Feldspar Ore Research Articles

Removal of titanium impurities from feldspar ores by new flotation collectors

The principal impurities in some feldspar ores are titanium and iron, which impart color and in turn degrade the quality of the ore. Mineralogical investigations on the majority of Turkish feldspar ores indicate that rutile and, scarcely, sphene are the major titanium minerals and iron mainly originates from mica minerals. Conventionally, fatty acids, and particularly sodium oleate, are extensively used to float discoloring minerals from feldspar ores with reasonable success. In this study, new collectors, oleoyl sarcosine and hydroxamate, reported for the first time in the literature, have been used to float titanium impurities. It is found that compared to fatty acids these reagents achieve superior results. The mechanism of the action is elaborated on the basis of experimental data.

Upgrading titanium bearing Na-feldspar by flotation using sulphonates, succinamate and soaps of vegetable oils

Large reserves of feldspar ores exist in the Aegean region of Turkey. Unlike conventional ores, the main impurity in some of these deposits is titanium. In this study, the results of testwork carried out to determine flotation conditions for efficient separation of titatium bearing minerals from two different feldspar ores from the area are presented. The study commenced with mineralogical examination which indicated that the main titanium bearing mineral in the ore was rutile. Another titanium mineral, sphene, was also present in relatively small quantities. In the tests, the effects of particle size, pH, collector types and their amount were tested. The results showed that efficient separation of titanium bearing minerals could be achieved by oleate flotation at around pH 5, after grinding the ore down to 100% −180μm. Oleate provided results superior to sulphonates and succinamate. Equivalent success was obtained by the use of collectors prepared from locally available vegetable oils. Of the five oils tested, sunflower and cotton seed oils produced the most efficient separation.

Verbesserung der Wirksamkeit einiger lokaler Tenside bei der Flotation von ägyptischem Feldspat / Improving the efficiency of some local surfactants in the flotation process of egyptian feldspar

The efficiency of a local surfactant (dodecyl benzene sulphonic acid, DBSA), which is mainly used in detergency, was evaluated as a collector for the flotation of iron bearing minerals of an Egyptian feldspar ore. A very voluminous foam was obtained during the flotation experiments. Rice bran oil, a source of fatty acids, was used to regulate these foams. The flotation process was optimized by studying the effect of adding DBSA alone and mixtures of DBSA and rice bran oil. At the optimum conditions (3 kg/ton of 2:1:1 ratio of DBSA, rice bran oil and kerosene, pH 3) the iron content was lowered from 0.25% in the flotation feed to 0.12% in the concentrate. The flotation results are discussed in the light of surface tension and frothability tests.

Technical note beneficiation of egyptian feldspar for application in the glass and ceramics industries

Batch flotation tests were carried out to upgrade an Egyptian feldspar ore to meet the specifications required for the glass and ceramic industries. A flotation scheme consisting of two circuits was suggested. The first circuit was anionic flotation to remove the iron bearing minerals by using a mixture of local collectors (dodecyl benzene sulphonic acid : rice bran oil : kerosene). The second flotation circuit was a cationic one for direct flotation of the feldspar mineral from the associated free silica by using another local surfactant (quaternary ammonium salt) in the presence of HF acid. Both circuits were complimentary to each other and each had its own operating conditions. The results showed that a final concentrate assaying 89.5% feldspar mineral, 0.1% Fe 2O 3 and 18.65% Al 2O 3 was obtained, at the optimum operating conditions, from an ore containing about 11.97% Al 2O 3, 0.53% Fe 2O 3 and 57.5% feldspar mineral, satisfying the requirements of the glass and ceramic industries.

