闪锌矿中铁含量对浮选的响-毕业论文外文翻译.docVIP

Effect of iron content in sphalerite on flotation Abstract The effect of iron, substituted in the mineral lattice, on the froth flotation of sphalerite has been investigated at alkaline pH. It has been found that a critical copper sulphate concentration exists where sphalerite recovery is maximized, above which the recovery of sphalerite then decreases. The presence of iron in sphalerite is detrimental to the rate of sphalerite flotation and hence its recovery, with the coarser particles being more affected that the fines. The presence of iron reduces the activation of sphalerite by copper, which in turn results in a reduction in collector adsorption. Keywords: Froth flotation; Flotation activators; Flotation kinetics; Particle size Article Outline 1. Introduction 2. Experimental section 3. Results and discussion 4. Conclusions References 1. Introduction As xanthate collectors have a relatively low affinity for zinc ions, activation of sphalerite by copper ions is generally required to float sphalerite. The activation of sphalerite involves the exchange of zinc for copper ions, thus providing a surface receptive towards collector adsorption (Finkelstein, 1997). One of the main impurities present in sphalerite is iron, which substitutes for zinc atoms in the sphalerite lattice, thus reducing the number of zinc atoms available for exchange with copper. Previous studies investigating the effect of iron content in sphalerite on copper activation, collector adsorption and subsequent sphalerite flotation have produced conflicting results (Pomianowski et al., 1975, Mukherjee and Sen, 1976, Solecki et al., 1979, Nakahiro, 1980, Harris and Richter, 1985 and Gigowski et al., 1991). For example, both an increase and decrease in copper activation, collector adsorption and froth flotation of sphalerite have been reported with increasing iron content in sphalerite. The loss of sphalerite to tailings in flotation circuits as a result of inadequate particle surface hydrophobici