Flotation of metallic oxides iii

Claim 2

A process as defined in claim 2 wherein the electrolyte is sodium sulfate.

Claim 3

A process as defined in claim 2 wherein the electrolyte is sodium chloride.

Claim 4

A process as defined in claim 2 wherein the electrolyte is sodium fluoride.

Claim 5

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the pulp initially contains a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of a wetting agent which is free of ions deleterious to flotation.

Claim 6

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the pulp initially contains a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of a dispersing agent.

Claim 7

A process as defined in claim 7 wherein the dispersing agent is sodium silicate.

Claim 8

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the mineral values are iron.

Claim 9

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the mineral values are uranium.

Claim 10

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the mineral values are iron and the flocculation stage of conditioning is carried out at an initial pH, predetermined by experiment, of from about 6.2 to about 7.2 for a period of approximately 12 minutes.

Claim 11

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the final stage of conditioning is carried out at a controlled pH predetermined by experiment, within the range of from about 7.2 to about 8.5 in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of sodium silicate for a period predetermined by experiment of from about 3 to about 25 minutes.

Claim 12

A process as defined in claim 1 wherein the mineral values are iron and the final stage of conditioning is carried out at a controlled pH, predetermined by experiment, of from about 6.7 to 8.5 in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment of a dispersing agent for a period, predetermined by experiment of from about 4 to about 24 minutes.

Claim 13

A process for the flotation of metallic oxides, and metallic oxides with water of crystallization in chemical combination occurring in ores as finely disseminated minerals requiring fine grinding for liberation of said minerals from essentially undeslimed pulps thereof, comprising; bringing about, in a pulp of an ore containing one or more of said minerals in a state of subdivision where the mineral values thereof are substantially liberated, effective dispersion of said ore; then in an activation conditioning stage conditioning said effectively dispersed ore in said pulp with a predetermined amount of a collecting agent for the mineral values thereof; and then in a flocculating conditioning stage at a pulp pH within a range in which the mineral values thereof will flocculate in the presence of the collecting agent used, conditioning the pulp until substantial flocculation of said mineral values has occurred; then in a final conditioning stage at a pulp pH within the optimum range of pH for flotation of the mineral values thereof, conditioning the pulp with the addition of a dispersing agent to bring about effective dispersion of the gangue materials without deflocculating the mineral values; and then subjecting the thus conditioned pulp to flotation to produce a concentrate of the said mineral values.

Claim 14

A process as defined in claim 14 wherein said effective dispersion of said ore is brought about in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment of at least one reagent selected from the group consisting of wetting agents, electrolytes and dispersing agents which are free from ions deleterious to flotation.

Claim 15

A process as defined in claim 14 wherein the mineral values are iron and said effective dispersion of said ore is brought about in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of sodium silicate.

Claim 16

A process as defined in claim 14 wherein the mineral values are iron and said effective dispersion of said ore is brought about in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of sodium sulfate.

Claim 17

A process as defined in claim 14 wherein the mineral values are iron and said effective dispersion of said ore is brought about in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of a wetting agent which is free from ions deleterious to flotation.

Claim 18

A process as defined in claim 14 wherein the activation conditioning stage is carried out at an initial pH, predetermined by experiment, within the range of from about 6.7 to about 7.2 for a period of time, predetermined by experiment, of from about 4 to about 16 minutes.

Claim 19

A process as defined in claim 14 wherein the mineral values are iron and the activation conditioning stage is carried out at an initial pH, predetermined by experiment, within the range of from about 6.7 to about 7.2 for a period of time, predetermined by experiment, of from about 4 to about 16 minutes.

Claim 20

A process as defined in claim 14 in which the flocculating conditioning stage is carried out at an initial pH, predetermined by experiment of from about 5.0 to about 6.5 for a period of time, predetermined by experiment, of from about 8 minutes to about 16 minutes.

Claim 21

A process as defined in claim 14 in which the mineral values are iron and the flocculation conditioning stage is carried out at an initial pH, predetermined by experiment, of from about 5.0 to about 6.5 for a period of time, predetermined by experiment, of from about 8 minutes to about 16 minutes.

Claim 22

A process as defined in claim 14 wherein the final conditioning stage is carried out at an initial pH, predetermined by experiment, within the range of from about 7.2 to about 8.5 with the addition to the pulp of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of sodium silicate and for a period of time, predetermined by experiment of from about 6 to about 21 minutes.

