Review of tungsten resource reserves,tungsten concentrate production and tungsten beneficiation technology in China

Tungsten is a strategic metal that is widely used in various fields such as electron communication,aeronautics and astronautics,materials and chemical engineering,due to its special properties.China has the largest reserves of tungsten resources and the largest output of tungsten concentrate in the world,and plays a decisive role in the world tungsten market.In this work,firstly,the reserves and distribution characteristics of tungsten resources in China were summarized,and the production situation of tungsten concentrate in China was reviewed.Based on the gross domestic product per capita(GDP/capita),five different annual GDP growth rates were used to estimate China’s tungsten concentrate production in the future.The estimation results suggested that if China’s economy continues to grow at the current rate,the accumulative production of tungsten concentrate will exceed current reserves by approximately 2032.Then,from the aspects of process flow,beneficiation equipment and flotation reagents,the beneficiation technology development of different types of tungsten ore in China was also reviewed,including wolframite,scheelite and tungsten-bearing slime.Finally,taking several representative tungsten mines in China as examples,the classic beneficiation technology of different types of tungsten ores was elucidated in detail.Meanwhile,the development direction of tungsten beneficiation technology in the future was put forward,which was of great significance to maintain the superiority of tungsten resources in China.

Selective flotation of smithsonite from dolomite by using novel mixed collector system

A novel mixed collector (BHOA) was prepared by mixing benzohydroxamic acid (BHA) and sodium oleate (NaOL) and applied to the flotation separation of smithsonite from dolomite. Flotation results showed that NaOL alone had good collecting performance on smithsonite and common gangue mineral dolomite but had poor selectivity. By using a BHA/NaOL mixed system with a molar ratio of 2:1, the recoveries of smithsonite and dolomite reached approximately 90% and 5%, respectively. Surface tension analysis showed that the surface activity of BHOA was a little higher than that of a single NaOL because of synergistic effects. Zeta potential and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements indicated that surfactants BHA and NaOL co-absorbed on the smithsonite surface and only NaOL was present on the dolomite surface in the presence of BHOA.