Flotation performance of a new collophane reverse flotation collector

China has rich phosphate rock resources, but with their continuous depletion, the rich ore resources have become increasingly scarce, which makes the exploration of collophane more important. Medium- and low-grade phosphate rock cannot be utilized until their impurities have been removed through mineral processing. However, due to the similar physical and chemical properties of dolomite and phosphorus minerals, the separation of dolomite from phosphate rock is a challenge for the beneficiation of phosphate rock.In this study, a collector that can separate dolomite from apatite by selective flotation was combined. The agent, named D12, is a new anionic surfactant that was obtained by the phosphorylation of ether-based nonionic surfactants. In order to determine the performance of the D12 collector, it was used in a flotation test. In this process, the raw ore had phosphorus oxide (P2O5) grade of 22.06 percent and magnesium oxide (MgO) content of 5.94 percent. The grinding fineness of 0.074 mm was approximately 87.33 percent. For roughing, the dosages of sulfuric acid (H2SO4), citric acid and collector were 7 kg/t, 1.5 kg/t and 0.5 kg/t, respectively. In the cleaning stage, the dosages of H2SO4 and collector were 5 kg/t and 0.3 kg/t, respectively. Concentrate grade of 31.02 percent and recovery rate of 68.64 percent with an open circuit were obtained under these conditions. Moreover, concentrate grade of 30.31 percent and recovery rate of 84.47 percent with MgO content of 0.92 percent were obtained with closed-circuit beneficiation indexes. The agent, D12, is promising to be applied to the industrial practice of mineral processing of phosphate rock.