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Sphalerite is a common sulfide mineral, and xanthate is usually used as the collector of sphalerite flotation. In order to realize the simultaneous flotation of sphalerite- and zinc-containing oxide ores, in this paper, dodecylamine was used as the collector and sodium sulfide as the regulator to explore the flotation behavior of sphalerite in a sulfuration–amine system through single mineral flotation tests, and several analytical methods, including contact angle measurement, adsorption capacity test, FT-IR, and XPS, were employed to discuss the interaction mechanism of dodecylamine on the surface of sphalerite. The results confirm that dodecylamine had a strong collecting effect on sphalerite throughout almost the entire pH range, and the flotation recovery increased with the increase in pH, reaching 86.81% at pH 12. It was found that the effect of sodium sulfide on the floatability of sphalerite was relatively weak, and a weak activation effect, of about 2% improved recovery, was achieved. The results of the mechanism analysis further show that dodecylamine underwent both physical adsorption and chemical adsorption on the surface of sphalerite, and the physical adsorption was enhanced with the increase in pH. The above findings provide evidence for the simultaneous flotation of zinc-containing sulfide-oxide mixed minerals.

Sulfuration-amine flotation is the most commonly used method to separate zinc oxide ore, but its shortcomings such as unstable separation index and poor applicability to high mud-content raw ore limit its application in industry. In this study, the influence mechanism of sodium carbonate on the flotation separation of smithsonite and calcite by the sulfuration-amine method was investigated by chemical analysis of the flotation solution, contact angle measurement, Zeta potential test, and XPS analysis. The results showed that sodium carbonate significantly improved the flotation separation performance of smithsonite and calcite. The chemical analysis of the flotation solution showed that sodium carbonate hindered the dissolution of smithsonite, reducing its negative impact on the flotation of smithsonite. The results of the zeta potential and XPS tests showed that sodium carbonate enhanced the electronegativity of the smithsonite surface, and in an alkaline environment, sodium carbonate was favorable for the adsorption of dodecylamine on the surface of smithsonite, while sodium carbonate and high alkalinity enhanced the inhibitory effect of sodium hexametaphosphate on calcite. The study proved that sodium carbonate could be an effective modifier to promote the flotation separation of smithsonite and calcite using the aulfuration-amine method.

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