Selective Separation of Coloring Impurities from Feldspar Ore by Innovative Single-stage Flotation

ABSTRACT

The classical use of an anionic collector does not lead to a satisfactory flotation response for feldspars with high content of mica, iron, and titanium oxides. Therefore, amine-type cationic reagents are preferred together with an anionic reagent to remove especially problematic mica minerals. In this study, main colored impurities in the albite ore were efficiently removed by single-stage flotation using newly developed anionic-cationic mixed reagents. 2408 collector alone achieved much greater results at 1000 g/t dosage and a salable feldspar concentrate assaying 0.03% Fe₂O₃ and 0.07% TiO₂ was successfully produced with 93% Na₂O recovery at natural pH. The synergistic effects of 2404 and 2408 collectors, which were successful in removing iron and titanium oxides, were investigated and a feldspar concentrate with 0.04% Fe₂O₃ and 0.03% TiO₂ was obtained at a slightly basic pH medium. With this novel and innovative approach, the increased capacity, easier control, less unit cost, and low collector dosage can be easily achieved using a single collector without the need for any frother or pH adjusting agents.

Highlights

• CustoFloat 2408 has been singled out to be the best performer among all other potential collectors.

• A salable feldspar concentrate assaying 0.03% Fe₂O₃ and 0.07% TiO₂ was successfully produced in single stage flotation.

• 1000 g/t collector concentration succeeded in removing 95% of mica minerals.

KEYWORDS:

• Feldspar
• flotation
• collector
• synergistic effect

Acknowledgments

The present study is based on the results of the MSc thesis conducted at the Istanbul Technical University and supported by BAP (Scientific Research Project) Department with project ID 42457. We would like to thank Dr. Hüseyin Baştürkcü in Esan Company for providing the feldspar sample and the chemical analyses. Special thanks to Abdulkadir Görken and Guoxin Wang in Arkema-ArrMaz Company for supplying the collectors.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher’s website

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Istanbul Technical University with project number 42457.