Mineral sulfide flotation

Activators enhance the adsorption of collectors, eg, Ca " in the fatty acid flotation of siUcates at high pH or Cu " in the flotation of sphalerite, ZnS, by sulfohydryl collectors. Depressants, on the other hand, have the opposite effect they hinder the flotation of certain minerals, thus improving selectivity. For example, high pH as well as high sulfide ion concentrations can hinder the flotation of sulfide minerals such as galena (PbS) in the presence of xanthates (ROCSS ). Hence, for a given fixed collector concentration there is a fixed critical pH that defines the transition between flotation and no flotation. This is the basis of the Barsky relationship which can be expressed as [X ]j[OH ] = constant, where [A ] is the xanthate ion concentration in the pulp and [Oi/ ] is the hydroxyl ion concentration indicated by the pH. Similar relationships can be written for sulfide ion, cyanide, or thiocyanate, which act as typical depressants in sulfide flotation systems. 

The amount of collector used is necessarily very small because surface coverages of a monomolecular layer or less are required to impart sufficient hydrophobicity to the mineral. The usages typically range from 1—100 g of collector per ton of ore treated for sulfide flotation (typically 0.2—10% value metal content ia the ore) and 100—1000 g/1 for nonsulfide flotation (1—20% value mineral content) (10). 

Sulfide collectors ia geaeral show Htfle affinity for nonsulfide minerals, thus separation of one sulfide from another becomes the main issue. The nonsulfide collectors are in general less selective and this is accentuated by the large similarities in surface properties between the various nonsulfide minerals (42). Some examples of sulfide flotation are copper sulfides flotation from siUceous gangue sequential flotation of sulfides of copper, lead, and zinc from complex and massive sulfide ores and flotation recovery of extremely small (a few ppm) amounts of precious metals. Examples of nonsulfide flotation include separation of sylvite, KCl, from haUte, NaCl, which are two soluble minerals having similar properties selective flocculation—flotation separation of iron oxides from siUca separation of feldspar from siUca, siUcates, and oxides phosphate rock separation from siUca and carbonates and coal flotation. 

Sulfenyl chloride derivatives, 22 106 Sulfenyl chlorides, 23 645 Sulfidation, 23 506-507 Sulfide flotation, 26 649. See also Sulfide mineral flotation Sulfide mineral flotation... 

Mineral sulfides have significantly different densities from those of coal, so they can be removed from it by methods that take advantage of this difference, such as hydrocycloning, dry cycloning, and froth flotation. In hydrocycloning, for example, a slurry of coal and water is introduced into a centrifuge-type tank with a central... 

Richardson, P. E. Edelstein, D. L., "The Physical Chemsitry of Mineral-Reagent-Interactions in Sulfide Flotation," USBM Information Circular 8819, 1978, p. 72. 

As regards cleaning, for example, a roast process can be applied to convert pyrite to a magnetic form, followed by its magnetic separation together with garnet and pyroxene. Another cleaning step in the presence of sulfide minerals would be a sulfide flotation. 

Sulfides as electronic conductors can act as donors of electrons and hence promote electrode reactions on mineral surfaces. Sulfide flotation systems constitute redox systems in... 

Trahar, W.J., 1983. The influence of pulp potential in sulfide flotation, principles of mineral flotation, The Wark Symposium, Aust. Inst. Min. Metall. Adlaide, Austalia, p. 117. 

Various starches have been used in industry for depressing talc, mica, natural sulfur, carbon gangue and sulfide minerals, and especially for depressing oxidized iron minerals in the reverse flotation of iron ore and the separation of Cu-Mo in the copper-molybdenite sulfide flotation. 

Sodium cyanide is also used as a depressant in the mining industry. A depressant is a reagent that selectively prevents the reaction between a collector and a mineral. In other words, a depressant prevents the mineral from flotation. The use of sodium cyanide, in this case, is to selectively depress sphalerite (zinc sulfide) and pyrite (iron sulfide) but not galena. Sodium cyanide therefore enhances flotation of galena (Kirk-Othmer, 1995b). 

Pugh, R. J. 1989. Macromolecular organic depressants in sulfide flotation—A review, 2. Theoretical analysis of the forces involved in the depressant action. Int. J. Miner. Process. 25 131. 

Lead metal is obtained from ores containing galena. The ore is first concentrated in the lead(II) sulfide mineral using flotation. The concentrated ore is then roasted that is, the sulfide ore is burned in air to yield lead(II) oxide. 

A very important but rather complex application of surface chemistry is to the separation of various types of solid particles from each other by what is known as flotation. The general method is of enormous importance to the mining industry it permits large-scale and economic processing of crushed ores whereby the desired mineral is separated from the gangue or non-mineral-containing material. Originally applied only to certain sulfide and oxide ores. 

Fig. 1. Effect of particle size on the flotation recovery of a sulfide mineral. Mineral chalcocite [2112-20-9J, CU2S reagent potassium ethyl xanthate,...

