Prospects for the processing of technogenic gold-bearing raw materials using a microemulsion of a composite flotation reagent

Abstract

The paper studies the prospects for processing gold-bearing concentrator tailings using a dispersed microemulsion of a composite flotation reagent. The gold content in the tailings sample studied is 0.59 g/t. The tailings mainly consist of quartz and aluminosilicates. A rational analysis of the initial tailings indicates that 33.50 % of all gold is found in refractory combinations with quartz, 28.87 % is in the form of finely dispersed gold, 37.63 % is in intergrowths with sulfides and rock. A composite flotation reagent representing a 85 : 15 mixture of sodium butyl xanthate and reaflot was used as the dispersed emulsion. When colliding with the slurry particles of the minerals, the microemulsion of the flotation reagent spreads and hydrophobizes their surfaces. This, in turn, facilitates microbubble adhesion to such hydrophobized surfaces of the particles, improving the flotation process. A respective reagent usage regime was developed for the flotation of gold-bearing tailings using basic and composite flotation reagents. Under the optimal baseline conditions, a gold-bearing concentrate with the gold content of 6.8 g/t was obtained, with the recovery at 59.8 %. When using the dispersed emulsion of a composite flotation reagent, a gold-bearing concentrate containing 7.2 g/t of gold was obtained, with the recovery at 63.6 %. The use of a composite flotation reagent improves the recovery of gold into the gold-bearing concentrate by 3.8 % as compared to the basic collector (sodium butyl xanthate).The research was completed with the financial support of the Science Committee of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan under grant No. АР09259372.