Flotation Reagents for Mg-Silicate Ore Recovery
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Solution Overview
Problem
The presence of Mg-bearing silicates, slime-forming minerals, and clays in ores complicates the froth flotation process, leading to reduced recovery and grade of valuable minerals due to increased pulp viscosity, slime coating, and adverse effects on froth phase properties, with existing solutions being inefficient or costly.
Innovation Solution
The use of froth phase modifiers, specifically polymers with functional groups like carboxyl, sulfonate, phosphate, or hydroxamate, in combination with monovalent ion modifier enhancing agents, to improve froth structure, reduce viscosity, and enhance the recovery and grade of sulfide and precious metal minerals without the need for desliming or size separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If desliming or size separation is used to remove Mg-silicates and clays, then flotation recovery of valuable minerals is improved, but process complexity and operating costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The harmful Mg-silicates and clays are selectively removed from the slurry using specific depressant reagents that prevent these minerals from floating, allowing them to be separated from the valuable sulfide minerals without complex mechanical separation equipment
Solution Approach 2:
Chemical reagents (depressants and modifiers) are introduced as intermediaries to selectively alter the surface properties of Mg-silicates and clays, making them non-floating while leaving valuable minerals unaffected, thereby achieving separation without mechanical complexity
2Productivity
If high solids content is processed, then productivity increases, but pulp viscosity increases making flotation difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Chemical reagents are used to modify the physical-chemical parameters of the pulp, specifically reducing viscosity through dispersant action and improving fluidity, which allows high solids content slurry to be processed efficiently without excessive energy consumption
3Reliability
If conventional collectors are used, then valuable sulfide minerals are recovered, but Mg-silicates and clays also float reducing concentrate grade
Solution Approach 1:
Different reagents are applied to create locally different surface properties: collectors make valuable sulfide minerals hydrophobic while depressants make Mg-silicates and clays hydrophilic, achieving selective flotation that improves concentrate grade while maintaining recovery
Solution Approach 2:
The chemical parameters of the flotation system are optimized by adjusting pH and using specific reagent combinations that enhance the selectivity of collectors for sulfide minerals while suppressing the floatability of silicates and clays
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach allows for efficient processing of ores at high solids content, reduces energy and water consumption, and significantly improves mineral recovery and grade, while being selective to avoid depressing valuable minerals.
Implementation Method 1
The polymer is water-soluble or water-dispersible and has a molecular weight between about 1,000 to about 1,000,000
Implementation Method 2
collectors, which impart selective hydrophobicity to the value mineral which is separated from other minerals
Implementation Method 3
Froth flotation is a widely used process for beneficiating ores containing minerals and metals of interest
Data Source
AI summary
Methods of enhancing recovery of value sulfide and/or precious metal-bearing minerals from an ore containing such minerals as well as Mg-silicate, slime forming minerals, and/or clay by adding a froth phase modifier agent to the ore, and subjecting the ore to a froth flotation process performed under acidic conditions, are provided herein.