Abstract: In order to realize the efficient environmental protection treatment and resource utilization of a copper-containing waste rock，aiming at the problems of low efficiency，insufficient recovery rate and high environmental risk of traditional treatment technology，the treatment performance of intelligent photo‐ electric separator for small-grained phyllite type，large-grained phyllite type，small-grained porphyry type and large-grained porphyry type four types of copper-containing waste rock is studied by industrial test system.The experimental results show that the intelligent photoelectric separator has a significant en‐ richment effect on Cu and associated Au elements. The average enrichment ratios are 1.89 and 1.76，re‐ spectively，and the average metal recovery rates are 57.75% and 53.68%，respectively. The enrichment ef‐ fect on S element is weak，the average enrichment ratio is 1.36，and the metal recovery rate is 41.46%.The separation differences of different particle sizes and types of waste rocks are clarified. The intelligent photo‐ electric separator can efficiently recover Cu and associated Au resources in copper-containing waste rocks. After improvement，the enrichment effect of S elements can be further improved，which provides reliable theoretical support and technical guidance for the resource utilization of copper-containing waste rocks.

Key words: intelligent photoelectric separator, copper-containing waste rock, enrichment effect, metal recovery rate