The role of oxidizer in the flotation separation of chalcopyrite and galena using sodium lignosulfonate as a depressant

The influence of oxidizer hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) on the chalcopyrite and galena flotation separation using sodium lignosulfonate as the depressant was studied and the mechanism of H 2 O 2 enhance depression action of sodium lignosulfonate was discussed in this study.   The results show that both chalcopyrite and galena have good floatability when using potassium butylxanthate as a collector. The chalcopyrite and galena flotation separation can be realized by using large doses of sodium lignosulfonate. On the premise of using the oxidant H 2 O 2 , a small amount of sodium lignosulfonate can depress galena completely, but has a weak depression effect on chalcopyrite. Therefore, the dosage of sodium lignosulfonate can be reduced by using H 2 O 2 and sodium lignosulfonate together. Sodium lignosulfonate adsorbed on galena surface principally by chemical reaction with the oxidates generated on galena and H 2 O 2 promote more oxidation products on galena surface, which causes a small amount of sodium lignosulfonate to depress galena. However, the chalcopyrite has high lattice energy, which makes chalcopyrite very stable, so H 2 O 2 has little effect on it. The depressant has low adsorption capacity on the surface of chalcopyrite, and the flotation separation can be realized.