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Low flotation efficiency has always been a problem in the separation of low-grade molybdenum ores because of the finely disseminated nature and crystal anisotropy of molybdenite. In this study, a novel kerosene–coal tar collector (KCTC) was prepared and used to explore the feasibility of improving the recovery of fine molybdenite particles. The results showed that KCTC achieved better attaching performance than that shown by kerosene, and the surface coverage and attaching rate constant were improved significantly, especially for finer particles of −38 + 20 μm. Compared with kerosene, KCTC showed more affinity for molybdenite particles and greater adsorbed amounts of KCTC on molybdenite particles were achieved. Moreover, the composite collector was shown to float single molybdenite particles of different sizes, and it was found that the recovery of molybdenite particles of different sizes, particularly in the case of those at −20 μm, was improved dramatically by KCTC. The flotation results of actual molybdenum ores further confirmed that KCTC was beneficial to flotation recovery and the selectivity of molybdenite. This indicated that KCTC is a potential collector for the effective flotation of low-grade deposits of molybdenum ores, and more studies should be conducted on further use in industrial practice.

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