R. Pérez-Garibay

On the sodium-diisobutyl dithiophosphinate (Aerophine 3418A) interaction with activated and unactivated galena and pyrite

Abstract The interaction mechanism of sodium-diisobutyl dithiophosphinate (DTPINa) with galena and pyrite was investigated using zeta potential, microflotation and FTIR measurements. To evaluate metal ion effects on both minerals, sulfides were conditioned in both water solutions and solutions containing Pb2+, Fe2+ or Fe3+. Results show that sodium-diisobutyl dithiophosphinate adsorbs onto galena and pyrite by a chemisorption mechanism. Collector shows a pronounced affinity toward lead species, either in the mineral lattice or adsorbed on the mineral surface as metal-hydrolyzed species. Pb-ions adsorb onto pyrite, thus promoting collector adsorption and a decrease in selectivity. DTPINa shows less affinity toward iron species.

On-line solids hold-up measurement in mineral slurries by the standard addition method

Abstract This paper presents the application of the standard addition method to on-line measure the solids hold-up at the laboratory scale. The method consists in measuring the electrical conductivity (mS/cm) of a two-phase dispersion using two conductivity cells: the first containing a known amount of dielectric material plus the solid–liquid dispersion and the second containing the solid–liquid dispersion only. A system of two equations are obtained by applying the Maxwells model to both cells, and the liquid conductivity and the solids hold-up may be evaluated by solving them. It is demonstrated that the studied method is a reliable option to estimate the solids hold-up on-line.