Claim 23

A process as defined in claim 14 wherein the mineral values are iron and the final conditioning stage is carried out at an initial pH, predetermined by experiment, within the range of from about 7.2 to about 8.5 with the addition to the pulp of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of sodium silicate and for a period of time, predetermined by experiment of from about 6 to about 21 minutes.

Claim 24

A process for the flotation of metallic oxides, and metallic oxides with water of crystallization in chemical combination occurring in ores as finely disseminated minerals requiring fine grinding for the liberation of said minerals from essentially undeslimed pulps thereof, comprising; bringing about, in a pulp of an ore containing one or more of said minerals in a state of subdivision where the mineral values thereof are substantially liberated, effective dispersion of said ore; then in an activation conditioning stage conditioning said effectively dispersed ore in said pulp with a predetermined amount of a collecting agent for the mineral values thereof; then in a flocculation conditioning stage at a pulp pH within a range in which the mineral values thereof will flocculate in the presence of the collecting agent used, conditioning the pulp with the addition of a dispersing agent until substantial flocculation of said mineral values and effective dispersion of the gangue materials without deflocculating the mineral values has occurred; and then subjecting the thus conditioned pulp to flotation to produce a concentrate of the said mineral values.

Claim 25

A process as defined in claim 25 wherein said effective dispersion of said ore is brought about in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment of at least one reagent selected from the group consisting of wetting agents, electrolytes and dispersing agents which are free from ions deleterious to flotation.

Claim 26

A process as defined in claim 25 wherein the mineral values are iron and said effective Dispersion of said ore is brought about in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of sodium silicate.

Claim 27

A process as defined in claim 25 wherein the mineral values are iron and said effective dispersion of said ore is brought about in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment of sodium hydroxide.

Claim 28

A process as defined in claim 25 where the mineral values are iron and said effective dispersion of said ore is brought about in the presence of a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of sodium sulfate.

Claim 29

A process for the flotation of metallic oxides and metallic oxides with water of crystallization in chemical combination occurring in ores as finely disseminated minerals requiring fine grinding for the liberation of said minerals from essentially undeslimed pulps thereof comprising; preparing a pulp of an ore containing at least one mineral selected from the class consisting of metallic oxides and metallic oxides with water of crystallization, which has been finely ground to substantially liberate the minerals thereof for the process of flotation, in which pulp ground ore is effectively dispersed for differential activation; conditioning said pulp with collector agent used for flotation of said minerals to differentially activate said minerals and then adjusting the pH of the pulp to within the optimum range for flotation of said minerals and depression of the gangue and conditioning said pulp for flotation in a final stage of conditioning with the addition of dispersing agent whereby gangue materials in said ore are effectively dispersed while the said minerals remain flocculated; and then subjecting the thus conditioned pulp to flotation to produce a concentrate of said minerals.

Claim 30

A process according to claim 30 in which the pH range within which said final stage of conditioning is carried out is from about 6.7 to about 8.9 and the predetermined period of time of said final stage of conditioning is a time predetermined by experiment within the range of from 3 to 25 minutes.

Claim 31

A process as defined in claim 30 wherein the pulp contains a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment, of an electrolyte which is free of ions deleterious to flotation.

Claim 32

A process as defined in claim 32 wherein the electrolyte is sodium sulfate.

Claim 33

A process as defined in claim 30 wherein the pulp contains a controlled amount, predetermined by experiment of a dispersing agent.

Claim 34

A process as defined in claim 34 wherein the dispersing agent is sodium silicate.

Claim 35

A process as defined in claim 30 wherein the mineral values are iron.

Claim 36

A process as defined in claim 30 wherein the mineral values are uranium.

Claim 37

A process as defined in claim 30 wherein the ore is an iron ore wherein the mineral values in the ore are selected from the group consisting of hematite, specular hematite, magnetite, martite and goethite.

Claim 38

A process as defined in claim 30 wherein the flotation reagent is selected from the group consisting of fatty acid, mixtures of fatty acid and petroleum sulfonate and mixtures of fatty acid and petroleum sulfonate and fuel oil wherein the fuel oil is present in amounts not exceeding 5 pounds per ton of solids.

