Cassiterite beneficiation

The chemistry of cassiterite flotation has been a subject of considerable research for many years. The findings that sulphosuccinamates, phosphonic acid and arsonic acid were selective collectors for cassiterite flotation lead to the introduction of flotation as a complementary recovery process to gravity concentration at most primary tin mill concentrators in the early 1970s. In spite of continued research, subsequent progress in development has been rather limited. Cassiterite flotation still remains a secondary tin recovery process in most plants, for beneficiation of cassiterite below 40 pm size. 

A list of reagents used for beneficiation of cassiterite ores is shown in Table 21.3. 

List of depressants used for beneficiation of various cassiterite ores... 

Arbiter, N., Beneficiation of Cassiterite Ore by Froth Flotation, British Patent 1,110,643, 1968. 

Topfer, G., Gruner, U., and Menzer, D., The behaviour of gangue minerals in the flotation of cassiterite, Symposium for Tin Beneficiation, Pudi, Praha, pp. 277-280, 1971. 

Mineral Beneficiation Electrostatic methods are widely used in the processing of ores with mineral concentrates. Generally, electrostatic separation is used as a part of an overall flow sheet comprising various combinations of physical separation procedures. It is particularly well established in the processing of heavy-mineral beach sands from which are recovered ilmenite, rutile, zircon, monazite, silicates, and quartz. High-grade specular hematite concentrates have been recovered at rates of 1000 tons/h in Labrador. Applications also include processing tin ores to separate cassiterite from columbite and ilmenite. Refer to Fig. 19-61 . 

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