XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 1183
minerals, disregarding their distinct flotation behaviors, as
depicted in Figure 13a. Consequently, none of the three
minerals were floated under optimal flotation conditions.
In the revised process illustrated in Figure 13b, the single-
stage process was transformed into a dual-stage process. The
original procedure was maintained up to the rougher and
cleaner stages and extended to the end of the first scavenger
stage. This adjustment aimed to float the scheelite, with the
pH set at 8.2 based on laboratory test findings.
The addition of the new reagents occurs in the tail-
ing of scavenger I, while the froth product of scavenger II
bypasses the rougher and instead enters four new cleaner
stages. The reagent setup for the new process is outlined in
Table 7, with the pH set at 8.2 for the main process and 9.0
for the secondary process.
Table 7. The regime of reagents in the original and new
process
Process Operation Reagents Dosage/(g/t)
Main
process
Feed Na
2 CO
3 550
Rougher Pb(NO
3 )
2 600
BHA 450
Cleaner I Al2(SO4)3 10
Na2SiO3 30
Secondary
process
Feed (tailing of
scavenger I)
Na
2 CO
3 240
Rougher Pb(NO
3 )
2 75
MBHA 75
Cleaner I Al2(SO4)3 15
Na2SiO3 45
Cleaner II Al2(SO4)3 10
Na
2 SiO
3 30
Figure 13. Original Pb-BHA flotation process (a), and modified Pb-BHA flotation process (b)