National University of Science and Technology MISIS (Moscow, Russia):
Nikolaev A. A., Associate Professor, Candidate of Engineering Sciences, Associate Professor, nikolaevopr@mail.ru
Konyrova A., Student
Goryachev B. E., Professor, Doctor of Engineering Sciences, Professor, beg@misis.ru

The kinetics of mineralization of air bubbles by sphalerite particles (fractions of –0.1+0.074, –0.074+0.044, –0.044+0 mm) was studied, with mixing of the mineral suspension. Copper sulfate was used as an activator reagent and propyl xanthate potassium and isopropyl aeroflot were used as collector reagents. A method is proposed for assessing the kinetics of gas bubble mineralization. The results demonstrate an increase in the relative area of mineralization with longer mixing times of the suspension. Sphalerite activation by copper ions manifests itself in larger mineralization areas and higher mineralization rates. Differences in mineralization kinetics are shown for the two collectors. When using xanthate, a larger mineralization area and a higher mineralization rate were observed, as compared to aeroflot. However, the average bubble mineralization rate for sphalerite with the grain size of –0.1+0.074 mm at the copper sulfate and collector concentrations of 0.1 and 0.01 %, respectively, was approximately 0.2 min–1, which was similar for both collectors. This may explain the similar flotation activity of large fractions of activated sphalerite caused by xanthate or aeroflot. It has been established that the rate of bubble mineralization by activated sphalerite with the fineness of –0.074+0.044 mm was independent of time when using aeroflot. For xanthate, the mineralization rate at the initial moment was slightly higher than that at the end of the process. The experiments demonstrate that particle size affected the mineralization area and rate: larger particle sizes resulted in an increase in the average mineralization rate of 0.063 to 0.198 min^–1 for aeroflot and in a decrease from 0.492 to 0.199 min^–1 for xanthate.

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