2424 XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3
emulsion to understand the reproducibility of the experi-
ment, as shown on the grade-recovery curve. The results
suggest that both kerosene and the kerosene emulsion were
able to act as collectors for a coarse feed. This implies that
the emulsion or kerosene enhances bubble-particle attach-
ment in contrast with the conventional collector. However,
the flotation with each dosage of kerosene has a slightly
higher copper recovery and grade than that with the cor-
responding emulsion dosage except for the 5 μL kerosene
and 20 μL emulsion dosages. The overall recovery is still
low (i.e., less than 60%), perhaps because some particles
hydrophobic tails of adsorbed collector, reverting the min-
eral surface from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, or potentially
forming micelles. In a separate set of preliminary studies
(not shown here) with 10 to 60 g/t of PAX and 5μL of kero-
sene, a similar lack of a stable froth was observed, resulting
in a failure to collect any concentrate product.
On the contrary, the use of the kerosene and kerosene-
in-water emulsion resulted in flotation with a stable froth
layer. The copper grade versus recovery for the tests with
emulsion and kerosene are plotted in Figure 7. Three dif-
ferent runs were conducted with the 20 μL and 40 μL
Figure 5. The cumulative mass of particles passing each size after grinding
Figure 4. The creaming and oil separation behavior of the kerosene-in-water emulsion
with PAX during 100 h
emulsion to understand the reproducibility of the experi-
ment, as shown on the grade-recovery curve. The results
suggest that both kerosene and the kerosene emulsion were
able to act as collectors for a coarse feed. This implies that
the emulsion or kerosene enhances bubble-particle attach-
ment in contrast with the conventional collector. However,
the flotation with each dosage of kerosene has a slightly
higher copper recovery and grade than that with the cor-
responding emulsion dosage except for the 5 μL kerosene
and 20 μL emulsion dosages. The overall recovery is still
low (i.e., less than 60%), perhaps because some particles
hydrophobic tails of adsorbed collector, reverting the min-
eral surface from hydrophobic to hydrophilic, or potentially
forming micelles. In a separate set of preliminary studies
(not shown here) with 10 to 60 g/t of PAX and 5μL of kero-
sene, a similar lack of a stable froth was observed, resulting
in a failure to collect any concentrate product.
On the contrary, the use of the kerosene and kerosene-
in-water emulsion resulted in flotation with a stable froth
layer. The copper grade versus recovery for the tests with
emulsion and kerosene are plotted in Figure 7. Three dif-
ferent runs were conducted with the 20 μL and 40 μL
Figure 5. The cumulative mass of particles passing each size after grinding
Figure 4. The creaming and oil separation behavior of the kerosene-in-water emulsion
with PAX during 100 h