Oxidative Depression of Arsenopyrite by Using Calcium Hypochlorite and Sodium Humate

During smelting, arsenic in copper concentrates affects the product quality and causes environmental pollution. Removing arsenic minerals from copper concentrates requires environmental-friendly and cost-effective depressants for flotation separation. Ca(ClO)2 was combined with sodium humate (SH) to...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Minerals (Basel) 2018-10, Vol.8 (10), p.463
Main Authors: Lin, Shangyong, Liu, Runqing, Bu, Yongjie, Wang, Chen, Wang, Li, Sun, Wei, Hu, Yuehua
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adsorption
Analytical methods
Arsenic
Arsenic content
Arsenic removal
Arsenopyrite
Calcium
Calcium hypochlorite
Chalcopyrite
Copper
Depressants
Experiments
Flotation
Fourier transforms
Hydrophobicity
Industrial applications
Infrared spectroscopy
Maximum entropy method
Mineral processing
Minerals
Oxidation
Particle size
Photoelectron spectroscopy
Potassium
Reagents
Separation
Smelting
Sodium
sodium humate
Spectrum analysis
Studies
Surface chemistry
X ray spectra
Zeta potential
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:During smelting, arsenic in copper concentrates affects the product quality and causes environmental pollution. Removing arsenic minerals from copper concentrates requires environmental-friendly and cost-effective depressants for flotation separation. Ca(ClO)2 was combined with sodium humate (SH) to improve the flotation separation of chalcopyrite from arsenopyrite. Results of single-mineral flotation indicated that combined Ca(ClO)2 and SH significantly inhibited arsenopyrite and exerted a negligible effect on chalcopyrite. The arsenic content in copper concentrates significantly decreased from 63% to 11% in the absence of a depressant and in the presence of Ca(ClO)2 and SH, as proven by the mixed-mineral flotation results. SH can adsorb on both mineral surfaces as indicated by the zeta potential measurements and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. However, the presence of Ca(ClO)2 increased the adsorption of arsenopyrite compared with chalcopyrite. The arsenopyrite floatability depressed with the Ca(ClO)2 oxidation and subsequent SH adsorption, as verified by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Results of flotation tests confirmed that the chalcopyrite surface was slightly oxidized, but it remained hydrophobic. The combination of depressants has the potential for industrial application.
ISSN:2075-163X
2075-163X
DOI:10.3390/min8100463