XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 2423
of concentrate was not possible. No improvement was
observed with an increase in PAX dosage to 120 and
180 g/t. This suggests that the conventional collectors may
be less effective for coarse particle flotation, which may be
attributable to various reasons. Firstly, the collector may
not be strong enough to result in effective bubble-particle
attachment. Also, the absence of a froth layer affects the
flotation recovery with the conventional collector. This may
potentially be due to a lack of stabilizing hydrophobic par-
ticles, although this was not observed with the other studies
with kerosene and kerosene emulsion. Lastly, the particles
may have been easily detached from the air bubbles and/or
settled quickly due to their coarse sizes, though this again
was not observed with the later samples with kerosene and
kerosene emulsion.
Another possible reason could be overdosing of the col-
lector, as the use of 60 to 180 g/t PAX may be significantly
higher than the required dosage. This leads to the presence
of excess PAX molecules in the slurry that are interacting
with other chemicals, each other, and the mineral surface.
It is possible that the hydrophobic tails of the excess col-
lectors are interacting with hydrophobic surfaces or the
Figure 2. The photographic images of the emulsion without PAX after 5 min, 1 h,
and 10 h
Figure 3. The photographic images of the emulsion with PAX after 10, 50, and 100 h
of concentrate was not possible. No improvement was
observed with an increase in PAX dosage to 120 and
180 g/t. This suggests that the conventional collectors may
be less effective for coarse particle flotation, which may be
attributable to various reasons. Firstly, the collector may
not be strong enough to result in effective bubble-particle
attachment. Also, the absence of a froth layer affects the
flotation recovery with the conventional collector. This may
potentially be due to a lack of stabilizing hydrophobic par-
ticles, although this was not observed with the other studies
with kerosene and kerosene emulsion. Lastly, the particles
may have been easily detached from the air bubbles and/or
settled quickly due to their coarse sizes, though this again
was not observed with the later samples with kerosene and
kerosene emulsion.
Another possible reason could be overdosing of the col-
lector, as the use of 60 to 180 g/t PAX may be significantly
higher than the required dosage. This leads to the presence
of excess PAX molecules in the slurry that are interacting
with other chemicals, each other, and the mineral surface.
It is possible that the hydrophobic tails of the excess col-
lectors are interacting with hydrophobic surfaces or the
Figure 2. The photographic images of the emulsion without PAX after 5 min, 1 h,
and 10 h
Figure 3. The photographic images of the emulsion with PAX after 10, 50, and 100 h