Claim 39

A process as defined in claim 30 wherein the conditioning with collector agent is in an acid circuit and wherein said conditioning within the optimum range for flotation of said minerals and depression of the gangue is in an alkali circuit.

Claim 40

A process as defined in claim 40 in which the ore is a readily dispersable iron ore wherein the dispersion of the ore for differential activation and the conditioning of the pulp with a collector agent to differentially activate the minerals is combined in a single stage.

Claim 41

A process for the flotation of metallic oxides and metallic oxides with water of crystallization comprising; wet grinding an ore containing one or more of said minerals in the presence of a quantiTy predetermined by experiment of a dispersing agent and a quantity predetermined by experiment of a collecting agent for said minerals to produce a pulp of said ore wherein liberated mineral content thereof is activated; then at a pulp pH within a range in which the mineral values thereof will flocculate in the presence of the collecting agent used, in a flocculation stage of conditioning, conditioning the pulp until substantial flocculation of said mineral values has occurred; then at a higher pulp pH within the optimum range of pH for flotation of the mineral values thereof, in a final conditioning stage, conditioning the pulp to bring about effective dispersion of the gangue materials without deflocculating the mineral values.

Claim 42

A process as defined in claim 42 wherein the ore is an iron ore wherein the mineral values in the ore are selected from the group consisting of hematite, specular hematite, magnetite, martite and goethite.

Claim 43

A process as defined in claim 42 wherein the flotation reagent is selected from the group consisting of fatty acid, mixtures of fatty acid and petroleum sulfonate and mixtures of fatty acid and petroleum sulfonate and fuel oil wherein the fuel oil is present in amounts not exceeding 5 pounds per ton of solid pulp.

Claim 44

A process for the concentration of iron ore occurring as finely divided minerals of the class consisting of hematite, martite, goethite, magnetite and specular hematite requiring fine grinding for the liberation of said minerals from essentially undeslimed pulps, which comprises subjecting the ore to wet comminution in the presence of a predetermined amount of sodium silicate to produce an effectively dispersed pulp of said ore; conditioning said ore in the presence of a collecting agent for the iron mineral present to cause flocculation of said mineral; lowering the pH to neutral or slightly lower by the addition of a suitable acid reagent; further conditioning the pulp in the presence of a predetermined amount of sodium silicate for a predetermined period of time to maintain the gangue materials dispersed while the pH of said pulp rises to within the optimum range for flotation of the said iron mineral to effect and bring about flocculation of said iron mineral favorable for flotation; and then subjecting the thus conditioned pulp to flotation to produce a concentrate of said iron mineral.

Claim 45

A process for the concentration of iron ore occurring as finely divided minerals of the class consisting of hematite, martite, goethite, magnetite and specular hematite requiring fine grinding for the liberation of said minerals from essentially undeslimed pulps, which comprises subjecting the ore to wet comminution, adding to said comminuted ore a predetermined amount of sodium silicate to produce an effectively dispersed pulp of said ore; conditioning said ore in the presence of a collecting agent for the iron mineral present to cause flocculation of said mineral; lowering the pH to neutral or slightly lower by the addition of a suitable acid reagent; further conditioning the pulp in the presence of a predetermined amount of sodium silicate for a predetermined period of time to maintain the gangue materials dispersed while the pH of said pulp rises to within the optimum range for flotation of the said iron mineral to effect and bring about flocculation of said iron mineral favorable for flotation; and then subjecting the thus conditioned pulp to flotation to produce a concentrate of said iron material.

Claim 46

The improved process of claim 46 wherein the collecting agent is a fatty acid collecting agent.

Claim 47

The improved process of claim 47 wherein in further conditioning the pulp the pH thereof is adjusted to within the optimum range for flotation by the addition of a reagent selected from the group consisting of a dispersing agent, a dispersing agent combined with an alkali or an alkali dispersing agent.

Claim 48

The improved process of claim 46 wherein the collecting agent consists of a combinAtion of fatty acid collecting agent and petroleum sulfonate collecting agent.

Claim 49

The improved process of claim 46 wherein the collecting agent is a combination of fatty acid collecting agent, petroleum sulfonate collecting agent and fuel oil.

Claim 50

The improved process of claim 46 wherein the collecting agent consists of a combination of fatty acid collecting agent and fuel oil.