Spodumene beneficiation and flotation process

Spodumene is one of the main lithium-containing minerals. As a raw material for lithium chemicals, it is widely used in lithium chemical industry, ceramics, metallurgy and other industries, and enjoys the reputation of "industrial monosodium glutamate". The commonly used beneficiation method for spodumene is flotation, which is also an earlier method of research and application. Spodumene flotation has two opposite processes, namely forward flotation and reverse flotation.

Spodumene Positive Flotation

Spodumene positive flotation is the process of preferentially flotation spodumene, because it is carried out in acidic medium, so it is also called "acid method" flotation, mainly using fatty acids or their soaps as collectors, lithium Pyroxene emerges as a foam product.

The spodumene positive flotation process is to add sodium hydroxide to the pulp, vigorously stir and scrub to remove surface pollutants, and after repeated washing and desliming, flotation can be carried out. There are three treatment methods in the flotation process, one is to float mica first, then spodumene, and finally feldspar; the second is to float spodumene first, then mica, and finally feldspar; the third is Spodumene and mica are first mixed and flotation, and then feldspar is flotation. In actual operation, an appropriate processing method can be selected according to the specific situation.

Spodumene positive flotation generally undergoes three times of beneficiation to obtain spodumene concentrate with a grade of more than 5% and a recovery rate of 70%-75%.

Spodumene reverse flotation

Spodumene reverse flotation is the process of flotation other minerals first, and finally spodumene flotation. The reverse flotation is carried out in alkaline medium, so it is also called "alkali" flotation.

Spodumene reverse flotation uses starch, dextrin, etc. as spodumene inhibitors, first uses cationic collectors to float out gangue minerals, and sorts mica, quartz, feldspar and other concentrates, flotation veins The tailings of stone minerals are then floated out to iron-containing minerals, and the final product in the tank is lithium concentrate.

In addition to flotation, spodumene beneficiation methods include dense medium method, magnetic separation and other methods. The most suitable beneficiation process for spodumene needs to be determined through beneficiation tests based on factors such as spodumene mineral composition and properties.