One of the main issues in the theory of flotation is the nature of the interaction of the collector reagent with the surface of the floated mineral. It has been established that during the flotation of wolframite and hübnerite in a sodium oleate solution, the pH of the pulp does not increase, but decreases. It has been suggested that as a result of the binding of more and more portions of fatty acid to the surface of the mineral in one solution of sodium oleate, the accumulation of not NaOH, but Na₂W0₄ occurs, which explains the decrease in pH. It has been suggested that the surface of the mineral extracts the fatty acid acyl ion from solution as a result of an exchange reaction between the acid or its soap and the surface of the mineral. Around the monomolecular layer of metallic soap, formed as a result of a chemical reaction on the surface of the mineral, a polymolecular film of undissociated oleic acid is formed, which causes flocculation of wolframite or hübnerite. In the flotation of pure minerals - wolframite and hübnerite - flocculation is a very significant reason for the success of flotation. Flotation of hübnerite with sodium oleate is less successful in comparison with flotation with oleic acid, which should be explained by the different flocculating ability of these reagents.
The success of mineral processing by flotation depends on many factors. However, the literature has not yet paid due attention to this issue. The optimal values of all factors that mutually influence one another for each object of study are established experimentally, which, given the large number of factors, makes it extremely difficult to establish the optimal flotation regime. Below we briefly present the results of a study of the influence of some flotation factors on the enrichment of hübnerite ore, which are usually not attributed much importance (see article). From the above materials it should be concluded that during the flotation of hübnerite ore in the presence of oleic acid and sodium oleate, a sharp improvement in flotation results is observed with fractional loading of the collector (7-8 passes, with a total consumption of 0.5-0.7 kg/t), adding potassium bichromate, as a deflocculator, with a high pulp density (33-50% solid). Establishing the optimal values of the listed factors made it possible to sharply increase the degree of concentration during primary flotation, and this circumstance, in turn, provided the possibility of effective treatment operations.
