Flotation separation of molybdenite and talc using tragacanth gum as depressant and potassium butyl xanthate as collector
(1. Jiangxi Key Laboratory of Mining Engineering, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Ganzhou 341000, China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing, BGRIMM Technology Group, Beijing 102628, China;
3. Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Clean and Efficient Utilization of Strategic Calcium-containing Mineral Resources, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China)
2. State Key Laboratory of Mineral Processing, BGRIMM Technology Group, Beijing 102628, China;
3. Key Laboratory of Hunan Province for Clean and Efficient Utilization of Strategic Calcium-containing Mineral Resources, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China)
Abstract: Tragacanth gum (TG) was explored as a depressant to realize the flotation separation of molybdenite and talc. The flotation experiments indicated that when using potassium butyl xanthate (PBX) as a collector, molybdenite showed excellent floatability while talc was completely depressed by TG, thus realizing the flotation separation of the two minerals. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis results showed that TG was adsorbed on molybdenite surface via chemisorption. The results of contact angle measurement, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) indicated that the pre-adsorption of TG on molybdenite could not hinder the further chemisorption of PBX on molybdenite. Because PBX has no collecting ability on talc, the flotation separation of molybdenite and talc came true using PBX to collect molybdenite and TG to depress talc.
Key words: molybdenite; tragacanth gum; organic depressant; talc; flotation separation