Abstract
Bacillus cereus is used to enhance the gold floatability in the presence of potassium butyl xanthate (PBX) as a collector and pine oil as a frother. The effect of bacteria interaction on the gold and quartz behavior as the main components of the gold ore was investigated using zeta-potential, contact angle, SEM, and FTIR measurements. The effect of pH, contact time, temperature, and concentration of xanthate, pine oil, and Bacillus cereus on the floatability of the gold and quartz was investigated. The zeta-potential of gold is strongly affected by Bacillus cereus interaction, while the maximum floatability is achieved at neutral pH. A concentrate of 10612 g/t gold with 95% recovery is obtained from a binary mixture contains 500 g/t gold in the presence of 1×108 Bacillus cereus cells, 5×103 M potassium butyl xanthate and 5×103 M pine oil at pH 7 and 35C for 10 min.
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