Why is it difficult to float fine-grained lead-zinc ore?

Lead-zinc ore is an important strategic resource, which has applications in electrical, mechanical, military, metallurgy, chemical, light industry and pharmaceutical fields, and occupies an important position.

Lead-zinc ore resources are rich in reserves and widely distributed, but there are few large-scale deposits, many lean ores, few rich ores, and many associated existences. With the depletion of coarse-grained and easy-to-select lead-zinc ore resources, fine-grained lead-zinc ore has become the main mineral resource for obtaining lead-zinc resources.

Although flotation is the main means of sorting fine-grained lead-zinc ores, there are also difficulties in sorting, so what are the specific difficulties? How to choose?

Flotation recovery of fine-grained lead-zinc ore is difficult, mainly reflected in two aspects, one is slow flotation speed, and the other is low recovery rate. There are four main reasons for this:

1. Fine-grained lead-zinc minerals have small mass and high surface energy, and non-selective condensation is easy to form between different mineral particles, and fine particles are easy to attach to the surface of coarse-grained minerals to form a slime cover, which will affect the lead-zinc minerals. Separation from impurity minerals.

2. The mineral surface area and surface energy of fine-grained lead-zinc ore are large, and its ability to adsorb chemicals is strong, but the adsorption selectivity is poor, so the flotation efficiency is not ideal.

3. The finer the mineral particle size of the lead-zinc ore, the more "inevitable ions" dissolved in the pulp, and the smaller the mass, the easier it is to be entrained by water flow machinery and foam machinery.

4. Due to the reduction of contact efficiency and adhesion efficiency between fine-grained minerals and air bubbles, the collection efficiency of air bubbles on ore particles is reduced. At the same time, the "armor" phenomenon produced by ore slime on air bubbles also affects the carrying capacity of air bubbles.

What are the measures to improve the efficiency of fine particle flotation? We can improve through the following four situations:

1. Strengthen the dispersion of fine-grained minerals, prevent the fine-grained minerals in the pulp from agglomerating each other, and adhering to the surface of coarse particles.

2. Through the selection of selective polymer flocculants, the fine-grained useful minerals are bridged together as much as possible, and the apparent particle size is increased, thereby improving its selectability.

3. Use a selective medicament to improve the effect of the medicament. The foam produced by the foaming agent should have appropriate brittleness in order to enhance the secondary enrichment effect and reduce the entrainment of fine mud; strictly control the amount of dosing, and try to use the method of adding in stages.

4. Increase the solubility of air in the pulp, improve the foaming mechanism, increase the amount of active microbubbles in the pulp, realize microbubble flotation, and properly prolong the flotation time to fully recover the target minerals.

The above are some reasons why fine-grained lead-zinc ore beneficiation is difficult, and some measures to improve flotation technology. If you want to obtain the ideal lead-zinc ore concentrate grade, you need to design a reasonable beneficiation process plan and suitable beneficiation equipment , in order to effectively guarantee the return on investment.