Reconnaissance and Economic Geology of Copper Mountain Metamorphic Complex, Owl Creek Mountains, Wyoming: ABSTRACT

The Copper Mountain metamorphic complex lies within a westerly trending belt of Precambrian exposures known as the Owl Creek Mountains uplift. This mountain range lies along the southern edge of the Big Horn basin, separating that basin from the Wind River basin to the south. Rocks of the metamorphic complex are exposed at Copper Mountain, at Wind River Canyon, and apparently continue several miles to the west on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The metamorphic complex at Copper Mountain is part of a larger complex known as the Owl Creek Mountains greenstone belt. Until more detailed mapping and petrographic studies can be completed, the Copper Mountain area is best referred to as a complex, even though it has some characteristics of a greenstone belt. The metamorphic complex is amphibolite-grade metamorphosed supracrustal rocks that have been migmatized along the north and south margins of the complex by the intrusion of leucogranitic stocks and batholiths. The regional trend of the metamorphic complex is N50° to 80°E, and regional foliation dips steeply to the south. The dominant structure along the southeastern margin of the belt is a synform. The supracrustal rocks are quartz, hornblende, plagioclase gneisses and schists, quartzites, para-amphibolites, pelitic schists, cordierite schists, iron formation, quartz-mica schists and gneisses, and intercalated orthoamphibolites. At least three episodes of Precambrian deformation have affected the supracrustals, and two have disturbed the granites. Prior to the intrusion of granite, the metamorphic complex experienced coaxial folding of the metasediments. Following the initial folding of the supracrustals, the Copper Mountain belt was intruded by leucogranite about 2.7 b.y. ago. This intrusive event is believed to be responsible for prograde metamorphism, as well as a second phase of deformation. Portions of the supracrustal belt were mineralized during the waning stages of the intrusive event. Some tungsten-bearing veins and calc-silicates were produced. Auriferous and cupriferous fracture-fill veins were formed, followed by emplacement of simple pegmatites. A final Precambrian deformation event was preceded by a weak thermal event expressed by retrogressive metamorphism and restricted metasomatic alteration. During this event, a second phase of pegmatitization was accompanied by hydrothermal solutions. During the Laramide orogeny, Copper Mountain was again modified by deformation. Laramide deformation produced complex gravity faults and keystone grabens. Uranium deposits were formed following major Laramide deformation. The genesis of these deposits is attributable to either the leaching of granites or the leaching of overlying tuffaceous sediments during the Tertiary. Production of metals and industrial minerals has been limited, although some gold, copper, silver, tungsten, beryl, feldspar, and lithium ore have been shipped from Copper Mountain. A large amount of uranium was produced from the Copper Mountain district in the 1950s. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1341------------

The economic effectiveness of a complex beneficiation of feldspar and quartz sands from the Kermin seam

Quartz and feldspars are the most important mineral raw materials for the production of various types of glass and ceramic. Its industrial value and the commercial cost rise with an increase in its quality or grade. High-grade quartz and feldspar raw materials can be obtained by the beneficiation of the natural quartz and feldspar ores. Beneficiation of glass and ceramic mineral raw materials has still not become sufficiently common. Thus, the treatment of the raw feldspar is only carried out at a few pegmatite and feldspar deposits. The industry requires potassium feldspars for the manufacture of high-strength ceramic goods. The critical shortage of high-quality feldspar materials is particularly apparent in the electrical, abrasive, and porcelain-faience industries [1] and also in the production of welding electrodes and fiat, rolled, and electrovacuum glass. The existing beneficiation enterprises cannot meet all the demands of industry for this raw material. They are sited mainly in the north-western, central, and eastern regions of our country. In the Central Asian Republics, the production of high quality feldspar concentrates has still not been organized. The Lyangar mine in Uzbekistan produces quartz and feldspar material with only a low potassium ratio from the leucocrat granites which are very difficult to process. No use is made of the favorable opportunities for obtaining quartz and feldspar sands (with a 10-15% concentration of potassium feldspars) from the Kermin, Azatbash, Maiskii, and other deposits. In order to obtain a feldspar material, most of the mining enterprises process granite-type ores. This leads to high processing costs since the cost of milling and grinding makes up the largest portion (60%) of the total cost of beneficiation. It is signifeantly more profitable to beneficiate quartz and feldspar sands. According to the data of the Uralmekhanobr Institute, the cost of additions and complex beneficiation of the Kermin quartz feldspar sands (Uzbek SSR) which produce high-grade microcline and quartz concentrates is several times lower than the cost of the additives and beneficiation of the dense ores (granites, etc.). We take as an example the highly profitable processing (beneficiation) of the quartz and feldspar sands from the Kermin deposits. The stocks of quartz and feldspar sands in this deposit are 5,900,000

