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A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 December 2019) | Viewed by 45222

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Prof. Dr. Saeed Chehreh Chelgani

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Minerals and Metallurgical Engineering, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, SE-971 87 Luleå, Sweden
Interests: mineral processing; flotation; surface chemistry; rare earth processing; coal preparation; graphite processing; leaching; modeling; neural network; random forest
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“Without reagents there would be no flotation, and without flotation the mining industry, as we know it today, would not exist.” Handbook of Flotation Reagents by Srdjan M. Bulatovic

Dear Colleagues,

Separation by froth flotation involves many types of reagents. Reagents are mainly used for treating the surface of ores and/or for improving conditions of operations for increasing flotation separation efficiency. Reagents can impact the pulp chemistry and make flotation a complex system involving the interaction of all additives (including collectors, depressants, activators, pH regulators, and frothers). The flotation reagents may remain on the products (slurry, tail, and concentrate) and lead to many environmental problems or have a great impact on downstream processes such as bioleaching. Therefore, fundamental knowledge of chemical reagents, the development of their new types, using them for different conditions, and minerals and surface chemistry studies in the presence of various reagents are typical and essential investigations in mineral processing.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Saeed Chehreh Chelgani
Guest Editor

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Keywords

collector
frother
depressant
regulator
modifier
activator
surfactant
surface chemistry
bioleaching
environmental problems

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Related Special Issue

Flotation Reagents, Volume II in Minerals (4 articles)

Published Papers (10 papers)

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Research

11 pages, 1354 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Behaviour of Mixtures of Sodium Iso-Butyl Xanthate and Sodium Di-Ethyl Dithiophosphate during the Flotation of a Cu-Ni-Pt Ore in Degrading Water Quality

by Malibongwe S. Manono, Katlego Matibidi, Iyiola O. Otunniyi, Catherine K. Thubakgale, Kirsten C. Corin and Jenny G. Wiese

Minerals 2020, 10(2), 123; https://doi.org/10.3390/min10020123 - 31 Jan 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3747

Abstract

The use of mixtures of thiol collectors is reportedly beneficial in sulfide flotation. This is becoming standard practice for many concentrators, but process water recirculation and re-use in flotation circuits may compromise the behaviour of such mixtures owing to changes in physicochemical interactions occurring in the pulp phase as a result of water quality variations. It is expected that changes in the pulp chemistry would in turn affect both the pulp and froth phase phenomena, thereby affecting flotation performance. Thus, this study considers mixtures of thiol collectors, sodium iso-butyl xanthate (SIBX), and sodium di-ethyl dithiophosphate (SEDTP) in degrading water quality. Bench-scale flotation tests were conducted on various molar ratios of the selected thiol collectors under different ionic strengths (0.0242 mol·dm⁻³ and 0.1212 mol·dm⁻³) of synthetic plant water. Increasing the ionic strength of synthetic plant water and SEDTP molar ratio resulted in an increase in water, solids, Cu, and Ni recoveries. Cu-Ni grades decreased in increasing SEDTP molar ratios. The highest Cu-Ni grades were obtained in degrading water quality. The increase in water and solids recoveries in increasing SEDTP and ionic strength of plant water is attributed to an increase in froth stability. It can be concluded that the increase in the ionic strength of plant water increased water recoveries and therefore froth stability in parallel with SEDTP’s froth stabilizing effect, thus suggesting an additive interaction on the froth stabilisation effect seen. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation Reagents)

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17 pages, 2739 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Evaluation of Frother Types for Improved Flotation Recovery and Selectivity

by Qingqing Huang, Xinbo Yang and Rick Q. Honaker

Minerals 2019, 9(10), 590; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9100590 - 28 Sep 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5306

Abstract

A laboratory study was conducted to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of nine different frother types when used in a three-phase, continuously operating froth flotation system. The frothers included several that are commonly used in the industry (e.g., MIBC, 2EH, and F-1) as well as unique frother types (e.g., F-3). The tests were conducted in a 5-cm diameter laboratory flotation column that provided near plug-flow mixing conditions due to a length-to-diameter ratio of around 50:1. Test results indicate that F-1, MIBC, and MPC (in order of decreasing effectiveness) provided the weakest performance in terms of combustible recovery while F-2, MAC, and 2EH were the top three generating the highest separation efficiencies. When processing ultrafine coal, the ash content of the flotation concentrate ranged from 10% to 15% while recovering over 80% of the combustible material. F-3, F-4, and DIBC provided over 80% recovery of combustibles at the expense in the amount of hydraulic entrainment. The flotation performances were also closely examined in accordance with the fundamental properties of the nine tested frothers, and their correlations were addressed in detail. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation Reagents)

