Selective Flotation of Calcite from Fluorite: A Novel Reagent Schedule

Zhiyong Gao,Yuesheng Gao,Yuehua Hu,Yiyang Zhu,Wei Sun

doi:10.3390/min6040114

Abstract

Fluorite is an important strategic mineral. In general, fluorite ores will contain a certain amount of calcite gangue mineral. Thus, they need to be separated from each other. For an economic separation, a reverse flotation process is used to float calcite gangue from fluorite. However, little information on the separation is available. In this study, a novel reagent schedule using citric acid (CA) as the depressant, sodium fluoride (NaF) as the regulator and sulfoleic acid (SOA) as the collector, was developed to separate calcite from fluorite. The results demonstrated a high selectivity for the flotation of calcite from fluorite using this new reagent schedule. The best selective separation for a single mineral and mixed binary minerals was obtained when 200 mg/L of NaF, 50 mg/L of CA, and 6 mg/L of SOA were used at pH 9. In addition, a batch flotation experiment was carried out using a run-of-mine feed material. Selective separation was achieved with 85.18% calcite removal while only 11.2% of fluorite was lost. An attempt was made to understand the effect of the new reagent schedule on the flotation of calcite. The results from both microflotation and bench scale flotation demonstrated a great potential for industrial application using this novel reagent schedule to upgrade fluorite ore.

Highlights

Fluorite (CaF2 ), which is a major resource of fluorine, has been considered to be an important strategic mineral in recent years
The flotation behavior of calcite and fluorite using sulfoleic acid (SOA) as the collector was evaluated by the single mineral flotation
A novel reagent schedule of depressant citric acid (CA), regulator NaF and collector SOA was developed in in this work. It demonstrates a high selectivity for the flotation removal of calcite from this work

Summary

Introduction

Fluorite (CaF2 ), which is a major resource of fluorine, has been considered to be an important strategic mineral in recent years. Fluorite mineral are often associated with calcite (CaCO3 ), and needs to be separated from each other by flotation. A fluorite-rich-ore usually contains 30% of fluorite and. A reverse flotation of calcite while depressing fluorite is generally considered according to the principle of “float less and depress more” [1]. Little information was reported for this separation. It is not practical to achieve their separation using a traditional flotation reagent. It is necessary to develop new reagents for efficient flotation of calcite from fluorite. There has been little information reported about reagents scheme in this system

Methods

Results

Conclusion