Improvement of the technological effects of flotation of lean fine disseminated scheelite ores

Abstract

The paper describes the results of studying ways to improve the contrast of calcite and scheelite technological properties using water glass combined with aluminum, zinc, iron, magnesium sulphate salts, a mixture of water glass and calcium chloride, sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), combinations of sodium oleate with low-polar compounds (neonol, fatty isoalcohols), liquid phase and oleate ultrasound treatment. The monomineralic fraction of calcite floated by mechanical cell demonstrated that the minimum recovery of calcite is achieved by combining the Fe(II) salt and water glass (3(4) : 1). When f loating lean sheelite ore with a high carbonate modulus on domestic water, the combined use of water glass and CaCl2 reduces the floatability of calcium. Calcium chloride added to water glass on recycling water leads to a certain increase in the rough concentrate yield (13.8 to 14.1 %) with a significant decrease of WO3 recovery to the finished selection concentrate (72.7 to 53.3 %) and a deterioration in the concentrate quality. Replacement of water glass with CMC did not show satisfactory results. Ultrasonic treatment of pulp, liquid phase, collector leads to a certain increase in the calcite floatability, possibly due to the higher liquid phase temperature and increased proportion of the oleate ionic form. The use of neonols in the reagent scheme of flotation of scheelite-containing ore with a high carbonate modulus found no evidence of a decrease in the flotatability of calcite obtained when studying monomineralic calcite fractions unlike fatty isoalcohols that provided better concentrates in the selection cycle in comparison with a single oleate.