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13 pages, 6500 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Comparative Studies of Quaternary Ammonium Salts on the Aggregation and Dispersion Behavior of Kaolinite and Quartz

by Hao Jiang, Guoyuan Xiang, Sultan Ahmed Khoso, Jiahui Xie, Kai Huang and Longhua Xu

Minerals 2019, 9(8), 473; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9080473 - 31 Jul 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4023

Abstract

Fine particles in the presence of flotation reagents exhibit different dispersion and aggregation behaviors in a mineral suspension, and affect the flotation separation processes. In this study, the effects of three quaternary ammonium salts (i.e., dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC), tetradecyltrimethylammonium chloride (TTAC), and hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC)) on the dispersion and aggregation behaviors of kaolinite and quartz were studied. The mechanism was systematically investigated using sedimentation tests, reagent adsorption analysis, zeta potential measurements, and SEM analysis. In the absence of reagents, the kaolinite and quartz particles exhibited good aggregation behaviors at acid and neutral pHs compared with alkaline conditions. Except for CTAC, the presence of DTAC and TTAC improved the aggregation behavior of both minerals in neutral and alkaline conditions. More, the sedimentation yields of both minerals were increased significantly with increasing the concentration of DTAC and TTAC. However, the increasing concentration of CTAC resulted in an increase in the dispersion of kaolinite and quartz particles under the same conditions. At neutral and alkaline conditions, the zeta potentials and adsorbed amounts of all three salts on the mineral surfaces were increased significantly with increasing the concentrations of salts, and the adsorbed amount adopted the following sequence: CTAC > TTAC > DTAC. The zeta potential results showed that the stronger adsorption of quaternary ammonium salts on mineral surfaces at neutral and alkaline conditions was mainly because of electrostatic interactions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation Reagents)

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16 pages, 1855 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Depressants and Temperature on Bastnaesite and Monazite Flotation Separation from a Canadian Rare Earth Element (REE) Ore

by Jean-Francois Boulanger, Claude Bazin and Keven Turgeon

Minerals 2019, 9(4), 225; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9040225 - 10 Apr 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 5135

Abstract

A full factorial experimental design was conducted to investigate the effect of temperature and depressants on the flotation of monazite and bastnaesite from carbonate gangue minerals. Temperature, sodium silicate, and guar gum dosage were examined. Mineral reconstruction from energy-dispersive x-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) data was performed to quantify bastnaesite, monazite, and gangue mineral recoveries. Bastnaesite and monazite both follow first-order rates of recovery, with bastnaesite recovering faster and to a larger extent than monazite. The main gangue minerals were depressed together. Optimal separation efficiency was achieved using a larger Na₂SiO₃ dosage (2400 g/t), no guar gum addition, and a high temperature (75 °C). The rate of bastnaesite recovery increased with the temperature, while sodium silicate improved the ultimate recovery. An economic analysis was performed to evaluate the impact of increasing Rare Earth Element (REE) recovery by allowing a lower grade concentrate to be generated. Despite the high value of REEs, increasing recovery by producing a concentrate bearing more than 68 wt % carbonaceous gangue was uneconomical. Full article

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7 pages, 1132 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Selective Separation of Hematite by a Synthesized Depressant in Various Scales of Anionic Reverse Flotation

by Arash Tohry, Reza Dehghan, Saeed Chehreh Chelgani, Jan Rosenkranz and Omid Ali Rahmani

Minerals 2019, 9(2), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9020124 - 20 Feb 2019

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4122

Abstract

Demand for high-quality iron concentrate is significantly increasing around the world. Thus, the development of the techniques for a selective separation and rejection of typical associated minerals in the iron oxide ores, such as phosphorous minerals (mainly apatite group), is a high priority. Reverse anionic flotation by using sodium silicate (SS) as an iron oxide depressant is one of the techniques for iron ore processing. This investigation is going to present a synthesized reagent “sodium co-silicate (SCS)” for hematite depression through a reverse anionic flotation. The main hypothesis is the selective depression of hematite and, simultaneously, modification of the pulp pH by SCS. Various flotation experiments, including micro-flotation, and batch flotation of laboratory and industrial scales, were conducted in order to compare the depression selectivity of SS versus SCS. Outcomes of flotation tests at the different flotation scales demonstrated that hematite depression by SCS is around 3.3% higher than by SS. Based on flotation experiment outcomes, it was concluded that SCS can modify the pH of the process at ~9.5, and the plant reagents (including NaOH, Na₂CO₃, and SS gel) can be replaced by just SCS, which can also lead to a higher efficiency in the plant. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation Reagents)

