An agglomeration study of sulphide minerals using zeta potential and settling rate. Part II: sphalerite/pyrite and sphalerite/galena

摘要

Zeta potential and agglomeration were studied inPart I for galena and pyrite in the presence of Ca ,Pb and Fe (II)ions ,and each other .In Part II ,the study is extended to sphaleritein the presence of Ca ,Pb and Fe (II) ions ,and in the presence ofgalena or pyrite.The added ions consistently increased the iso-electric-point(iep) .The maximum agglomeration did not correspond to the iepfor sphalerite alone or with Ca ions but increased with pH .Anattractive hydrophobic force is suggested .For Pb and Fe (II)ions ,maximum agglomeration did occur close to the iep .Leadions promoted agglomeration ,while Fe (II) had a minordispersing effect .With the mixtures of sphalerite with eitherpyrite or galena ,maximum agglomeration corresponded to thezeta-potential of the two minerals approaching zero .For equalsized particles at least ,homo-and hetreocoagulation appear to occur.The results are compared to those in Part I and some observationson the relevance of these observations to flotation selectivity are offered.