Effects of common ions on the flotation of fluorapatite and dolomite with oleate collector

In this study, the effects of common ions, especially Ca 2+ , on the reverse flotation of fluorapatite and dolomite in acidic conditions with NaOL collector were investigated using micro-flotation, zeta potential, contact angle, adsorption analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and density functional theory-based first principal calculations. It is found that the dolomite flotation recovery was enhanced and the fluorapatite flotation was depressed by the addition of CaCl 2 at pH 5. For dolomite, in the presence of CaCl 2 , the solubility of metal ions was increased, especially for Ca 2+ . The Ca and Mg sites exposed on the dolomite surface, increased the NaOL adsorption, thus, enhancing the dolomite flotation. However, the formation of Ca(H 2 PO 4 ) 2 species on fluorapatite surface inhibit its flotation.