Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
Minerals and Metallurgical Engineering, Swedish School of Mines, Department of Civil, Environmental and Natural Resources Engineering, Luleå University of Technology, Luleå, Sweden.
Crit Rev Biotechnol. 2024 Sep;44(6):1226-1240. doi: 10.1080/07388551.2023.2238885. Epub 2023 Aug 20.
Exponential increasing demands for base metals have made meaningful processing of their quite low-grade (>1%) resources. Froth flotation is the most important physicochemical pretreatment technique for processing low-grade sulfide ores. In other words, flotation separation can effectively upgrade finely liberated base metal sulfides based on their surface properties. Various sulfide surface characters can be modified by flotation surfactants (collectors, activators, depressants, pH regulators, frothers, etc.). However, these reagents are mostly toxic. Therefore, using biodegradable flotation reagents would be essential for a green transition of ore treatment plants, while flotation circuits deal with massive volumes of water and materials. Pyrite, the most abundant sulfide mineral, is frequently associated with valuable minerals as a troublesome gangue. It causes severe technical and environmental difficulties. Thus, pyrite should be removed early in the beneficiation process to minimize its problematic issues. Recently, conventional inorganic pyrite depressants (such as cyanide, lime, and sulfur-oxy compounds) have been successfully assisted or even replaced with eco-friendly and green reagents (including polysaccharide-based substances and biodegradable acids). Yet, no comprehensive review is specified on the biodegradable acid depression reagents (such as tannic, lactic, humic acids, etc.) for pyrite removal through flotation separation. This study has comprehensively reviewed the previously conducted investigations in this area and provides suggestions for future assessments and developments. This robust review has systematically explored depression performance, various adsorption mechanisms, and aspects of these reagents on pyrite surfaces. Furthermore, factors affecting their efficiency were analyzed, and gaps within each area were highlighted.
对贱金属的需求呈指数级增长，这使得对其品位较低（>1%）的资源进行有意义的处理变得尤为重要。泡沫浮选是处理低品位硫化矿最主要的物理化学预处理技术。换句话说，浮选分离可以根据硫化物表面性质有效提高细粒游离的贱金属硫化物的品位。各种硫化物表面特性可以通过浮选药剂（捕收剂、活化剂、抑制剂、pH 调节剂、起泡剂等）进行修饰。然而，这些药剂大多具有毒性。因此，使用可生物降解的浮选药剂对于实现选矿厂的绿色转型至关重要，因为浮选回路要处理大量的水和材料。黄铁矿是最丰富的硫化物矿物，常与有价值的矿物伴生，是一种令人头疼的脉石。它会导致严重的技术和环境问题。因此，在选矿过程中应尽早去除黄铁矿，以尽量减少其带来的问题。最近，传统的无机黄铁矿抑制剂（如氰化物、石灰和硫氧化合物）已成功地被环保和绿色试剂（包括多糖类物质和可生物降解酸）辅助甚至取代。然而，目前还没有针对通过浮选分离去除黄铁矿的可生物降解酸抑制剂（如单宁酸、乳酸、腐殖酸等）的综合评述。本研究对该领域已有的研究进行了全面综述，并为未来的评估和发展提供了建议。本综述系统地探讨了抑制剂的抑矿性能、各种吸附机制以及这些试剂在黄铁矿表面的作用，分析了影响其效率的因素，并指出了每个领域的空白。
