Effect of Gangue Minerals on Pulp Rheology and Flotation Behavior of Smithsonite

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Authors have tried to understand the effect of gangue minerals on the rheology and flotation behaviour of ultrafine smithsonite.  The subject of the research article is of importance on slurry rheology in flotation. It is an important subject in the ultrafine flotation process. However, the author needs to revise the manuscript prior to publication. A few of the comments are mentioned below.

 

- The whole text should be checked carefully for some grammatical errors and requested to avoid long sentences. 

- In most cases, references that have been cited in the text are old ones and request to include the recently published articles.

- The novelty of the present paper is not clear as the current version of the manuscript looks more like a project report.

- Abstract can be shortened with clear challenges and innovative steps adopted in the study. 

– It should be re-arranged more clearly so that the reader can easily understand the novelty of the present paper, the hypothesis, and the approach to prove the hypothesis.

- The whole manuscript should be written in the American or British English format. 

-  The experimental section is very weak in the manuscript with product characterization. 

- On what basis, the authors have chosen the variables and levels for the experiment?

- All the result values in Figures need an Error bar on value points. 

- Conclusion needs to rewrite with key result values in a single paragraph.

- There are several published pieces of literature on the rheology influence on ultrafine recovery in the flotation process. Request authors to revisit the literature and cite appropriately.

 

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Reviewer 2 Report

Dear Author,

Thank you for submitting your paper to MDPI Minerals Journal and contributing your work and knowledge in the advancement of the mining and metallurgy field. The experimental work presented is systematic and the paper covers well the effect of different factors affecting slurry rheology for smithsonite ore and experiments are conducted. Yet it can be further improved in terms of overall readability and sentence flow. Many sentences are very-very long which can be reduced, and information is often repeated. I have provided comments in the attached file, but I would strongly suggest a thorough re-read to resolve such issues. I have also provided technical suggestions in the paper wherever possible, below are some broad comments.

Abstract: This section needs improvement, see comments in the attached file.  

Introduction: A little background in the introduction section on sodium hexametaphosphate is needed along with citation (lines 79-80).

Material and Method Section: This section is not very elaborate see specific comments in the attached file. A good addition in section 2.2 Pulp rheology measurement would be adding a viscosity equation which will help the reader relate controlled shear rate and stress mode as they are response variables. If possible, provide a schematic or picture of paddle-type stirring rotor as mechanical design can greatly impact the stress and flow behavior of any fluid.

In section 2.3 Flotation test (line 110), it will be useful to know what analysis was used for mineral weight determination when mixed flotation was done to evaluate recovery.

Result and Discussion:

·        Section 3.1 and 3.2 does not specify the size range of the minerals used during the test, was everything -23 microns? It is an important parameter for study hence I recommend specifying it.

·         Recommendations related to figure legends, and captions are provided in the attached file, please review, and correct pointed issues.

 

Conclusion: This section needs to be improved from a fundamental standpoint on what the overall takeaway was from this study. For example, density plays a critical role in rheological properties compared to particle shape as in the case of quartz. Why fine Kaolinite can increase viscosity, and why quartz reduces viscosity. List findings from a fundamental rather re-iterating the results. 

 

References: There are capitalization and spelling errors in highlighted reference in attached file, please fix those issues. Also I was not able to locate reference 1 and 7, request to check once again. 

 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

Please see the attachment.

Author Response File: Author Response.docx

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

The authors have modified the manuscript as per the suggestion given during the last review.