TY - JOUR
T1 - Effect of Na2SO3 on the floatability of chalcopyrite and enargite
AU - Suyantara, Gde Pandhe Wisnu
AU - Hirajima, Tsuyoshi
AU - Miki, Hajime
AU - Sasaki, Keiko
AU - Kuroiwa, Shigeto
AU - Aoki, Yuji
N1 - Funding Information:
This study was supported by Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) – Japan and a Grant-in-Aid for Science Research (JSPS KAKENHI) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) – Japan [Grant numbers JP19H02659 and JP19K22156]. We thank Kinato Yagi for his support during the data collection for the micro flotation tests.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2021/11/1
Y1 - 2021/11/1
N2 - The effect of sodium sulfite (Na2SO3) on the floatability of chalcopyrite and enargite was investigated in this work. The micro flotation tests of single and mixed minerals were performed under various concentrations of Na2SO3. The micro flotation tests of single minerals showed that Na2SO3 depressed the floatability of both minerals at pH 9 in the absence of potassium amyl xanthate (PAX). Interestingly, the addition of PAX followed by the Na2SO3 treatment selectively improved the recovery of enargite. On the other hand, the recovery of chalcopyrite remained low under a similar condition. The single mineral flotation results indicate that separation of chalcopyrite and enargite might be possible using PAX and Na2SO3 treatment. Indeed, the mixed mineral flotation results were in agreement with the flotation results of single minerals. The mineral surface was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) after the treatments to explain the phenomenon. The XPS results show the presence of sulfate species on both mineral surfaces after the Na2SO3 treatment. The adsorbed PAX could prevent the formation of this sulfate species on the enargite surface and rendered the surface hydrophobic. However, the adsorbed PAX could not prevent the formation of sulfate species on the chalcopyrite surface and rendered the surface hydrophilic.
AB - The effect of sodium sulfite (Na2SO3) on the floatability of chalcopyrite and enargite was investigated in this work. The micro flotation tests of single and mixed minerals were performed under various concentrations of Na2SO3. The micro flotation tests of single minerals showed that Na2SO3 depressed the floatability of both minerals at pH 9 in the absence of potassium amyl xanthate (PAX). Interestingly, the addition of PAX followed by the Na2SO3 treatment selectively improved the recovery of enargite. On the other hand, the recovery of chalcopyrite remained low under a similar condition. The single mineral flotation results indicate that separation of chalcopyrite and enargite might be possible using PAX and Na2SO3 treatment. Indeed, the mixed mineral flotation results were in agreement with the flotation results of single minerals. The mineral surface was analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) after the treatments to explain the phenomenon. The XPS results show the presence of sulfate species on both mineral surfaces after the Na2SO3 treatment. The adsorbed PAX could prevent the formation of this sulfate species on the enargite surface and rendered the surface hydrophobic. However, the adsorbed PAX could not prevent the formation of sulfate species on the chalcopyrite surface and rendered the surface hydrophilic.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.mineng.2021.107222
DO - 10.1016/j.mineng.2021.107222
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85116309296
SN - 0892-6875
VL - 173
JO - Minerals Engineering
JF - Minerals Engineering
M1 - 107222
ER -