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Effect of ground corn and cassava flour on the flotation of iron ore tailings

2018; Elsevier BV; Volume: 8; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.jmrt.2018.05.004

2214-0697

Geriane Macedo Rocha, Nayara Rilla de Souza Machado, Carlos Alberto Pereira,

Metal Extraction and Bioleaching

Iron ore tailings with particle sizes smaller than 297 μm were used in this experiment. These tailings were obtained from Mineração Usiminas, Brazil. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of the reverse cationic flotation of these iron ore tailings, which in turn would allow us to deepen the understanding of the depressant action of ground corn and cassava flour. Bench flotation tests were carried out varying dosages of depressants and pH values of the conditioning processes of the same in 8, 9 and 10. The zeta potential measurements were performed on hematite in the presence of these different depressants. Cassava flour was found to more significantly reduce the zeta potential than ground corn, and it also altered the isoelectric point of hematite. Nevertheless, the results of the bench flotation tests did not result in a clear distinction between the effect of ground corn and cassava flour. The iron recoveries increased with reduction of pH conditioning from 10 to 9 and 8, but these also led to a slight increase in the silica content of the iron concentrate.