Effects of Sodium Alginate on the Flotation Separation of Molybdenite From Chalcopyrite Using Kerosene as Collector

Abstract

In this paper, the effect of sodium alginate (SA) on the flotation separation of molybdenite (MoS 2) from chalcopyrite using kerosene as collector was systematically investigated. The results of single-mineral micro-flotation tests indicated that SA exhibited strong depression on chalcopyrite flotation while it imposed no impact on the floatability of molybdenite. However, in the chalcopyrite-molybdenite mixed-mineral flotation system, the presence of chalcopyrite significantly increased the depressing effect of SA on molybdenite flotation, leading to a considerable reduction in the flotation selectivity. The negative impact of chalcopyrite on the performance of SA in molybdenite flotation was eliminated by adding a certain dosage of kerosene prior to SA. A concentrate containing 53.43% of molybdenum (Mo) was obtained at 76.90% of recovery using 19 mg/L kerosene and 40 mg/L SA at pH 5.4. Zeta potential measurements indicated that the adsorption of SA on chalcopyrite surfaces was stronger than that on molybdenite surfaces, which agreed with the single-mineral flotation test results. The adsorption of SA on chalcopyrite was further confirmed to be chemisorption by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra analyses. When Cu 2+ appeared in solution, the flotation of molybdenite was strongly depressed by SA. Mechanism analyses indicated that more active sites were generated on molybdenite surfaces after the addition of Cu 2+ , thus promoting the adsorption of SA.

Synergistic Mechanism of Combined Inhibitors on the Selective Flotation of Arsenopyrite and Pyrite

“…Then, the filter cake was dried in a vacuum oven at 25 °C. After completely evaporating the moisture, 1 mg of dry solid was mixed with 100 mg of spectroscopy-grade KBr for analysis …”

Applications of Alginate in the Fields of Research Medicine, Industry and Agriculture

“…Research has shown that sodium alginate is effective in the flotation separation of scheelite from calcite and fluorite using sodium oleate as a collector. Sodium alginate has the potential to chelate calcium minerals and then hydrophilic their surface in solution [63,64].…”

Effect of the Water Hardness Level on Chalcopyrite Flotation Inhibition by the Disodium Carboxymethyl Trithiocarbonate

“…Calcium carbonate is thought to promote the recovery of chalcopyrite for the following reasons: (1) The addition of calcium carbonate changes the pH and Eh of the pulp, affecting the flotation recovery of chalcopyrite [23][24][25]; (2) The residual starch on the surface of the chalcopyrite reacts with the added calcium ions and adsorbs on the surface of the chalcopyrite, which impacts the inhibition of chalcopyrite by DCMT. Studies have shown that metal ions in the solution can be adsorbed on the mineral surface through ion exchange or chelation and affect the interaction between the flotation agents and minerals, particularly silicates [26][27][28][29].…”