Abstract
There is 0.032% cobalt and 0.56% sulfur in the cobalt-bearing V–Ti tailings in the Panxi Region, with the metal sulfide minerals mainly including FeS2, Fe1−xS, Co3S4, and (Fe,Co)S2, and the gangue minerals mainly including aluminosilicate minerals. The flotation process was used to recover cobalt and sulfur in the cobalt-bearing V–Ti tailings. The results showed that an optimized cobalt–sulfur concentrate with a cobalt grade of 2.08%, sulfur content of 36.12%, sulfur recovery of 85.79%, and cobalt recovery and 84.77% were obtained by flotation process of one roughing, three sweeping, and three cleaning under roughing conditions, which employed pulp pH of 8, grinding fineness of <0.074 mm occupying 80%, flotation concentration of 30%, and dosages of butyl xanthate, copper sulfate, and pine oil of 100 g/t, 30 g/t, and 20 g/t, respectively. Optimized one sweeping, two sweeping, and three sweeping conditions used a pulp pH of 9, and dosages of butyl xanthate, copper sulfate, and pine oil of 50 g/t, 15 g/t, 10 g/t; 25 g/t, 7.5 g/t, 5 g/t; 20 g/t, 5 g/t, 5 g/t, respectively. Optimized one cleaning, two cleaning, and three cleaning condition dosages of sodium silicate of 200 g/t, 100 g/t, 50 g/t, respectively. Study of analysis and characterization of cobalt–sulfur concentrate by X-ray diffraction (XRD), automatic mineral analyzer (MLA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) showed that the main minerals in cobalt–sulfur concentrate are FeS2, Co3S4 and (Fe,Co)S2, of which FeS2 and (Fe,Co)S2 accounted for 65.64% and Co3S4 for 22.64%. Gangue minerals accounted for 11.72%. The element Co in (Fe,Co)S2 is closely related to pyrite in the form of isomorphism, and the flotability difference between cobalt and pyrite is very small, which makes it difficult to separate cobalt and sulfur. Cobalt–sulfur concentrate can be used as raw material for further separation of cobalt and sulfur in smelting by pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical methods.
Highlights
As an important strategic material metal, cobalt plays an important role in national economic development
Cobalt–sulfur concentrate can be used as raw material for further separation of cobalt and sulfur in smelting by pyrometallurgical or hydrometallurgical methods
The ore samples used in this study were from low grade cobalt-bearing V–Ti magnetite tailings produced by a concentrator in the Panxi Region after concentrating iron and titanium
Summary
As an important strategic material metal, cobalt plays an important role in national economic development. It is an important raw material for the production of various high temperature and Processes 2019, 7, 536; doi:10.3390/pr7080536 www.mdpi.com/journal/processes. Processes 2019, 7, 536 corrosion resistant alloys, cemented carbides, superhard materials, magnetic materials, catalysts, and other materials [1]. It is widely used in industries such as aviation, aerospace, electrical appliances, machinery manufacturing, chemical industry and ceramics, etc. Cobalt–sulfur concentrate is the main raw material for extracting cobalt in industry. Pyrite is the main sulfur-bearing mineral in cobalt–sulfur concentrate [2]. As cobalt–sulfur concentrate mainly contains pyrite, pyrrhotite, and gangue minerals such as talc, quartz, and chlorite, it is sometimes difficult to obtain cobalt concentrate and sulfur concentrate separately
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