XXXI International Mineral Processing Congress 2024 Proceedings/Washington, DC/Sep 29–Oct 3 2663
produced a higher cumulative grade at a given flotation
time. This was expected because it is known (e.g., Cook
and Gibson, 2023) that fatty acids have strong collecting
power but poor selectivity. Interestingly when TOFA was
blended with Atrac ® 2600 product on a 1:1 ratio (total dos-
age remaining constant at 1,200g/t) the flotation perfor-
mance drastically changed. We observed an improvement
in selectivity (Figure 2b) while maintaining the fast kinet-
ics. It is therefore evident that, by blending, we take advan-
tage of the collecting power of TOFA while exploiting the
selectivity of Atrac ® 2600 product. The grade and recovery
of the mixture of fatty acid and Atrac ® 2600 product is
comparable to that of Berol ® 8305 product.
Multistage Flotation (Rougher-Cleaner Flotation)
Multistage flotation (i.e., rougher followed by two cleaning
stages) was carried out using TOFA, Berol ® 8305 product, a
50:50 mixture of TOFA and Atrac ® 2600 product, a 75:25
mixture of TOFA and Atrac ® 2600 product, and Berol ®
8313 product. The total collector dosage was maintained
at 1,200g/t. The results of these tests are summarized in
Figure 3. Similar to what was observed in the rougher flota-
tion tests, the TOFA exhibits fast kinetics, but it is less selec-
tive. However, when blended with Atrac ® 2600 product,
selectivity improves. The best performance was observed
with a 50:50 mixture of Atrac ® 2600 and TOFA while a
25:75 blend performed marginally better than standalone
TOFA (see Figure 3b). Berol ® 8305 and Berol ® 8313 prod-
ucts produced similar flotation performance profiles they
outperformed the TOFA since they achieved significantly
higher Li2O grade per given recovery.
Mica Pre-Flotation
The results of the experiments to evaluate the performance
of the low tox collector (Armoflote ® 945 product) in com-
parison to a tallowalkylamine (Armeen ® T) are presented
in Figure 4. Evidently (Figure 4a), Armoflote ® 945 product
with no addition of pine oil had the highest mass yield to
the froth (mica concentrate), which resulted in low tailings
mass yield with upgraded spodumene concentrate. This
was obtained despite the significantly lower dosage of 75g/t
compared to 125g/t and 150g/t dosed for the fatty amines.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (mins)
Atrac® 2600 /TOFA (50:50)
Atrac® 2600 /TOFA (25:75)
Berol® 8313
TOFA
Berol® 8305
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
47500 52500 57500 62500 67500
Grade ppm (Li
2
O)
Atrac® 2600 /TOFA (50:50)
Atrac® 2600 /TOFA (25:75)
Berol® 8313
Berol® 8305:TOFA (75:25)
TOFA
(a) (b)
Figure 3. Effect of various reagents of (a) flotation kinetics (b) grade recovery during re-cleaner flotation of spodumene
flotation
Recovery
(%)
LiO
2
Recovery
(%)
LO
2
produced a higher cumulative grade at a given flotation
time. This was expected because it is known (e.g., Cook
and Gibson, 2023) that fatty acids have strong collecting
power but poor selectivity. Interestingly when TOFA was
blended with Atrac ® 2600 product on a 1:1 ratio (total dos-
age remaining constant at 1,200g/t) the flotation perfor-
mance drastically changed. We observed an improvement
in selectivity (Figure 2b) while maintaining the fast kinet-
ics. It is therefore evident that, by blending, we take advan-
tage of the collecting power of TOFA while exploiting the
selectivity of Atrac ® 2600 product. The grade and recovery
of the mixture of fatty acid and Atrac ® 2600 product is
comparable to that of Berol ® 8305 product.
Multistage Flotation (Rougher-Cleaner Flotation)
Multistage flotation (i.e., rougher followed by two cleaning
stages) was carried out using TOFA, Berol ® 8305 product, a
50:50 mixture of TOFA and Atrac ® 2600 product, a 75:25
mixture of TOFA and Atrac ® 2600 product, and Berol ®
8313 product. The total collector dosage was maintained
at 1,200g/t. The results of these tests are summarized in
Figure 3. Similar to what was observed in the rougher flota-
tion tests, the TOFA exhibits fast kinetics, but it is less selec-
tive. However, when blended with Atrac ® 2600 product,
selectivity improves. The best performance was observed
with a 50:50 mixture of Atrac ® 2600 and TOFA while a
25:75 blend performed marginally better than standalone
TOFA (see Figure 3b). Berol ® 8305 and Berol ® 8313 prod-
ucts produced similar flotation performance profiles they
outperformed the TOFA since they achieved significantly
higher Li2O grade per given recovery.
Mica Pre-Flotation
The results of the experiments to evaluate the performance
of the low tox collector (Armoflote ® 945 product) in com-
parison to a tallowalkylamine (Armeen ® T) are presented
in Figure 4. Evidently (Figure 4a), Armoflote ® 945 product
with no addition of pine oil had the highest mass yield to
the froth (mica concentrate), which resulted in low tailings
mass yield with upgraded spodumene concentrate. This
was obtained despite the significantly lower dosage of 75g/t
compared to 125g/t and 150g/t dosed for the fatty amines.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
0 2 4 6 8 10
Time (mins)
Atrac® 2600 /TOFA (50:50)
Atrac® 2600 /TOFA (25:75)
Berol® 8313
TOFA
Berol® 8305
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
47500 52500 57500 62500 67500
Grade ppm (Li
2
O)
Atrac® 2600 /TOFA (50:50)
Atrac® 2600 /TOFA (25:75)
Berol® 8313
Berol® 8305:TOFA (75:25)
TOFA
(a) (b)
Figure 3. Effect of various reagents of (a) flotation kinetics (b) grade recovery during re-cleaner flotation of spodumene
flotation
Recovery
(%)
LiO
2
Recovery
(%)
LO
2