Study of the effect of mixture of different xanthogenates on flotation and selective flocculation of chalcopyrite and sphalerite

Abstract

Copper-zinc ores are characterized by rather fine (emulsion) dissemination of ore minerals and heterophase aggregation of grains and therefore require fine grinding of class - 40 microns for mineral separation. Material of this size can be treated by flotation method. The application of this method can be extended by using selective flocculation of sieve particles on a drop of oil. Analysis of practical application of various reagent modes of selective flocculation of sulfide minerals shows that a significant factor is the type of the main collector. In this work the influence of xanthogenates of chalcopyrite and sphalerite with the number of carbon atoms from 2 to 6 with normal and isometric structure on flocculation and flotation processes is considered. It is shown that the stability of flocculation depends on the interaction forces of the polar part of the molecule with the mineral surface and the nonpolar part with the oil drop. The interaction energy of the non-polar part of xanthogenate with tridecane is calculated and the results of flotation with different xanthogenates and their mixtures are presented. It is concluded that the mixture of xanthogenates C4 and C3 is more effective.