Flotation studies of the middling product of lead-zinc ores with preliminary sulfidizing roasting of oxidized lead and zinc compounds

Abstract

The development of combined enrichment technologies becomes more significant due to the decreasing of the processed ores quality and involvement in the processing of poor, refractory ores. The difficulty in the flotation enrichment of mixed and oxidized polymetallic ores and intermediate products lies in the effective sulfidization of the surface of oxidized minerals. The sodium sulfide reagent used in flotation does not always provide complete sulfidization of the mineral surface. On the intermediate product of lead-zinc ores related to the phase composition of mixed ores, flotation studies were carried out on the original product and after preliminary sulfidization by the pyro-metallurgical method. It was found that in the pre-sulfidizied product, the extraction of zinc increased to 17.23 %, and lead to 10.07 %, compared with the original product without pre-treatment.