Guo, C.; Hou, S.; Wang, W.; Li, Q. Effect of an Environment-Friendly Depressant on the Flotation of Bastnaesite and Fluorite. Minerals2024, 14, 165.
Guo, C.; Hou, S.; Wang, W.; Li, Q. Effect of an Environment-Friendly Depressant on the Flotation of Bastnaesite and Fluorite. Minerals 2024, 14, 165.
Guo, C.; Hou, S.; Wang, W.; Li, Q. Effect of an Environment-Friendly Depressant on the Flotation of Bastnaesite and Fluorite. Minerals2024, 14, 165.
Guo, C.; Hou, S.; Wang, W.; Li, Q. Effect of an Environment-Friendly Depressant on the Flotation of Bastnaesite and Fluorite. Minerals 2024, 14, 165.
Abstract
To overcome the difficulty of separating bastnaesite from fluorite through the flota-tion technique, the present study examined the suitability of sodium alginate (SA) as a depressant in the flotation process. The effect of SA on the flotation separation of bastnaesite and fluorite was evaluated using micro-flotation tests, zeta potential meas-urements, adsorption density measurements, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The micro-flotation results showed that SA exerted a strongly detrimental effect on fluorite flotation, while slightly affecting bastnaesite flotation. The surface chemistry results revealed that the -COO- and HO- functional groups in SA coordinated with Ca2+ on the fluorite surface, which induced hydro-philicity and hindered the adsorption in the subsequent collector. However, the inter-action of SA with the bastnaesite surface was marginal and did not affect the anchor-ing of the collector on the surface of bastnaesite. Based on these results, the present study proposes a possible model for the interaction of SA on the surfaces of the two minerals, laying a foundation for the flotation separation of bastnaesite from fluorite with SA as an environmentally benign depressant.
Keywords
Bastnaesite; Fluorite; Sodium alginate; Flotation
Subject
Engineering, Mining and Mineral Processing
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