CONTACT METAMORPHISM IN SANTA ROSA RANGE, NEVADA

The metamorphic rocks of the Santa Rosa Range of north-central Nevada represent a sequence of Upper Triassic (and Jurassic?) sediments that was 20,000 feet thick before it was strongly folded, metamorphosed, locally faulted, and intruded by granitic stocks. Each of the six formations is dominantly metapelitic, although quartzitic, calcareous, and dolomitic rocks are widespread. All the rocks were converted to metamorphic assemblages of quartz, albite, muscovite, chlorite, and carbonates before and during the regional folding. The nine stocks consist mainly of sodic granodiorite, but adamellite, trondhjemite, and tonalite are locally abundant. Early chilled apophyses show the magmas originally contained few if any crystals, and structural relationships prove the stocks are dominantly crosscutting (stoped?) bodies. Forty-six chemical analyses of metapelites show that most of the phyllites have percentage compositions close to: SiO2, 61.3; TiO2, 1.0; A12O3, 19.3; Fe2O3, 1.2; FeO, 5.5; MnO, 0.07; MgO, 1.9; CaO, 0.6; Na2O, 1.5; K2O, 3.0; H2O, 3.9; P2O5, 0.15. Besides dehydration, the only metasomatism during progressive contact metamorphism was minor desilication and addition of Fe around one stock. Although their compositions are similar, the rocks developed four combinations of critical minerals in the outer and intermediate parts of the aureoles, namely, cordierite-biotite, cordierite-andalusite-biotite, staurolite-andalusite-biotite, and andalusite-biotite. Textures and structures show that directed stress was equally effective in all these rocks. Around most of the stocks, contact metamorphism began with the reaction of chlorite and muscovite to biotite and andalusite; cordierite shortly joined these minerals. Near the stocks, muscovite and biotite were converted to K feldspar, cordierite, and iron ores, and sillimanite formed locally. Staurolitic rocks occur locally in the outer part of one of the cordieritic aureoles and form the major assemblage of another aureole, apparently having remained stable (or metastable) to the point where sillimanite formed, very near the stock. Andalusite-biotite rocks, typically mixed with the staurolitic rocks, formed also in the outer parts of the cordieritic aureoles, as well as by retrogressive reaction of cordierite to biotite deeper within these aureoles. Differences in original composition were considered as a possible reason for the four assemblages, and the cordierite-biotite rocks can be explained in this way; the others, however, cannot. The staurolitic assemblage apparently formed where magmatic fluids catalyzed the lower-temperature reactions, whereas the cordieritic rocks formed in drier aureoles where reactions could not go appreciably until higher temperatures were reached. Mineral assemblages of basaltic, calcareous, and impure dolomitic rocks show that the aureoles are almost entirely in amphibolite facies and perhaps partly in greenschist and pyroxene hornfels facies. In the final stages of igneous crystallization, fluids from the stocks desilicated the hornfels locally and added one or both alkalies. Later, cooler fluids rehydrated most of the contact-metamorphic rocks and added considerable K2O to them. This study emphasizes the influence of magmatic water on contact-metamorphic reactions; the relationships suggest that the rapid rate of heating by intrusive magma may be the most significant characteristic of contact, as compared to regional, metamorphism.

Flame Spectrophotometric Analysis of Glasses and Ores: I, Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Rubidium, and Cesium

The alkali elements in a wide range of glass and feldspar ore compositions can be rapidly determined with the flame spectrophotometer without making chemical separations. Flame photometer response to lithium, sodium, and potassium seems little affected by the presence of many of the glass constituents in concentration ranges commonly found in commercial glasses. The mean deviation in absolute per cent between chemical and flame photometer analyses for a series of twenty‐nine glass and ore samples is approximately 0.15% for each of the three common alkalis lithium, sodium, and potassium. Evaluation of the rubidium and cesium results was not possible since chemical analyses for these elements were not available.