GATE 2023 MT – Question 59
Copper ore assaying 10 wt.% Cu is fed to a concentration plant at the rate of 100 tons/h. If the grades of concentrate and tailing are 30 wt.% Cu and 1 wt.% Cu, respectively, the percentage recovery of copper in concentrate is ____________ (round off to nearest integer). Given:1 ton = 1000 kg
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Correct answer: 90 to 95
Explanation
Let concentrate flow be $C$ tons/h. Total and copper balances give $0.30C+0.01(100-C)=10$.
Thus $C=9/0.29=31.0345$ tons/h. Copper recovered is $0.30C=9.3103$ tons/h out of 10 fed. Recovery is 93.103%, rounding to **93%**.