An investigation into the floatability of a pentlandite–pyroxene system

Current understanding of the mechanism of polysaccharide adsorption at the mineral/aqueous solution interface

“…8). Pyroxene does not exhibit any natural floatability, and it does not float in an acidic environment where copper ions are in the Cu 2+ form, but is clearly activated by copper hydroxyl complexes at pH 9 (Malysiak et al, 2004;Shackleton et al, 2003). Similar results were obtained for chromite.…”

Mineralogical characterisation of naturally floatable gangue in Merensky Reef ore flotation

“…In the review of Lotter et al (2008) on orthopyroxene, the mechanisms of entrainment, composite particles, inadvertent ion activation and naturally floating gangue were discussed to account for the recovery of orthopyroxene to the concentrate, although inadvertent activation appears to have been the most widely investigated (e.g. Nagaraj and Brinen, 1996;Malysiak et al, 2004). More recently, Jasieniak and Smart (2009) showed using ToF-SIMS that the surface exposure of Mg and Si was greater for gangue particles in a Merensky concentrate relative to a tailings sample.…”

The Geological Occurrence, Mineralogy, and Processing by Flotation of Platinum Group Minerals (PGMs) in South Africa and Russia

“…It is widely speculated that copper sulphate activates the base metal sulphides and PGMs as in its traditional usage. However, the addition of copper sulphate can also contribute to the recovery of gangue minerals due to the inadvertent activation of these minerals [28,29]. It also appears to be playing a role in affecting the stability of the froth and flotation kinetics [30].…”

“…One of the major challenges in the flotation of PGMs is the control and management of the gangue minerals, particularly silicates such as orthopyroxene, plagioclase feldspar, and pyroxene, which are often rimmed with talc, which then makes them naturally floatable. Apart from the problems mentioned above, copper sulphate may also inadvertently activate the gangue minerals [28].…”