A quantitative description of galvanic interactions between sulphide minerals based on thermody- namicandkineticparameters hasbeendeveloped. Avoltagebalanceoverthegalvaniccoupleprovides the basis for a mathematicaldescriptionof the magnitudeof the galvanicinteraction. The contributions to the voltage balance include the cell emf of the galvanic couple, kinetic descriptions of the anodic and cathodic half-reactions, the voltage characteristics of mineral-mineralcontacts and the voltage losses across the solution. The rates of the anodic and cathodic half-reactions were modelled by the Butler-Volmer equation and the diffusion equation.

The galvanic couples were constructed as rotating ring-disc electrodes so that solution voltage losses were negligible. Two galvanic couples, copper-pyrite and galena-pyrite, were characterised by initially determining the thermodynamic and kinetic parameters associated with the anodic and cathodic half-reactions under different conditions of ferric concentration, electrode rotation rate and temperature. A potentiostat was used to vary the voltages losses across mineral-mineralcontacts. The effect that semiconducting properties of minerals have on the magnitude of the galvanic interaction was described by examining the anodic dissolution of galena under illumination.

The thermodynamic and kinetic parameters were used in the mathematical model to obtain a prediction of the magnitude of the galvanic interaction. The mathematical model is observed to be in good agreement with the experimentally measured galvanic currents.