Flotation of Nonmetallic Minerals

The examples in the preceding section, of the flotation of lead and copper ores by xanthates, was one in which chemical forces predominated in the adsorption of the collector. Flotation processes have been applied to a number of other minerals that are either ionic in type, such as potassium chloride, or are insoluble oxides such as quartz and iron oxide, or ink pigments [needed to be removed in waste paper processing [92]]. In the case of quartz, surfactants such as alkyl amines are used, and the situation is complicated by micelle formation (see next section), which can also occur in the adsorbed layer [93, 94]. 

The adsorption appears to be into the Stem layer, as was illustrated in Fig. V-3. That is, the adsorption itself reduces the f potential of such minerals in fact, at higher surface coverages of surfactant, the potential can be reversed, indicating that chemical forces are at least comparable to electrostatic ones. The rather sudden drop in potential beyond a certain concentration suggested to 

Fuerstenau and Healy [100] and to Gaudin and Fuerstenau [101] that some type of near phase transition can occur in the adsorbed film of surfactant. They proposed, in fact, that surface micelle formation set in, reminiscent of Langmuir s explanation of intermediate type film on liquid substrates (Section IV-6). 

In addition to the collector, polyvalent ions may show sufficiently strong adsorption on oxide, sulfide, and other minerals to act as potential-determining ions (see Ref. 98). Judicious addition of various salts, then, as well as pH control, can permit a considerable amount of selectivity. 

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Anionic collectors, used mainly for the flotation of nonmetallic minerals (so-called industrial minerals), consist basically of - fatty acids and their salts. Special separation problems are solved by the careful selection of the chainlength of the alkyl groups and their degree of saturation. Recovery is decreased with an improvement in selectivity according to the following molecular changes - stearic acid, -+palmitic acid, - palmitoleic acid, - oleic acid, - linoleic acid, - linolenic acid. 

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