concentrate obtained has the following chemical composition:

70 to 80% Mo, 0.25 to 2.5% Cu, 0.1 to 0.9% Pb, 0 to 3.0% Fe, 0.5 to 1.5% insoluble acids (SiO ₂ , Al ₂ O ₃ ).

Molybdenite is isolated from copper concentrates by a series of flotation operations that selectively separate molybdenite from the various copper sulfides [chalcopyrite...