Novel application of depressant sodium mercaptoacetate in flotation separation of chalcopyrite and pyrite

The development of flotation reagents with high selectivity and strong depression ability is of great significance in the efficient enrichment of copper sulfide ores. In this work, a new depressant, sodium mercaptoacetate (SMA) has been explored for the flotation separation of chalcopyrite and pyrite, and the depression mechanism of SMA was studied by Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer (FTIR), adsorption tests, local electrochemical impedance spectroscopy test (LEIS), Time of Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Micro-flotation tests showed that SMA strongly depresses pyrite in the pH range of 6-10. When the dosage of SMA is 2.5 x 10(-5) mol/L, the dosage of SBX is 1 x 10(-5) mol/L, and pH = 6.5, the concentrate with a Cu grade of 31.93% and chalcopyrite recovery of 85.97% can be obtained, in which the pyrite recovery was only 4.18%, respectively. The strong chemical adsorption between SMA and Fe atomic sites exposed on the surface of pyrite reduces the hydrophobicity of pyrite and hinders the adsorption of SBX. In comparison, SMA has less adsorption on the surface of chalcopyrite and hardly affects the further adsorption of SBX. It was shown that SMA could be used as an effective depressant for pyrite in the flotation separation of chalcopyrite and pyrite. (C) 2023 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.