Flotation Separation of Covellite and Enargite via Oxidation Treatment
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Materials and Reagents
2.2. Methods
2.2.1. Micro-Flotation Experiments
2.2.2. X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy
2.2.3. Scanning Electron Microscopy
2.2.4. Contact Angle Measurements
2.2.5. Bench-Scale Flotation
3. Results
3.1. Micro-Flotation of the Pure Mineral Sample
3.1.1. Flotation Performance of Covellite and Enargite
3.1.2. Effect of Depressant Dosage Ratio on the Separation of Covellite and Enargite
3.1.3. Effect of the Depressant Dosage on the Flotation Separation of Covellite and Enargite
3.1.4. Effects of the Conditioning Times of Depressants on the Flotation Separation of Covellite and Enargite
3.2. Separation Mechanism of Depressants
3.2.1. XPS Analysis
3.2.2. SEM Analysis
3.2.3. Contact Angle Measurements
3.2.4. Bench-Scale Flotation Tests
3.3. Discussion
4. Conclusions
- Micro-flotation and contact angle measurements indicated that the addition of NaClO followed by FeCl3 increased the hydrophobicity difference between covellite and enargite.
- Bench-scale flotation tests indicated that the bulk copper concentrate could be separated into two products: low- (As grade of 0.46%) and high-arsenic-containing (As grade of 5.18%) copper concentrates.
- XPS and SEM analyses established that the oxidization treatment of NaClO could lead to the accumulation of oxides on the covellite surface, but not on the enargite surface.
- The presence of FeCl3 caused varying precipitation of ferric hydroxide on the surfaces of covellite and enargite, which exacerbated the difference in the hydrophilicity of these minerals.
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Atoms | Fresh | NaClO Treatment | NaClO + FeCl3 Treatment | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Covellite | Enargite | Covellite | Enargite | Covellite | Enargite | |
O (1s) | 25.23 | 11.87 | 31.52 | 12.76 | 35.89 | 18.80 |
S (2p3/2) | 52.46 | 42.18 | 41.98 | 42.64 | 35.48 | 40.21 |
Cu(2p3/2) | 22.31 | 28.14 | 26.50 | 29.97 | 21.34 | 26.11 |
As (3d) | 0 | 17.81 | 0 | 15.83 | 0 | 10.57 |
Fe (2p3/2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.29 | 3.81 |
Products | Mass Recovery (%) | Cu Grade (%) | As Grade (%) | Cu Recovery (%) | As Recovery (%) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Concentrate A | 20.56 | 32.77 | 5.18 | 28.29 | 74.45 |
Concentrate B | 79.44 | 21.50 | 0.46 | 71.71 | 25.55 |
Feed | 100.00 | 23.82 | 1.43 | 100.00 | 100.00 |
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Gan, Y.; Deng, R.; Liu, Q. Flotation Separation of Covellite and Enargite via Oxidation Treatment. Minerals 2022, 12, 970. https://doi.org/10.3390/min12080970
Gan Y, Deng R, Liu Q. Flotation Separation of Covellite and Enargite via Oxidation Treatment. Minerals. 2022; 12(8):970. https://doi.org/10.3390/min12080970
Chicago/Turabian StyleGan, Yonggang, Rongdong Deng, and Quanjun Liu. 2022. "Flotation Separation of Covellite and Enargite via Oxidation Treatment" Minerals 12, no. 8: 970. https://doi.org/10.3390/min12080970