Effects of type and dosages of organic depressants on pyrite floatability in microflotation system

Pyrite is considered as a disturbing sulfide mineral in the beneficiation of sulfide minerals and coal and in order to prevent floating of pyrite in the flotation, different inorganic, organic and biological depressants could be used. The most important organic pyrite depressants are starch, dextrin, guargum, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), ethylene diamine tetra acetic acid (EDTA), Diethylenetriamine (DETA). In this paper, flotation experiments were carried out by modified Halimond tube. At first, flotation experiments were performed to obtain optimal pyrite flotation condition (suitable collector and frother for maximum recovery). In optimal condition (collector: KAX + KIPX, 16 ppm; collector condition time: 4 min; frother: Poly Propylene Glycol (A65), 20 ppm; frother condition time: 30 s), pyrite recovery increased to 95.63%. Flotation kinetics experiments were performed and various kinetic models were evaluated on pyrite flotation. The results showed that flotation kinetics of pyrite is second-order. After obtaining optimal condition for flotation and kinetic studies, the effects of type and dosage of different organic depressants including starch, dextrin, guargum, carboxymethyl cellulose, EDTA and DETA at three concentrations (50, 100, 150 ppm) at neutral pH were comprehensively investigated. The results of the experiments showed that DETA can significantly reduce the recovery of pyrite at 150 ppm by 44%. (C) 2018 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.