Direct flotation of low-grade Moroccan phosphate ores: a preliminary micro-flotation study to develop new beneficiation
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Direct flotation of low-grade Moroccan phosphate ores: a preliminary micro-flotation study to develop new beneficiation routes Imane Aarab 1 & Mohammed Derqaoui 1 & Abdelmoughit Abidi 1 & Abdelrani Yaacoubi 1 & Khalid El Amari 2 & Abderahman Etahiri 3 & Abdelaziz Baçaoui 1 Received: 8 April 2020 / Accepted: 16 November 2020 # Saudi Society for Geosciences 2020
Abstract Moroccan high-grade phosphate has so far always been upgraded by reverse flotation. Within a major project to go back to the deposits considered as sterile or low grade, this preliminary study was conducted in a micro-flotation cell to find new routes for their beneficiation by direct flotation. Three collectors, alone and combined to modifiers, were evaluated for a potential direct flotation of apatite from calcite and quartz minerals. The obtained results demonstrated that sodium oleate (NaOl) and ATRAC 50S have an affinity toward both apatite and calcite, but not quartz. In the opposite, Phospholan PE 169 has an affinity toward the three minerals even when it is combined with depressants. NaOl and ATRAC 50S flotation selectivity of apatite can be improved by their combination at dosages of 5.56 to 3.7 mg/L sodium alginate or CMC at pH 9.5. Apatite recovery exceeded 95%, and calcite buoyancy decreased from about 50% to only 19.20% and 19.39% using sodium alginate and CMC as prior depressants, respectively. On the other hand, when ethylene glycol was added as a synergist with the collector ATRAC 50S and sodium alginate as a depressant, 78.10% apatite recovery was obtained with 23.78% and 1.47% for calcite and quartz, respectively. These results were correlated to adsorption tests, zeta potential measurements, and FTIR analysis. Keywords Low-grade phosphate ore . Direct flotation . Fluorapatite . Micro-flotation . Flotation kinetics
Introduction Most of the world’s phosphate reserves are in Morocco, with the country accounting for approximately 70% of the total reserves or 50 billion tons (Miaschi 2018). Sedimentary Responsible Editor: Domenico M. Doronzo * Imane Aarab [email protected] 1
Laboratory of Applied Chemistry, Department of Chemistry and Development, Faculty of Sciences Semlalia-Marrakesh (FSSM), Cadi Ayyad University, Boulevard Prince My Abdellah, BP 2390, 40000 Marrakesh, Morocco
2
Laboratory of Georesources, Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technologies of Marrakesh (FSTM), Cadi Ayyad University, Boulevard Abdelkrim Al Khattabi, BP 549, 40000 Marrakesh, Morocco
3
Laboratory of Analysis of Geological Materials, Department of Geology and Sustainable Mining, Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, Lot 660, Hay Moulay Rachid, 43150 Ben Guerir, Morocco
phosphates make up the largest portion of the world phosphate reserves. These sedimentary Moroccan phosphate ores typically contain some form of francolite or collophane as predominant phosphate minerals (Kawatra and Carlson 2013), associated with gangue minerals including clays, silica, calcite, and dolomite. The run-of-mine phosphate ores
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