Abstract
A new electrochemical cell was developed so that the impact of conditions during liberation could be related to mineral hydrophobicity. Mineral electrodes were polished in situ in the test electrolyte and allowed to achieve their rest potentials after aeration of the electrolyte. The procedure was designed to represent a grinding-flotation system and the hydrophobicity of chalcopyrite, pentlandite and pyrrhotite electrodes was found to be dependent on the following factors: (1) rate of increase in anodic potential following cleaning of the electrode; (2) presence of iron which causes galvanic coupling effects; and (3) pH variations during electrode cleaning; as well as other relevant variables (e.g. xanthate dosage). The cell produced more reliable predictions of mineral hydrophobicity than the simple potential scanning procedures which involved the arbitary choice of initial and final polarization potential. The observations made using the new cell favourably compared with flotation data. Mineral selectivity was a function of polarization of the particle surfaces and the rate of increase in the anodic potential of the pulp.
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