Study of the possibility of selective flotation of quartz-feldspar ore of Quang Nam deposit (Vietnam)

Abstract

The article presents the results of the study of the possibility of selective flotation of the main minerals of quartz-feldspar ore of Quang Nam deposit (Vietnam) - mica and feldspars in the presence of cationic collector ArmacT, in order to remove iron-bearing minerals and isolation of mica and feldspars into high quality concentrates. The adsorption regularities of the ArmacT cationic collector on mineral surfaces were studied. Results of zeta potential measurements showed that at pH = 2 the functional group of ArmacT collector has a significantly higher affinity for mica compared with both feldspar and quartz. Analysis of Fourier transform infrared spectra showed that the highest intensity of ArmacT adsorption on mica is observed at pH = 2, while the highest sorption intensity for feldspar and quartz was observed at pH = 5. The possibility of reducing the iron content during flotation obtaining feldspar concentrate from quartz-feldspar ore samples of Quang Nam deposit was investigated. Experiments performed under laboratory conditions on the DENVER flotation machine allowed us to determine the following optimal conditions for the selective flotation of mica and iron-bearing minerals, which allowed us to obtain highquality mica and feldspar concentrates:– рН regulator concentration (H2SO4O) – 2000 g/t; – the collector concentration (sodium oleate and ArmacT) was 300 g/t and 200 g/t, respectively;– flotation time 3 min.