Understanding the Entrainment Behavior of Gangue Minerals in Flake Graphite Flotation

Flotation is one of the most used methods to upgrade natural graphite resources. However, the efficiency is usually decreased due to the entrainment of undesirable fine gangue minerals. In this work, the impact of different factors such as particle size, pulp density, and flotation reagent on the entrainment of mica and quartz in a flake graphite flotation was studied. The single gangue mineral flotation results showed increased gangue entrainment when reducing the particle size of gangue minerals and increasing the pulp density. Moreover, the flotation of artificial mixtures indicated enhanced entrainment of mica and quartz in the presence of graphite particles. The collector and frother also strongly affect gangue entrainment by modifying the structure and stability of the froth. Kerosene, which has a prominent deforming feature, can reduce gangue entrainment more effectively than diesel.

Automated summary

This study investigated the effects of particle size, pulp density, and flotation reagent on the entrainment of mica and quartz in natural graphite flotation, and found that kerosene is more effective in reducing gangue entrainment compared to diesel.