Abstract
This article presents results of an experimental study on the sphalerite activation with Cu(II) and Pb(II), whose main objective was to investigate the activation mechanisms and to evaluate the magnitude of the hydrophobization achieved with both chemical species. The hydrophobicity acquired by the mineral due to the interaction with the activator and collector (sodium isopropyl xanthate) is characterized making use of the contact angle technique. The results show that Cu(II) replaces the Zn of the external layers of the mineral, promoting the sulfide (S 2– ) oxidation to produce a mixture of CuS, Cu 2 S and S°, of hydrophobic nature. The subsequent interaction with xanthate increases the hydrophobicity of the mineral surface. In turn, Pb(II) activation of sphalerite is due to the formation of a PbS layer that reacts with xanthate to produce hydrophobic species (e.g., PbX 2 ). It is also observed that the hydrophobicity of sphalerite activated with Pb(II) is favored under air atmospheres, as compared to that obtained under nitrogen atmospheres. It is concluded that the hydrophobicity achieved by lead activation may be of the same order of magnitude to that deliverately induced by copper activation.
Highlights
Este artículo presenta los resultados de un estudio experimental sobre la activación de esfalerita (ZnS) con Cu(II) y Pb(II), cuyo objetivo principal consistió en investigar los mecanismos de activación y en evaluar la magnitud relativa de la hidrofobización alcanzada con ambas especies químicas
The results show that Cu(II) replaces the Zn of the external layers of the mineral, promoting the sulfide (S2–) oxidation to produce a mixture of CuS, Cu S and S°, of hydrophobic nature
Pb(II) activation of sphalerite is due to the formation of a PbS layer that reacts with xanthate to produce hydrophobic species (e.g., PbX )
Summary
Las especies metálicas tienen un efecto perjudicial en la separación debido a que pueden provocar la activación de la esfalerita en el circuito de plomo/cobre, en el que se busca flotar las especies de plomo y cobre y dejar a la esfalerita en las colas. El presente trabajo hace uso de la técnica del ángulo de contacto, debido a que este representa una medida directa de la hidrofobicidad de la superficie mineral[2]. La activación inadvertida de ZnS con el Pb(II) proveniente de la oxidación natural de la galena durante la molienda, el acondicionamiento y la flotación, puede reducir la selectividad de la separación, afectando adversamente el grado del concentrado de plomo y la recuperación global del zinc, debido al zinc recuperado (i.e., perdido) en el concentrado de plomo. El presente trabajo aborda el estudio experimental de los mecanismos de activación de esfalerita con Cu(II) y Pb(II), así como la medición de la hidrofobicidad relativa alcanzada con ambas especies
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