Flotation after a direct contact of flotation reagents with carbonate particles. Part 1, Model investigations

Carbonate fluorapatite (francolite), calcite and dolomite separately, as well as their model mixtures, were subjected to flotation after conditioning the particles with microemulsion consisting of 20% of Custafloat AR27 (collector, blend of fatty acid soaps and sulfates), 55% fuel oil #5 and 25% water at 70% solids density and subsequent pulp dilution with water to 25% solids. The best separation of carbonate fluorapatite from calcite and dolomite occurred at pH 8.5 and microemulsion dose between 0.9 and 1.5 kg/Mg, 1.5 min conditioning time and 2 minutes of flotation time. The obtained flotation concentrates using 1.5 kg/Mg of collector contained 84% carbonate fluorapatite (34% P2O5) with 84% recovery. The 84/84 separation efficiency in terms of grade-recovery indices points to promising results which can be obtained for real phosphate ores.