The basic flow sheet for the flotation-concentration of nonsulfide minerals is essentially the same as that for treating sulfides but the family of reagents used is different. The reagents utilized for nonsulfide mineral concentrations by flotation are usually fatty acids or their salts (RCOOH, RCOOM), sulfonates (RSO M), sulfates (RSO M), where M is usually Na or K, and R represents a linear, branched, or cycHc hydrocarbon chain and amines [R2N(R)3]A where R and R are hydrocarbon chains and A is an anion such as Cl or Br . Collectors for most nonsulfides can be selected on the basis of their isoelectric points. Thus at pH > pH p cationic surfactants are suitable collectors whereas at lower pH values anion-type collectors are selected as illustrated in Figure 10 (28). Figure 13 shows an iron ore flotation flow sheet as a representative of high volume oxide flotation practice. 

The abundance of indium in the earth s cmst is probably about 0.1 ppm, similat to that of silver. It is found in trace amounts in many minerals, particulady in the sulfide ores of zinc and to a lesser extent in association with sulfides of copper, tin, and lead. Indium follows zinc through flotation concentration, and commercial recovery of the metal is achieved by treating residues, flue dusts, slags, and metallic intermediates in zinc smelting and associated lead (qv) and copper (qv) smelting (see Metallurgy, EXTRACTIVE Zinc and zinc alloys). 

Depressants are reagents that selectively prevent the reaction between a coUector and a mineral, thus preventing its flotation. For example, sodium cyanide [143-33-9] depresses sphalerite [12169-28-7] (zinc sulfide) and pyrite [1309-36-0] (iron sulfide) but not galena. It thus enhances selective flotation of the galena. 

The functional group ia collectors for nonsulfide minerals is characterized by the presence of either a N (amines) or an O (carboxyUc acids, sulfonates, etc) as the donor atoms. In addition to these, straight hydrocarbons, such as fuel oil, diesel, kerosene, etc, are also used extensively either as auxiUary or secondary collectors, or as primary collectors for coal and molybdenite flotation. The chain length of the hydrocarbon group is generally short (2—8 C) for the sulfide collectors, and long (10—20 C) for nonsulfide collectors, because sulfides are generally more hydrophobic than most nonsulfide minerals (10). 

The treatments used to recover nickel from its sulfide and lateritic ores differ considerably because of the differing physical characteristics of the two ore types. The sulfide ores, in which the nickel, iron, and copper occur in a physical mixture as distinct minerals, are amenable to initial concentration by mechanical methods, eg, flotation (qv) and magnetic separation (see SEPARATION,MAGNETIC). The lateritic ores are not susceptible to these physical processes of beneficiation, and chemical means must be used to extract the nickel. The nickel concentration processes that have been developed are not as effective for the lateritic ores as for the sulfide ores (see also Metallurgy, extractive Minerals recovery and processing). 

The matte can be treated in different ways, depending on the copper content and on the desired product. In some cases, the copper content of the Bessemer matte is low enough to allow the material to be cast directly into sulfide anodes for electrolytic refining. Usually it is necessary first to separate the nickel and copper sulfides. The copper—nickel matte is cooled slowly for ca 4 d to faciUtate grain growth of mineral crystals of copper sulfide, nickel—sulfide, and a nickel—copper alloy. This matte is pulverized, the nickel and copper sulfides isolated by flotation, and the alloy extracted magnetically and refined electrolyticaHy. The nickel sulfide is cast into anodes for electrolysis or, more commonly, is roasted to nickel oxide and further reduced to metal for refining by electrolysis or by the carbonyl method. Alternatively, the nickel sulfide may be roasted to provide a nickel oxide sinter that is suitable for direct use by the steel industry. 

Flotation Reagents. Only one sulfide mineral flotation collector is manufactured from phosphine, ie, the sodium salt of bis(2-methylpropyl)phosphinodithioic acid [13360-78-6]. It is available commercially from Cytec Industries Inc. as a 50% aqueous solution and is sold as AEROPHINE 3418A promoter. The compound is synthesized by reaction of 2-methyl-1-propene [115-11-7] with phosphine to form an iatermediate dialkylphosphine which is subsequently treated with elemental sulfur [7704-34-9] and sodium hydroxide [1310-73-2] to form the final product (14). The reactions described ia equations 10 and 11... 

The H2S sulfanes are the subject of several reviews (129,133). Except for hydrogen sulfide these have no practical utiUty. Sodium tetrasulfide [12034-39-8] is available commercially as a 40 wt % aqueous solution and is used to dehair hides in taimeries, as an ore flotation agent, in the preparation of sulfur dyes (qv), and for metal sulfide finishes (see Leather Mineral recovery and processing). 

In mineral technology, sulfur dioxide and sulfites are used as flotation depressants for sulfide ores. In electrowinning of copper from leach solutions from ores containing iron, sulfur dioxide prereduces ferric to ferrous ions to improve current efficiency and copper cathode quaHty. Sulfur dioxide also initiates precipitation of metallic selenium from selenous acid, a by-product of copper metallurgy (326). 

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