How is fluorite rock processed?

At present, the fluorite rock ore beneficiation process mainly includes three types: manual selection, gravity (jigging) beneficiation, and flotation. In view of the depletion of fluorite ore and the inter-embedding of fluorite and gangue, flotation has become the main beneficiation method for separating fluorite and gangue minerals.

According to different gangue minerals, fluorite ore can be divided into quartz-fluorite type ore, calcite-fluorite type ore, sulfide fluorite type ore, and barite-fluorite type ore.

Below, I will take you to learn more about the flotation process of various types of fluorite rock ore.

Quartz – fluorite type ore flotation process

Quartz-type fluorite ore is mainly composed of fluorite (with a content of up to about 85%) and quartz, with only a small amount of calcite, barite, and sulfide.

In production, the quartz-fluorite type ore usually adopts a process of grinding and roughing once and re-grinding the coarse concentrate for multiple selections. The chemical system often uses sodium carbonate as the regulator to adjust it to alkaline to prevent excessive water. The activation effect of valence cations on quartz. When fatty acids are used as collectors, add the appropriate amount of water glass to inhibit silicate gangue minerals, and at the same time control the amount of water glass. Will be suppressed).

According to the characteristics of useful mineral intercalation, quartz-fluorite type ore can be mainly divided into two types: coarse-grained intercalation and fine-grained intercalation, and the two are different in the flotation separation process.
Coarse-grained embedded ores often use fatty acid collectors, the slurry regulator is sodium carbonate, and the quartz inhibitor is water glass. High-quality fluorite concentrate can be obtained through a coarse and multi-precision process. The flotation reagent for fine-grained embedded ore is the same as that of coarse-grained quartz-type fluorite ore, but due to the finer embedded particle size of the target mineral, intensified grinding is required, and the process flow of stage grinding and stage separation is adopted.

Calcite-fluorite type ore flotation process

The main minerals of calcite-fluorite type ore are fluorite and calcite (with a content of more than 30%), some of which contain a small amount of quartz, and sometimes can form quartz-calcite-fluorite type ore, which is a refractory ore.

The main reason why this type of ore is difficult to separate is that both calcite and fluorite are calcium-containing minerals and have similar surface physical and chemical properties. When they coexist in the solution, they are prone to interconversion between minerals. Choose appropriate collectors and inhibitors. It is the key to realizing the separation of fluorite and calcite.

To realize the separation of calcite and fluorite, the pH value of the slurry must be adjusted, and the collector can be combined to achieve a good separation effect. When the pH is 8 to 9.5, water glass, acidified water glass, sodium hexametaphosphate, lignosulfonate, dextrin, tannin, etc. are used alone or in combination to inhibit calcite, so as to achieve the purpose of separation. In addition, for more complex fluorite ore containing more calcite, limestone, dolomite, etc., tannin extract and lignosulfonate can be used to inhibit gangue minerals, and the flotation separation effect is better.

Flotation process of sulfide fluorite type ore

In actual production, the beneficiation technology of sulfide fluorite-type ore is mainly based on flotation. The sulfide ore is firstly floated with xanthate collectors, and the tailings of fluorite flotation are treated as fluorite ore separately. Selected for many times using fatty acid agents. Sometimes, in the fluorite flotation operation, a small amount of sulfide ore inhibitor (such as cyanide) is added to suppress the residual sulfide to ensure the quality of the fluorite concentrate.

In addition, beneficiation technologies such as roasting and leaching can also be used to extract valuable metals and decompose fluorite. The process flow is relatively simple, and high-quality fluorite products can be prepared while comprehensively recycling valuable metals.

Flotation process of barite-fluorite type ore

The main minerals of barite-type fluorite rock ore are barite and fluorite. The content of barite is generally 10%-40%, often accompanied by sulfide minerals such as pyrite, galena, and sphalerite.

The beneficiation of this type of ore is generally mixed and floated to obtain a barite-fluorite mixed concentrate, and then the barite and fluorite are separated. According to the emergence sequence of barite and fluorite rock, there are two options: one is to inhibit barite flotation of fluorite, this method can obtain high-grade barite concentrate and fluorite concentrate; The other is to inhibit the flotation of barite from fluorite. This method first obtains barite concentrate and adds fatty acid collector and sodium silicate to the tailings. This method is simple in process and easy to operate, and qualified barite concentrate can be obtained, but the grade of fluorite is often not high.

In actual production, the separation of fluorite and barite mostly uses the process flow of fluorite inhibiting barite, using fatty acid flotation agents as fluorite collectors, caustic starch, dextrin, and other organic inhibitors combined with hexametaphosphoric acid Sodium, sodium fluorosilicate, water glass, aluminum salt, iron salt, and other inorganic inhibitors are used in combination to achieve the purpose of separating fluorite and barite.

---

The above are the four types of fluorite rock ore flotation processes. In the process of fluorite flotation, the flotation reagent system and grinding fineness are important factors that affect the effect of fluorite flotation, and must not be blindly determined. It is recommended to conduct a beneficiation test first, and after fully understanding the nature of the ore, comprehensively consider the actual situation of the beneficiation plant, investment budget, and other factors, and finally determine the fluorite flotation process and reagent system to avoid economic losses.

If you have any questions about the above content or want to know more info, please contact the online service or submit your message.Whatsapp:+8613319277356   Email:[email protected]