Flotation of molybdenite fines as hydrophobic agglomerates

The flotation of molybdenite fines as hydrophobic agglomerates has been studied through micro-flotation and microscopy observations in this work. The hydrophobic agglomeration was achieved with a strong mechanical conditioning and a small amount of kerosene addition. The experimental results showed that floc-flotation is much more effective than conventional flotation for the beneficiation of molybdenite fines. At the same flotation time, floc-flotation reached the flotability of 90%, while conventional flotation only did 35%. The most important parameters in the floc-flotation were mechanical conditioning strength and kerosene addition. A good floc-flotation could be achieved by applying a high-speed stirring for a short time. The kerosene enhancement of the floc-flotation closely correlated with droplet size of kerosene emulsion. The smaller were the droplets, the better the floc-flotation was. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.