In the mineral processing, clay minerals have negative effects on the flotation of valuable minerals. In this study, we investigated how the floatability of malachite (CuCO_3-Cu(OH)_2) is affected by presence of the clay minerals in the fundamental aspects. Flotation experiments were conducted by using Na_2S and PAX (potassium amyl xanthate), and the floatability of malachite was compared between the cases in the presence and absence of clay minerals. The results showed that floatability was greater in the absence of clay minerals than in the presence of clay minerals and decreased with increasing weight percent of kaolinite under same conditions applied. In addition to examine how clay minerals affect malachite floatability, we conducted flotation experiment with changing clay adding order. The results indeed showed that malachite floatability was affected by clay adding sequence.
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