Effects of common ions on adsorption and flotation of malachite with salicylaldoxime

Abstract

Effects of common ions, namely hydroxyl ions and carbonate, on the adsorption and flotation of malachite with salicylaldoxime as a collector was investigated, making use of solubility, micro-flotation, zeta potential, contact angle, FTIR, and XPS measurements. The results suggested that hydroxyl and carbonate ions affect malachite recovery through altering solubility of this mineral. Under conditions of lower solubility, more stable copper atoms acted as adsorption sites for retaining salicylaldoxime on the malachite surface, and the collector consumed by copper species in slurry was reduced. This allowed more collectors to get adsorbed onto malachite surface, resulting in improved malachite recovery. Zeta potential, FTIR, and XPS measurements indicated that salicylaldoxime chemically adsorbs onto malachite by forming copper salicylaldoxime chelates, in which two salicylaldoxime molecules react with one copper atom by N atom and the O atom combined with benzene ring.