Electrostatic separation of muscovite mica from feldspathic pegmatites

摘要

The paper presents the laboratory experiments for concentrating muscovite mica from feldspathic pegmatites in high-intensity electric field. The experiments have been carried out on a roll type research electroseparator and a (0.16...0.4)mm sample. Four separation procedures were tested: 1) DC electrostatic separation with thermal conditioning of the sample; 2) AC electrostatic separation at ambient temperature; 3) DC corona separation using metallic-surface rotating electrode; 4) DC corona separation using dielectric-surface rotating roll. The best quality of mica has been obtained in the last procedure by a three stages separation experiment: 46.11% SiO{sub}2, 33.64% Al{sub}2O{sub}3 and 11.1% (K{sub}2O+Nn{sub}2O). In all four procedures the grade of mica concentrate fulfils the requirements of several industrial applications such as welding wires manufacturing.