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15 pages, 3568 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Selective Separation of Scheelite from Calcite by Self-Assembly of H₂SiO₃ Polymer Using Al³⁺ in Pb-BHA Flotation

by Zhao Wei, Yuehua Hu, Haisheng Han, Wei Sun, Ruolin Wang, Wenjuan Sun, Jianjun Wang, Zhiyong Gao, Li Wang, Chenyang Zhang, Lei Sun and Ruohua Liu

Minerals 2019, 9(1), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9010043 - 13 Jan 2019

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 5941

Abstract

The flotation separation of scheelite from calcite is problematic, where sodium silicate modified by polyvalent metal ions has shown some advantages for selective depression. In this study, an Al-Na₂SiO₃ polymer was used as the depressant for the flotation separation of scheelite from calcite using a lead complex of benzohydroxamic acid (Pb-BHA) as the collector. Furthermore, a number of measurements were conducted to investigate the structure of the Al-Na₂SiO₃ polymer and its adsorption behavior with Pb-BHA complexes on the mineral surface. Flotation experiments indicated that the Al-Na₂SiO₃ polymer shows good selectivity for the flotation separation of scheelite from calcite at pH 8, where the optimum ratio of sodium silicate to aluminum sulfate was 2:1. Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR) and solution chemical analyses revealed that aluminum hydroxide complexes and the hydroxy moiety of silicic acid are able to self-assemble via condensation affording an Al-Na₂SiO₃ polymer, i.e., a composite aluminosilicate polymer. The zeta potential measurements and adsorption capacity measurements indicated that, upon adsorption of the Al-Na₂SiO₃ polymer and Pb-BHA complexes on the mineral surface, the Al-Na₂SiO₃ polymer had less influence on the adsorption of Pb-BHA complexes on the scheelite surface, while the opposite was true for calcite. Therefore, more Pb-BHA complexes and fewer Al-Na₂SiO₃ polymers were deposited on the scheelite surface, while fewer Pb-BHA complexes and more Al-Na₂SiO₃ polymers were adsorbed on the calcite surface. The selective separation of scheelite from calcite was attributed to the cooperative selectivity of the Pb-BHA complexes and Al-Na₂SiO₃ polymer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation Reagents)

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14 pages, 5457 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adsorption Behavior of Methyl Laurate and Dodecane on the Sub-Bituminous Coal Surface: Molecular Dynamics Simulation and Experimental Study

by He Zhang, Wenli Liu, Hongxiang Xu, Qiming Zhuo and Xiaopeng Sun

Minerals 2019, 9(1), 30; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9010030 - 9 Jan 2019

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 3973

Abstract

Biodiesel was found to be a more effective collector on low-rank coal flotation than the common oily collectors (diesel and kerosene) in previous research. However, the micro-adsorption behavior of these collectors on the coal surface remains to be further explored. In the present work, the adsorption behavior of methyl laurate and dodecane, representing biodiesel and common oily collectors, was investigated using experimental and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation methods. The results of MD simulations showed that dodecane was difficult to diffuse on the surface of sub-bituminous coal and formed a spherical structure on the surface of sub-bituminous coal. Methyl laurate was adsorbed on the surface of coal via the head group (ester group), while the tail group (alkyl chain) was exposed to a liquid environment, forming a wider network structure on the coal surface. The above results, mainly attributed to methyl laurate, had a higher interaction with the sub-bituminous surface compared to dodecane. The self-diffusion coefficient results showed that the aggregate configurations of methyl laurate cause higher water mobility, which was more conducive to enhancing the hydrophobicity of the coal surface. The adhesion efficiency measurement and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) analysis confirmed that methyl laurate could cover more oxygen-containing functional groups on the coal surface than dodecane, thus enhancing the hydrophobicity of coal. The results of simulations conformed to the experimental results. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation Reagents)

