1
25-053
Iron Ore Flotation with Biosurfactant: an ESG-Friendly Option
to Boost Performance
Ronney Rodrigues Silva
Locus Mining Solutions, Montgomery TX, USA
Cathrine Monyake
Locus Mining Solutions, Montgomery TX, USA
Renata Mendonca
Locus Mining Solutions, Montgomery TX, USA
Gabi Knesel
Locus Mining Solutions, Montgomery TX, USA
ABSTRACT
Locus Mining is working side-by-side with a prestigious
iron ore company to evaluate the addition of Locus ESG-
friendly green flotation reagents with the primary goal of
improving recovery and grade.
In this paper, we will focus on the cationic reverse flota-
tion application. The most “established industry” reagents
for cationic reverse flotation are amine as the collector,
starch as the depressant, and in some cases frothers are also
used (among them MIBC, pine oil, others). Here, we eval-
uate the synergies of different classes of eco-friendly biosur-
factants and industry-standard reagents during the cationic
reverse flotation method.
Exploratory research was done first with an analog
sample under different pHs, eight different biosurfac-
tants with starch and no-starch, and a customized DOE
was used to perform 145 microflotation tests. The results
show Separation Efficiency from 20% (baseline) to 50%
(biosurfactant), and Selectivity from 3.27 (baseline) to
5.67 (biosurfactant). Optimized result conditions were
then applied to the iron ore samples received from our cli-
ent to perform flotation tests on a Denver Lab cell. Similar
results were obtained by improving Separation Efficiency
and Selectivity, which corroborate with the previous work.
INTRODUCTION
In the mining industry, the quality of ore is declining while
demand is increasing. This is also true for iron ore, where
the quality of mined iron is steadily decreasing as steel
demand rises rapidly. Thus, a process that allows to process
low-grade ores more efficient is of paramount importance
to the viability of recovery of those low-grade ore resources.
Another important aspect central to the mining sector is
the implementing of more stringent environmental regula-
tions that have been causing, in some countries, growing
concerns for potential increased costs, operational com-
plexities, and potential delays in project development, as
mining activities can significantly impact the environment.
The use of biosurfactants ensures that the flotation process
is done much more sustainably than previously.
Aligned with this new scenario is the reprocessing of
the tailings/waste materials from old operations. The viabil-
ity of this material can make a huge impact on increasing
profitability and sustainability improving resources and
greatly decreasing the environmental impact.
To address this challenging scenario the biotechnology
scientific community is airing strongly via new research
results that biotechnology can be applied in many areas of
the mining industry to improve processes. For instance,
into mineral exploration, metal extraction, and waste dis-
posal in addition to several interrelated areas, such as the
genesis of minerals, bioindicators, and biosensors for min-
eral deposits, mineral beneficiation, biofouling, microbially
influenced corrosion as well as environmental degrada-
tion and bioremediation of contaminated sites (Natarajan
2021).
The history of mineral flotation is a record of over a
century of impressive innovations, especially in the devel-
opment of flotation chemistry and chemicals, the princi-
ples of their action, their manufacturing, and the role they
play in sustaining efficiencies and productivities even as the
quality and grade of ores decline, and the severity of the
challenges increases (Nagaraj et. Al 2016). The application
of biosurfactants in froth flotation is an important step to
take mining on the path of sustainability. Most of the cur-
rent chemicals for flotation are petroleum-based, and due
25-053
Iron Ore Flotation with Biosurfactant: an ESG-Friendly Option
to Boost Performance
Ronney Rodrigues Silva
Locus Mining Solutions, Montgomery TX, USA
Cathrine Monyake
Locus Mining Solutions, Montgomery TX, USA
Renata Mendonca
Locus Mining Solutions, Montgomery TX, USA
Gabi Knesel
Locus Mining Solutions, Montgomery TX, USA
ABSTRACT
Locus Mining is working side-by-side with a prestigious
iron ore company to evaluate the addition of Locus ESG-
friendly green flotation reagents with the primary goal of
improving recovery and grade.
In this paper, we will focus on the cationic reverse flota-
tion application. The most “established industry” reagents
for cationic reverse flotation are amine as the collector,
starch as the depressant, and in some cases frothers are also
used (among them MIBC, pine oil, others). Here, we eval-
uate the synergies of different classes of eco-friendly biosur-
factants and industry-standard reagents during the cationic
reverse flotation method.
Exploratory research was done first with an analog
sample under different pHs, eight different biosurfac-
tants with starch and no-starch, and a customized DOE
was used to perform 145 microflotation tests. The results
show Separation Efficiency from 20% (baseline) to 50%
(biosurfactant), and Selectivity from 3.27 (baseline) to
5.67 (biosurfactant). Optimized result conditions were
then applied to the iron ore samples received from our cli-
ent to perform flotation tests on a Denver Lab cell. Similar
results were obtained by improving Separation Efficiency
and Selectivity, which corroborate with the previous work.
INTRODUCTION
In the mining industry, the quality of ore is declining while
demand is increasing. This is also true for iron ore, where
the quality of mined iron is steadily decreasing as steel
demand rises rapidly. Thus, a process that allows to process
low-grade ores more efficient is of paramount importance
to the viability of recovery of those low-grade ore resources.
Another important aspect central to the mining sector is
the implementing of more stringent environmental regula-
tions that have been causing, in some countries, growing
concerns for potential increased costs, operational com-
plexities, and potential delays in project development, as
mining activities can significantly impact the environment.
The use of biosurfactants ensures that the flotation process
is done much more sustainably than previously.
Aligned with this new scenario is the reprocessing of
the tailings/waste materials from old operations. The viabil-
ity of this material can make a huge impact on increasing
profitability and sustainability improving resources and
greatly decreasing the environmental impact.
To address this challenging scenario the biotechnology
scientific community is airing strongly via new research
results that biotechnology can be applied in many areas of
the mining industry to improve processes. For instance,
into mineral exploration, metal extraction, and waste dis-
posal in addition to several interrelated areas, such as the
genesis of minerals, bioindicators, and biosensors for min-
eral deposits, mineral beneficiation, biofouling, microbially
influenced corrosion as well as environmental degrada-
tion and bioremediation of contaminated sites (Natarajan
2021).
The history of mineral flotation is a record of over a
century of impressive innovations, especially in the devel-
opment of flotation chemistry and chemicals, the princi-
ples of their action, their manufacturing, and the role they
play in sustaining efficiencies and productivities even as the
quality and grade of ores decline, and the severity of the
challenges increases (Nagaraj et. Al 2016). The application
of biosurfactants in froth flotation is an important step to
take mining on the path of sustainability. Most of the cur-
rent chemicals for flotation are petroleum-based, and due