FLOTATION OF COMPOSITE SYNTHETIC PARTICLES

摘要

The objective of this study is to relate the flotation of coarse composite particles with their mineral composition and more particularly with the percentage, type, hydrophobicity and distribution of each mineral phase in the composite particles. For this, synthetic composite particles of quartz particles in a lead borate matrix were fabricated with different locking textures and particle sizes. Backscattered scanning electron microscopy of the composite particles imbedded in epoxy resin was used to measure the number of particles in each flotation product, their size and liberation class. Selective quartz hydrophobisation was achieved with addition of trimethylchlorosilane. The flotation of these composite particles decreased with increasing particle size and decreasing liberation class and was higher for composite particles with a complex locking texture than a simple locking texture. These trends in flotation were related to the hydrophobicity of these particles and their strength of detachment from bubbles.