Selective flocculation-flotation of fine spodumene with anionic polyacrylamide flocculant and calcium activator

Abstract

Fine spodumene particles are typically lost to tailings during desliming in conventional flotation circuits. This study presents the first investigation of selective flocculation-flotation as a method to recover fine spodumene using high-molecular-weight anionic polyacrylamide (PAM) flocculants with calcium activation and sodium oleate (NaOl) collector. Using a synthetic ore mixture of fine spodumene and quartz (30 wt% spodumene, d50 values of 22 µm and 11 µm respectively), the effects of pH, Ca(II) dose, collector dose, flocculant dose, flocculant charge density and reagent addition sequence were systematically examined. A key finding is that premixing the flocculant and collector prior to ..