Research Institute of Comprehensive Exploitation of Mineral Resources named after Academician N. V. Melnikov, RAS, Moscow, Russia:

T. N. Matveeva, Head of the Department of Complex Extraction of Mineral Components from Natural and Technogenic Raw Materials, Doctor of Technical Sciences
V. V. Getman, Senior Researcher Candidate of Technical Sciences, e-mail: viktoriki.v@gmail.com
A. Yu. Karkeshkina, Researcher Candidate of Technical Sciences

The use of traditional reagents for flotation does not fully provide a sufficient degree of separation, high recovery of metals and is accompanied by significant losses (up to 35–50%) of non-ferrous and noble metals. An innovative solution to improve the efficiency and selectivity of the flotation process is the development of new effective and environmentally friendly domestic reagents that can significantly increase the extraction of fine and ultrafine mineral components from hard-to-wash raw materials. Among the representatives of such reagents are water-soluble polymers that are sensitive to temperature changes. The studies were carried out on monomineral samples of chalcopyrite, pyrite, and galena. As an additional reagent-collector for the flotation separation of finely divided products (95–99% of the 0.074 mm class) containing non-ferrous and noble metals, a modified polymer polyvinyl caprolactam (PVKMDTK) has been proposed. Using electron and laser microscopy, the adsorption of PVKMDTK on K sulfide minerals that are a part of polycomponent ores, chalcopyrite and galena, has been identified. It has been established that PVKMDTK exhibits selective K collecting properties with respect to sulfide minerals under flotation conditions. It increases the floatability of galena and chalcopyrite and does not float pyrite, which, under ore flotation conditions, will improve the quality of the bulk copper-lead concentrate.
The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 22-17-00149, https://rscf.ru/project/22-17-00149/

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