Journal
MINERALS ENGINEERING
Volume 116, Issue -, Pages 101-106Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.mineng.2017.02.010
Keywords
Rare earth elements; Rare earth minerals; Flotation; Zeta potential; Monazite; Dolomite; Benzohydroxamic acid; Sodium oleate; Organic phosphoric acid; Phosphoric acid ester
Funding
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through the Collaborative Research and Development Program [CRDPJ 453164-13]
- Niobec through the Collaborative Research and Development Program [CRDPJ 453164-13]
- Magris Resources Company through the Collaborative Research and Development Program [CRDPJ 453164-13]
- McGill Engineering Doctoral Award
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Rare earth elements (REE) are key components of many emerging green technologies. This leads to an increase in demand for REE, hence to the development of new deposits, such as the Niobec carbonatite rare earth deposit in Quebec, Canada. One of the valuable minerals in this deposit is monazite, one of the primary sources of REE. Although there has already been previous research investigating monazite flotation, most of these are focused on monazite from heavy mineral deposits. Since minerals from different deposits may behave differently, it is important to investigate the flotation behavior of monazite from carbonatites as well. This work investigates the surface properties of monazite from carbonatite deposit through zeta potential analyses. Electrophoretic zeta potential measurements were conducted to identify the interaction of monazite and dolomite, a gangue mineral commonly associated with carbonatites, with different collectors (namely sodium oleate, organic phosphoric acid and benzohydroxamic acid). Floatability of the minerals were analyzed through microflotation tests, to obtain the potential conditions for effective separation. Zeta potential measurements of monazite and dolomite showed that the isoelectric point (IEP) for both minerals occur at a pH of approximately 5. Sodium oleate, benzohydroxamic acid and Flotinor 1682 (organic phosphoric acid) have been shown to adsorb on to monazite at pH 7. The results suggest that benZohydroxamic acid can be selective at neutral pH condition, sodium oleate can be potentially used in reverse flotation of monazite in acidic condition and Flotinor 1682 (organic phosphoric acid) can be a potential collector for monazite. However, the use of reagents such as activators and depressants is suggested to achieve a more selective separation. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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