ABSTRACT
Thermodynamic concepts are shown to be inadequate when applied to the complex multi-staged and fast formation process of a flotation complex and the relevance is demonstrated of studying the interaction kinetics of a mineral particle and a gas bubble. A mechanism is proposed explaining the formation of flotation contact, in which both the ionic and physical forms of sorption, active with respect to the gas-liquid interface, play the key role. Sorption is physically represented by either ion-molecular associates or long-chain collectors. While in the flotation of semiconductor sulfides the physically sorbed collector form is formed by an electrochemical mechanism and is represented by xanthate-dixanthogenide associates, where the flotation of dielectric minerals is activated by heavy metal ions, xanthate ion-metal xanthate associates can take on this role. Physically, the collector’s sorption form is present in the collector-free flotation, where polysulfide forms act as the former. It is shown that metal xanthate – dixanthogen – xanthate ion mixtures forming when flotation is activated by copper have especially high collector performance.
Disclosure statement
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.