Abstract
Previous studies have not examined the effect of iron content in sphalerite on magnesium depressing sphalerite. Herein, the impact of magnesium on the sphalerite flotation with different iron contents was investigated through experiments and various analytical techniques in this work. Flotation trials showed that the depression of magnesium on the flotation of sphalerite could be significantly improved with the increasing iron contents. Solution chemical calculations indicated that MgOH+ was the dominant group in solution under high-alkalinity environment. Zeta potential measurements demonstated that substitution of iron in sphalerite promoted adsorption of MgOH+ on the mineral surface. FTIR analysis indicated that Mg(OH)2 was more likely to adsorb on the surface of high iron marmatite. Surface properties investigations corroborated that Mg could produce Mg(OH)2 on the high-iron marmatite surface, improving the hydrophilicity of the surface. DFT calculations confirmed that the surface of iron-substituted sphalerite was more likely to interact with Mg(OH)2 than MgOH+. The present work provides new mechanistic sight for the depression of magnesium on the flotation of sphalerite with different iron contents.
Published Version
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