2302 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
to identify greener, biodegradable, natural, non-toxic, and
cost-effective reagents. Fatty acid type collectors (FACs) are
among the suggested solutions, these compounds can be
derived from vegetable oils, animal fat etc. They are pre-
pared thorough a saponification reaction consisting of lib-
erating the fatty acid from the triglyceride backbone in the
form of fatty acid salts. For instance, it has been shown that
some FACs can effectively separate apatite mineral from
its gangue in phosphate ores when introducing an efficient
depressant to this mineral system. These include olive, flax-
seed, mustard, nigella, castor oils based collectors (Derhy et
al., 2024, 2022). In some conditions, they show a compa-
rable performance to commercial collectors. Nevertheless,
their competition with human consumption increases the
necessity of identifying other sources that offer the advan-
tage of being non useful for human consumption. Waste
frying oils can be a highly promising alternative since this
resource may represent a risk to the environment and need
serious management in terms of responsible disposal. The
FAC derived from kitchen waste frying oils are therefore
identified as a potential reagent source. They showed good
performance in recovering carbonate or apatite fractions
when an appropriate depressant is used to depress one of
the mineral fractions (El-bahi et al., 2024 Yu et al., 2018).
In this study, frying oil, Ricinus, and mustard oils were
chosen as oil samples to prepare sustainable, biodegradable,
and cost-effective collectors to sustainably recover the apa-
tite fraction from a phosphated flint sample.
The approach of the study begins with a fundamen-
tal investigation to gain a thorough understanding of the
complexities associated with apatite recovery from the
waste material. It involves a comprehensive analysis of the
waste’s mineralogical composition, as well as zeta potential
measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
analysis, and adsorption experiments to determine the inter-
actions between apatite and quartz minerals with different
collectors. Following this, practical flotation experiments
are performed in order to verify the efficacy of the collec-
tors in achieving apatite mineral separation from gangue,
along with assessing the feasibility of this sustainable sepa-
ration process. Through the integration of environmentally
conscious practices and the use of alternative reagents, this
study attempts to pave the way for a more sustainable and
eco-friendly approach to phosphate recovery, aligning with
the global shift toward greener industrial practices.
EXPERIMENTAL PART
Methodology
Figure 1 schematically summarizes the adopted methodol-
ogy of this research study. Overall, the aim of this study
was to investigate the possibility of recovering apatite min-
eral fraction from phosphate flint found in phosphate mine
waste rock using sustainable flotation collectors. For this
purpose, a fundamental study was separately conducted on
the minerals contained in the studied system. The objec-
tive of the fundamental study is to assess the adsorption
behavior of the studied collectors onto the apatite and the
Figure 1. The adopted experimental methodology in this study
to identify greener, biodegradable, natural, non-toxic, and
cost-effective reagents. Fatty acid type collectors (FACs) are
among the suggested solutions, these compounds can be
derived from vegetable oils, animal fat etc. They are pre-
pared thorough a saponification reaction consisting of lib-
erating the fatty acid from the triglyceride backbone in the
form of fatty acid salts. For instance, it has been shown that
some FACs can effectively separate apatite mineral from
its gangue in phosphate ores when introducing an efficient
depressant to this mineral system. These include olive, flax-
seed, mustard, nigella, castor oils based collectors (Derhy et
al., 2024, 2022). In some conditions, they show a compa-
rable performance to commercial collectors. Nevertheless,
their competition with human consumption increases the
necessity of identifying other sources that offer the advan-
tage of being non useful for human consumption. Waste
frying oils can be a highly promising alternative since this
resource may represent a risk to the environment and need
serious management in terms of responsible disposal. The
FAC derived from kitchen waste frying oils are therefore
identified as a potential reagent source. They showed good
performance in recovering carbonate or apatite fractions
when an appropriate depressant is used to depress one of
the mineral fractions (El-bahi et al., 2024 Yu et al., 2018).
In this study, frying oil, Ricinus, and mustard oils were
chosen as oil samples to prepare sustainable, biodegradable,
and cost-effective collectors to sustainably recover the apa-
tite fraction from a phosphated flint sample.
The approach of the study begins with a fundamen-
tal investigation to gain a thorough understanding of the
complexities associated with apatite recovery from the
waste material. It involves a comprehensive analysis of the
waste’s mineralogical composition, as well as zeta potential
measurements, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy
analysis, and adsorption experiments to determine the inter-
actions between apatite and quartz minerals with different
collectors. Following this, practical flotation experiments
are performed in order to verify the efficacy of the collec-
tors in achieving apatite mineral separation from gangue,
along with assessing the feasibility of this sustainable sepa-
ration process. Through the integration of environmentally
conscious practices and the use of alternative reagents, this
study attempts to pave the way for a more sustainable and
eco-friendly approach to phosphate recovery, aligning with
the global shift toward greener industrial practices.
EXPERIMENTAL PART
Methodology
Figure 1 schematically summarizes the adopted methodol-
ogy of this research study. Overall, the aim of this study
was to investigate the possibility of recovering apatite min-
eral fraction from phosphate flint found in phosphate mine
waste rock using sustainable flotation collectors. For this
purpose, a fundamental study was separately conducted on
the minerals contained in the studied system. The objec-
tive of the fundamental study is to assess the adsorption
behavior of the studied collectors onto the apatite and the
Figure 1. The adopted experimental methodology in this study