Selective flotation of chalcopyrite from pyrite using diphosphonic acid as collector

Abstract

Ethyl xanthate (EX) is a widely used collector in the flotation of sulfide minerals. However, it also has the disadvantages of low selectivity and harm to human health. Screening and/or designing more selective and green collectors is a ‘hot topic’ in mineral processing field. In this work, 1-Hydroxyethylidene-1, 1-diphosphonic acid (HEDP), a cheap green reagent widely used in water treatment, was for the first time, applied in the flotation separation of chalcopyrite from pyrite. In addition, a comparative test of the traditional EX collector was also carried out. Flotation results of single mineral and binary mineral mixture showed that HEDP possessed a better selectivity for the separation of chalcopyrite from pyrite than EX. Zeta potential measurement results indicated that HEDP exhibited a stronger adsorption on chalcopyrite and a weaker interaction with pyrite. Hence, HEDP is a promising collector that possesses the potential to replace EX in future chalcopyrite flotation practice.