Gravity and flotation of hard rock lithium ores

01 Heavy media separation of hard rock lithium ore

Heavy media mineral processing is a mineral processing method that uses the density difference between heavy media and minerals to separate minerals. Suitable for minerals with large particle size and small density difference.

Heavy media beneficiation can be used to separate tourmaline, mica and other gangue minerals from spodumene. Factors affecting heavy medium separation include differences in mineral specific gravity, dissociation degree of lithium minerals, feed particle size, type and specific gravity of heavy medium, etc.

Dense medium separation of lithium ore generally involves mixing the washed and deslimed lithium ore with heavy medium for separation, which can separate heavy products and light products. The heavy product is spodumene concentrate, and the light product is gangue tailings.

02 Hard rock lithium ore flotation

Hard rock lithium ore flotation is a physical and chemical process that utilizes the hydrophilic and hydrophobic characteristics of the mineral surface to separate useful minerals from gangue minerals through bubble attachment. The purpose is to enrich minerals with high lithium content such as spodumene, lepidolite, lithium feldspar, etc. from low-grade or complex hard rock lithium ores to improve the recovery rate and grade of lithium.

In order to obtain better mineral processing effect in hard rock lithium ore flotation, pretreatment is often performed before flotation. Pretreatment refers to cleaning or modifying the surface of spodumene before flotation to improve its flotation selectivity. Commonly used pretreatment methods mainly include chemical pretreatment, desliming, magnetic separation, etc.

Chemical pretreatment is usually carried out during the grinding process to improve the flotation recovery rate of spodumene, but it requires the selection of appropriate chemical reagents and control of the PH value.

Desliming uses hydrocyclones or other equipment to reduce the interference of sludge on the flotation process. Usually carried out before flotation, it can improve the separation selectivity.

Magnetic separation is usually used to remove large amounts of iron-containing gangue minerals, such as tourmaline, amphibole, etc. For lepidolite with high iron content, magnetic separation can also be used for enrichment.