Evaluation of graphite depressants in a poly-metallic sulfide flotation circuit

Synthetic dyes are commonly used for graphite depression in poly-metallic flotation circuits; however,these dyes can be very expensive. The aim of this study is to evaluate performance of certain low-cost alternative depressants for a complex lead-zinc(Pb-Zn) ore rich in graphite(Gr-C) on a conventional mini pilot-scale flotation circuit. The reagents used were commercial and industrial grade starch; agro-based waste-sugarcane bagasse and charred(burnt) bagasse powder. The primary evaluation criteria were quality(grades) of lead and zinc concentrates, their recoveries(%), and graphite rejection(%) in the tails.Benchmark tests using nigrosine as graphite depressant showed 94.3% rejection of Gr-C. The results with commercial starch were found as effective with 93.8% graphite rejection. Furthermore, bagasse powder showed potential in improving product quality(36.4% and 65.6% Pb grade and recovery) with an intermediate effectiveness in graphite rejection(85.6%). The order of effectiveness in Gr-C rejection follows nigrosine % commercial starch > bagasse > industrial starch > charred bagasse. In addition, the effect these depressants on silver(byproduct) grade and recovery was also investigated.

Flotation of copper oxide minerals:A review

Copper oxide minerals are important copper resources,which include malachite,azurite,chrysocolla,cuprite,etc.Flotation is the most widely used method for the enrichment of copper oxide minerals in the mineral processing industry.In this paper,the surface properties of copper oxide minerals and their effects on the mineral flotation behavior are systematically summarized.The flotation methods of copper oxide minerals and the interaction mechanism with reagents are reviewed in detail.Flotation methods include direct flotation(using chelating reagents or a fatty acid as collector),sulfidization flotation(using xanthate as collector),and activation flotation(using chelating reagents,ammonium/amine salts,metal ions,and oxidant for activation).An effective way to realize efficient flotation of copper oxide minerals is to increase active sites on the surface of copper oxide minerals to enhance the interaction of collector with the mineral surface.Besides,various perspectives for further investigation on the efficient recovery of copper oxide minerals are proposed.

Adsorption behavior and mechanism of copper ions in the sulfidization flotation of malachite

Malachite is one of the main minerals used for the industrial enrichment and recovery of copper oxide resources, and copper ions are unavoidable metal ions in the flotation pulp. The microflotation, contact angle, and adsorption experiments indicated that pretreatment with an appropriate concentration of copper ions could improve the malachite recovery, and the addition of excess copper ions reduced the hydrophobicity of the malachite surface. The results of zeta potential tests indicated that sodium sulfide and butyl xanthate were also adsorbed on the surface of malachite pretreated with copper ions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) results indicated that —Cu—O and —Cu—OH bonds were formed on the surface of the samples. After pretreatment with an appropriate concentration of copper ions, the number of —OH groups on the mineral surface decreased, whereas the number of Cu—S groups on the mineral surface increased, which was conducive to the sulfidization of malachite. After adding a high concentration of copper ions, the —OH groups on the mineral surface increased, whereas the number of Cu—S groups decreased, which had an adverse effect on the sulfidization flotation of malachite. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry showed that pretreatment with copper ions resulted in a thicker sulfidization layer on the mineral surface.

Electrochemical and spectroscopic study of interfacial interactions between chalcopyrite and typical flotation process reagents

Comparative voltammetry and differential double-layer capacitance studies were performed to evaluate interfacial interactions between cnalcopyrite（CuFeS2） and n-isopropyl xanthate（X） in the presence of ammonium bisulfite/39wt%SO2 and caustic starch at different pH values.Raman spectroscopy,Fourier transform infrared（FTIR） spectroscopy,contact angle measurements,and microflotation tests were used to establish the type and extent of xanthate adsorption as well as the species involved under different mineral surface conditions in this study.The results demonstrate that the species that favor a greater hydrophobicity of chalcopyrite are primarily CuX and S^0,whereas oxides and hydroxides of Cu and Fe as well as an excess of starch decrease the hydrophobicity.A conditioning of the mineral surface with ammonium bisulfite/39wt%SO2 at pH 6 promotes the activation of surface and enhances the xanthate adsorption.However,this effect is diminished at pH ≥ 8,when an excess of starch is added during the preconditioning step.

Adsorption characteristics of Pb(Ⅱ)ions on sulfidized hemimorphite surface under ammonium sulfate system

In this work,the effect of ammonium sulfate on the adsorption characteristics of low-concentration Pb(Ⅱ)ions on the sulfidized hemimorphite surface was comprehensively investigated.The results showed that ammonium sulfate could increase the maximum recovery of hemimorphite from 69.42%to 88.24%under a low concentration of Pb(Ⅱ)ions.On the hemimorphite surface pretreated with ammonium sulfate,the adsorption of Pb(Ⅱ)ions was enhanced and the main species of Pb adsorbed was changed from Pb―O/OH to PbS.This was due to the larger amount of ZnS providing more effective adsorption sites for Pb components to generate Pb S.Meanwhile,the intensity of ZnS decreased with the formation of PbS,demonstrating that ZnS was covered by PbS which formed later on the mineral surface.It was beneficial for the adsorption of butyl xanthate on the hemimorphite surface to form more hydrophobic substances.As a result,ammonium sulfate played a crucial role in realizing the efficient recovery of hemimorphite.

A novel method for comprehensive utilization of sintering dust

A novel process aimed at the comprehensive utilization of sintering dust was developed by combining wetting grinding with sulfidization flotation. The mineralogical characteristics of the sintering dust and products were studied by powder wettability analysis, X-ray diffraction（XRD）, scanning electron microscopy（SEM） and mineral liberation analyzer（MLA）. It was found that the primary lead species was laurionite and most of the particles were overwrapped with KCl. Wetting grinding was shown to accelerate the dispersion of sintering dust and transform the KCl overlay to a leachate with 20.78 g/L of K＋. A lead and silver concentrate consisting of 40.82% of Pb and 0.96 kg/t of Ag was achieved, while an iron concentrate with 60.89% of Fe was gained as tailings among sulfidization flotation. The recoveries of Pb, Ag and Fe were 89.57%, 87.85% and 88.58%, respectively. The results indicate that this method is a feasible and promising process for the comprehensive utilization of sintering dust.

Oxygen adsorption on pyrite (100) surface by density functional theory

Pyrite （FeS2） bulk and （100） surface properties and the oxygen adsorption on the surface were studied by using density functional theory methods. The results show that in the formation of FeS2 （100） surface, there exists a process of electron transfer from Fe dangling bond to S dangling bond. In this situation, surface Fe and S atoms have more ionic properties. Both Fe2+ and S2- have high electrochemistry reduction activity, which is the base for oxygen adsorption. From the viewpoint of adsorption energy, the parallel form oxygen adsorption is in preference. The result also shows that the state of oxygen absorbed on FeS2 surface acts as peroxides rather than O2.