Feasibility of concentrating potassium minerals from Verdete ore by cell flotation

Laryssa Batista Christina Cordeiro,Kátia Dionísio De Oliveira,Cícero Naves De Ávila Neto,Michelly Dos Santos Oliveira,Marcos Antônio De Souza Barrozo

doi:10.18540/jcecvl7iss2pp12338-01-12e

Abstract

A silicate ore with K2O content above 10%, found in the central region of Minas Gerais (Brazil), called Verdete, was floated in flotation cell. The goal was to evaluate the flotation behaviour of the ore constituents (glauconite, muscovite, K-feldspar and quartz) relative to the use of different collectors (fatty acid soap obtained from rice oil, amine and oleic acid) and depressors (gelatinized cornstarch and sodium silicate). Flotation of the calcination products of Verdete with MgCl2 and CaCl2 were also evaluated. Mass recovery of flotation carried out with Verdete reached a maximum of 53% when amine and sodium silicate were used as collector and depressant, respectively. Mass recovery was directly proportional to collector dosage, and was also influenced by the type of depressor. Calcination of Verdete with MgCl2?xH2O partially consumed the micas and generated MgO. Flotation of this calcination product concentrated MgO in the floated fraction, reaching 93% when oleic acid was used as collector.

Highlights

The central region of the state of Minas Gerais (Brazil) has a deposit of silicate ore, known as Verdete, composed mostly of a mixture of micas, K-feldspar and quartz, with K2O content above 10%
The Verdete ore was floated with different collectors and depressors
The distribution of elements in this sample is similar to the distribution of elements in the Verdete sample collected and characterized by Moreira et al (2016), whose mass fraction of K2O varies from 8.5 to 10.6%

Summary

Introduction

The central region of the state of Minas Gerais (Brazil) has a deposit of silicate ore, known as Verdete, composed mostly of a mixture of micas (glauconite and muscovite), K-feldspar and quartz, with K2O content above 10%. In the case of Verdete, the idea is to separate the micas and K-feldspar from quartz, which is not a trivial procedure, since these silicates have similar surface properties. Feldspar is conventionally separated from quartz by using hydrofluoric acid as activator for the feldspar and a cationic collector (amine) (Sulaymonova et al, 2018). It is known that the amine ion alone does not sufficiently adsorb in feldspar to promote flotation in acidic media (Larsen and Kleiv, 2016)

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion