Effect of activator on foam properties in sulfurous iron ore flotation

Sulfurous iron minerals with recovery value are contained in a lead-zinc tailing in Fujian Province, China. However, the sulfurous iron minerals are depressed by lime in the early lead-zinc flotation, therefore it is necessary to use appropriate activators to improve the floatability of the mineral. The property of flotation foam can directly reflect the quality of the flotation index. The addition of activators can also change the properties of flotation foam. In this paper, an effective activator combination was selected through actual mine tests and foam analysis. The mineralogical study of the lead-zinc tailing was first carried out through chemical multi-element analysis and XRD. The flotation tests on the recovery of sulfurous iron ore by different activators were carried out. Finally, a foam scanning analyzer was used to test and analyze the frothing performance and froth stability of the slurry under different activation conditions. The results showed that the dispersion-activation flotation and dispersion-combined activation flotation can help to improve the frothing performance of the slurry and improve the flotation indexes. At the same time, the enhanced activated flotation can also reduce the froth stability indexes (FSI) to less than 20 s, and the reduction of the froth stability can help to improve the flotation recovery. For each activation flotation process that achieves the best flotation index, the frothing performance and foam stability of the pulp is close to that of the flotation tests index.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MNiSW, umowa nr POPUL/SP/0154/2024/02 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki II" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki (2025).