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13 pages, 2935 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Mechanism for the Adsorption of 2-(Hexadecanoylamino)Acetic Acid by Smithsonite: Surface Spectroscopy and Microflotation Experiments

by Bin Luo, Junbo Liu, Quanjun Liu, Chao Song, Li Yu, Shimei Li and Hao Lai

Minerals 2019, 9(1), 15; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9010015 - 26 Dec 2018

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3395

Abstract

Zinc is mostly extracted from oxidized zinc and zinc sulfide minerals, and this process involves flotation as a key step. While it is easier to float the sulfide mineral, its consumption and depletion has led to an increased reliance on oxidized zinc minerals, including smithsonite. Hence, the development of efficient ways of collecting smithsonite by flotation is an important objective. Herein, we describe the use of 2-(hexadecanoylamino)acetic acid (HAA), a novel surfactant, as a collector during smithsonite flotation. The mechanism and flotation performance of HAA during smithsonite flotation was investigated by total organic carbon (TOC) content studies, zeta potential measurements, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses, combined with microflotation experiments. The flotation results revealed that HAA was an excellent collector in pulp over a wide pH range (9–12) and at a relatively low concentration (2 × 10⁻⁴ mol/L), at which a recovery of close to 90% of the smithsonite mineral was obtained. TOC content studies revealed that the good flotation recovery was ascribable to large amounts of collector molecule adsorbed on the smithsonite surface, while zeta potential measurements showed that the HAA was chemically adsorbed onto the smithsonite. FTIR and XPS analyses revealed that the HAA collector molecules adsorbed onto the smithsonite surface as zinc–HAA complexes involving carboxylate moieties and Zn sites on the smithsonite surface in alkaline solution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation Reagents)

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11 pages, 4698 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Alternative Depressant of Chalcopyrite in Cu–Mo Differential Flotation and Its Interaction Mechanism

by Xuemin Qiu, Hongying Yang, Guobao Chen and Wenjie Luo

Minerals 2019, 9(1), 1; https://doi.org/10.3390/min9010001 - 20 Dec 2018

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3793

Abstract

Carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) is a nontoxic and biodegradable polysaccharide, which can potentially replace the frequently used hazardous depressants in Cu–Mo separation. However, a lack of understanding of the interaction mechanism between the CMC and the minerals has hindered its application. In the present study, it is found that 50 mg·L⁻¹ CMC can inhibit chalcopyrite entirely in the pH range 4–6, while having little effect on molybdenite. The results also showed that the inhibition effect of the depressant for chalcopyrite enhanced with the increase of the degree of substitution (DS) and molecular weight (M_w) of CMC. The low DS and high M_w of CMC were detrimental to the Cu–Mo separation flotation. Furthermore, CMC adsorption was found to be favored by a positive zeta potential but hindered by the protonation of the carboxyl groups. An electrochemical study showed that CMC inhibited 92.9% of the electrochemical reaction sites of chalcopyrite and greatly reduced the production of hydrophobic substances. The XPS and FTIR measurements displayed that the chemisorption was mainly caused by Fe³⁺ on the chalcopyrite surface and the carboxyl groups in the CMC molecular structure. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation Reagents)

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11 pages, 2331 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Method to Limit the Adverse Effect of Fine Serpentine on the Flotation of Pyrite

by Dezhi Liu, Guofan Zhang, Yanfei Chen, Wei Chen and Yawen Gao

Minerals 2018, 8(12), 582; https://doi.org/10.3390/min8120582 - 10 Dec 2018

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3426

Abstract

A novel method to limit the adverse effect of fine serpentine on the flotation of pyrite was investigated in this paper. The flotation results showed that coarser serpentine possessed a weaker depression effect on the pyrite flotation process, and the use of KAl(SO₄)₂·12H₂O could efficiently limit the detrimental effect of fine serpentine on pyrite with a maximum increase of pyrite recovery from 14% to 86% at pH 9.0. The results of particle size measurements and rheological measurements exhibited that the addition of KAl(SO₄)₂·12H₂O increased the particle size of serpentine buta hrdly affected the particle size of pyrite, then limited the formation of serpentine-pyrite aggregates. Adsorption test results showed that the adsorption density of potassium butyl xanthate (PBX) onto pyrite regained with the addition of KAl(SO₄)₂·12H₂O, thereby achieving good flotation improvement. It can be concluded that KAl(SO₄)₂·12H₂O is likely to be an effective pyrite flotation reagent, especially in the presence of fine serpentine. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flotation Reagents)

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