Antimony Ore: The Ore Dressing Journey of Scarce Resources

Antimony, as a precious and scarce resource, presents a silvery-white metallic luster, is brittle and fragile, but has excellent corrosion resistance. In the vast field of modern industry, from flame retardants, alloy materials, to batteries, semiconductors, and even ammunition manufacturing and chemical industries, antimony plays an indispensable role.

Antimony ore, that is, a mineral aggregate containing antimony elements, mainly exists in the form of antimony sulfide, antimony oxide and mixed antimony ore. Among them, stibnite is undoubtedly the most common and important type of antimony ore, and it plays the important role of the main source of metallic antimony. However, the beneficiation of antimony ore is not easy. These minerals are often closely associated with other sulfides, oxides and gangue minerals, making the processing technology of antimony ore full of challenges. Its main goal is to accurately separate antimony minerals from complex ores and enrich them into high-grade antimony concentrates to meet the stringent requirements of industrial applications. Common antimony beneficiation methods include gravity separation and flotation.

Types and distribution of antimony ore

The natural types of antimony ore can be subdivided into oxide ore, mixed ore and primary ore. According to the oxidation rate (%) of antimony, the oxidation rate of oxide ore is >50%, that of mixed ore is between 30% and 50%, and that of primary ore is<30%. Among the many types of antimony ores, stibnite occupies a dominant position, and 70-80% of the global output comes from it. It is widely distributed in countries such as China, Russia, Tajikistan, Bolivia, South Africa, Vietnam and Myanmar. With its rich antimony ore resources, China has become the world's largest antimony producer, and its antimony deposits are mainly concentrated in Hunan, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan.

Antimony ore processing technology

Due to the complex composition of antimony minerals and the numerous associated minerals, it is mainly divided into antimony sulfide, antimony oxide or mixed ore. Its beneficiation usually requires the use of combined processes such as gravity separation, flotation and magnetic separation to achieve efficient separation and enrichment based on its physical and chemical properties.

1. Antimony sulfide mineral processing: Stibnite (Sb₂S₃), as the main component of antimony sulfide ore, is distributed in Hunan in large quantities. It is a key source for extracting metallic antimony and is widely used in flame retardants, alloy materials, ammunition and other fields. Its appearance is lead gray, exudes metallic luster, has low hardness, and is easy to crush and grind. However, antimony sulfide ore often coexists with sulfide minerals such as pyrite and galena, as well as gangue minerals such as quartz and calcite. Therefore, the treatment of antimony sulfide ore generally adopts gravity separation - flotation or single flotation method.

Gravity separation: The density of stibnite is relatively large, reaching 4.6g/cm³, making gravity separation a common method. Shaking tables, spiral chutes, etc. are common gravity separation equipment. This method is easy to operate, low-cost and highly adaptable.

Flotation: By adding specific collectors and frothers such as yellow medicine and black medicine, stibnite particles can be attached to bubbles and float to the surface of the pulp. Flotation has a significant effect on the separation of fine-grained minerals and is extremely accurate. If it is a single sulfide ore, the direct flotation recovery rate can reach more than 90%, and the grade can reach 50-60%.

Magnetic separation: This method is used to remove iron-containing magnetic minerals such as pyrite.

2. Processing of antimony oxide minerals: Antimony oxide ore is also an important resource for extracting metallic antimony and is widely distributed in Yunnan. However, its ore dressing and smelting process is often more complicated. Antimony oxide ore mainly includes stibnite (Sb₂O₃) and antimony pyroxene (Sb₂O₃), which is white or gray, has high hardness, is often associated with gangue minerals such as quartz and calcite, and has fine mineral particles. Therefore, gravity separation is often used, and flotation can also be combined to improve the beneficiation accuracy.

Flotation: As the main method of beneficiation of antimony oxide ore, given the complex surface properties of oxide minerals, specific collectors and regulators such as fatty acids and amines are usually added to improve the hydrophobicity of the mineral surface. This method has a good effect on the separation of fine-grained minerals and requires high precision.

Gravity separation: For some coarse-grained antimony oxide ores, gravity separation methods such as shaking tables are simple and practical, and have low costs.

3. Processing of mixed antimony minerals: Mixed antimony ore contains both antimony sulfide and antimony oxide, and is also accompanied by other sulfides, oxides and gangue minerals, and the beneficiation process is more complicated. Usually, a reasonable combination of gravity separation, flotation, magnetic separation and other processes is required to effectively extract metallic antimony.

In summary, antimony sulfide ores are mostly processed by gravity separation and flotation, antimony oxide ores rely more on gravity separation or flotation, and mixed antimony ores require a combination of multiple methods. The antimony beneficiation process needs to comprehensively consider the physical and chemical properties of the ore, and use gravity separation, flotation or magnetic separation in combination to achieve efficient separation and enrichment. In order to effectively improve the antimony recovery rate and concentrate quality and meet the needs of industrial applications, Xinhai Mining provides customized beneficiation solutions and equipment. Welcome to contact us for more information!