Tin Ore Flotation Process

Posted on: Oct 16, 2021, · 3 min read.

There are more than ten kinds of tin-bearing mineral deposits. At present, tin used in industry mainly comes from cassiterite. Because the density of cassiterite is relatively high (6.4~7.1g/cm3), the primary method of beneficiation of cassiterite is reselection. However, because cassiterite is brittle, it is simply siltified in nature and in the process of crushing, grinding, and beneficiation. Therefore, it is of great significance to recover the fine-grained cassiterite from the fine mud and tailings by flotation.

Flotation method of cassiterite

Cassiterite is simply collected by various fatty acids and soaps. Therefore, oleic acid, tall oil, oxidized white wax soap, nylon 1010 bottoms, alkyl sulfates, alkyl sulfonates, sulfosuccinamide, etc., can all be used as collectors for cassiterite. Experimental studies have shown that flotation of cassiterite with methyl, benzylarsonic acid and ethylene can sometimes achieve better goals.

When oleic acid is used as a collector for flotation of cassiterite, the pH value is generally around 9.0~9.5. When flotation of cassiterite with A as a collector, the PH value of the rough separation is generally 5-6, while the PH value of the fine selection can be reduced to 2.5-4.0. When adjusting the PH value of ore pulp, chemicals such as sodium carbonate and sulfuric acid are often used. During the flotation of cassiterite, it is generally necessary to participate in the silicate deposits associated with the suppression of water glass. Sodium hexametaphosphate and carboxymethyl cellulose are used to suppress calcium-magnesium deposits, and oxalic acid is added to suppress wolframite.

The material of flotation is generally gravity separation tailings smaller than 0.04mm, and the sludge smaller than 0.01mm is removed first. If the flotation ore is vein tin ore, it is often accompanied by sulfide deposits of iron, arsenic, antimony, lead, copper, zinc and other metals. At this moment, it is necessary to use the activator of the sulfide mineral deposit to first float the sulfide mineral deposit, and then flotate the cassiterite to prevent the sulfide from polluting the cassiterite concentrate.

Cassiterite Flotation Case

The raw ore of a tin mine in a certain place is a high- and medium-temperature hydrothermal cassiterite sulfide deposit. The composition of the mineral deposits is chaotic. The metal deposits include pyrrhotite, magnetite, pyrite, arsenopyrite, bismuthite, galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite, etc., and non-metallic deposits include carbonate and silicic acid. Salt and halides. Cassiterite is yellowish-brown and black, with fine-grained interspersed, most of which are powdered aggregates embedded in pyrrhotite, and a small part are scattered in the form of scattered particles in magnetite and skarn deposits. The largest grain is 0.55mm, and the smallest is 0.002mm, generally between 0.15mm and 0.02mm. The ore feed for cassiterite flotation is desulfurization, iron removal and the tailings after the coarse-grained cassiterite is recovered by the shaker.

Shaker tailings are dehydrated by advanced densification machines, and after dehydration, the tailings are discarded by a centrifuge. The centrifuge concentrate is dewatered by the densifier and then fed into the mixing tank to add medicine for slurry adjustment. Salicylic hydroxamic acid is used as a collector, sodium carbonate is used to adjust the pH of the slurry to 7-8, tannin extract is used as a suppressant, and No. 2 oil is used as a foaming agent. The tin concentrate is selected through one roughing, two sweeping, three fine sweeping and one fine sweeping. The raw ore contains 1.0%~1.3% tin, the flotation concentrate grade is 1.3%~16%, and the recovery rate is 72%~76%.

The production practice indicates that the low-toxic salicylic hydroxamic acid can completely replace the highly toxic arsine acid, which greatly reduces the environmental pollution problems in the production and use of the medicine. Combination of tin mud and tin smelting slag beneficiation reagents Application intention: tin mud and smelting slag tin extraction flotation function: with outstanding collection and selectivity, it can replace the traditional reagent benzylarsonic acid for tin selection and overcome benzylarsine Acid agents are expensive and toxic.

Suggested dosage: 400-800 g/ton for ore. Manufacturing method: 2-5% aqueous solution (weight ratio), dissolved in warm water at 40°C. Scope of application: low-grade tin mud and smelting slag can select more than 40% tin concentrate powder from 1.5% tin at room temperature (minimum temperature 5℃), and the recovery rate is more than 70%. Environmental protection function: The medicament has low toxicity, is friendly to people and the environment, and is easily biodegradable.

feature of product:

1. Properties: The product is pink to orange-red powdery solid, slightly soluble in water, easily soluble in alkaline solution, and stable in nature.
2. Efficient selection of new tin chemicals;
3. The pharmacy guidelines are simple and low cost;
4. Environment Friendly. Under certain conditions, the combined collector has good selectivity.

This product can form stable chelate with tin, tungsten, rare earth, copper, iron and other metals, and form unstable chelate with alkaline earth metals and alkali metals. Therefore, the combination drug is used in the flotation operation of some metal deposits. Shows that it has a better sorting effect. Combination of combined drugs with floating weight can achieve very amazing effects. Generally, the total recovery can reach more than 85%.