Common Gold Flotation Reagents

Flotation mining is the common method to process gold ore, especially for the gold ore with complex components. Preferential adsorption take place between flotation reagents and purpose ore, and ore particle with strong hydrophobicity will float upward. Common gold flotation reagents include collector, foamer, and regulator.

Collector has two opposite characteristics. Gold ore with strong hydrophobicity absorb easily in a bubble and float upward. Common collectors in gold flotation reagents are xanthate and black powder which are a good collector for natural gold and sulfide minerals. The foaming agent is used in the gas-liquid interface to lower the interfacial tension, prompting the air dispersed in the slurry, and form small bubbles to prevent air bubbles merger in gold flotation plant and a separate interface to increase and improve the stability of the bubble.

Oil No.2 is the common foaming used in gold ore. The regulator is crucial to the gold flotation mining process, which includes activators, inhibitors, PH adjusting reagents, dispersant and flocculant. Foaming reagents could promote collectors and reagents in ore surface to shape activators. Alkali metal salt activator, such as copper sulfate, are commonly used in gold flotation process which changes nature of ore and expand floating range and increase floating speed. PH regulator reagent is mainly used to adjust the PH value of slurry and eliminate harmful ions in ore, such as sodium carbonate acid salt. The dispersion of the gold mining flotation flocculant is mainly used to change the mineral particles in the slurry particle size groups.

There are many gold flotation reagents in practice in the gold mining plant. Apart from gold flotation reagents, the amount, filling way and filling sequence of reagents is also important to the flotation result.