US2706559A - Flotation concentration of potash ores - Google Patents
Flotation concentration of potash ores Download PDFInfo
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- US2706559A US2706559A US418229A US41822954A US2706559A US 2706559 A US2706559 A US 2706559A US 418229 A US418229 A US 418229A US 41822954 A US41822954 A US 41822954A US 2706559 A US2706559 A US 2706559A
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- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B03—SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS USING LIQUIDS OR USING PNEUMATIC TABLES OR JIGS; MAGNETIC OR ELECTROSTATIC SEPARATION OF SOLID MATERIALS FROM SOLID MATERIALS OR FLUIDS; SEPARATION BY HIGH-VOLTAGE ELECTRIC FIELDS
- B03D—FLOTATION; DIFFERENTIAL SEDIMENTATION
- B03D1/00—Flotation
- B03D1/02—Froth-flotation processes
- B03D1/06—Froth-flotation processes differential
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- the present invention relates to the flotation concentration of potash ores, and more particularly to the flotation concentration of such ores in two stages whereby there is produced two separate concentrates, one of which is a high grade concentrate of comparatively finely divided sylvite and the other consisting principally of coarser or granular, but somewhat lower grade, sylvite particularly suitable for use as a fertilizer for which purpose such coarser material is essential.
- a high grade sylvite concentrate can be obtained by flotation of comparatively fine sylvite from an ore such as sylvinite by the use of a long chain aliphatic amine in conjunction with a colloidal material such as solubilized starch and that a coarse concentrate can be obtained similarly by the use of an amine and fuel oil usually by the use of shaking tables. It has not hitherto been possible, however, to treat a mixture of coarse and fine sylvinite ore without first separating it into coarse and fine fractions which is a troublesome and costly operation.
- coarse sylvite is a valuable fertilizer
- various methods have been employed for its production, for example finer material is in some cases fused, crushed and screened. Usually, however, coarser sylvinite is separated from the crushed ore and concentrated separately while the finer material is treated by flotation.
- coarse sylvinite materiahas coarse as six or eight mesh; by fine sylvite is meant material finer than about 28 mesh and preferably all finer than about 35 mesh.
- the advantages of the process of my invention are the elimination of fine grinding of the sylvinite ore which is necessary in the flotation process as employed at present, the virtual elimination of a troublesome middling product which at present must be returned to the circuit for further treatment, the production of two valuable products in a single flotation apparatus and the production of a valuable fertilizer by a simple method without the need of fusion, etc.
- the essential steps of my process comprise 1) coarsely crushing crude sylvinite ore; (2) mixing the coarsely crushed ore with a substantially saturated aqueous solution of the soluble constituents of the ore to form an aqueous suspension thereof; (3) substantially removing slimes from the aqueous suspension of the ore; (4) subjecting the deslimed ore to flotation using as principal reagents a long chain aliphatic amine and a water insoluble oil thereby producing a floating concentrate of sylvite particles and a tailing principally consisting of halite which may be discarded; and (5) refloating said concentrate after agitating it with an inorganic colloid material thereby obtaining a high grade finely divided sylvite concentrate as a floating product and an unfloated coarser sylvite product. While it is not essential to my process, it is within the scope of my invention to subject the unfloated coarser sylvite product to a screening operation, if desired, to
- the crude sylvinite ore is crushed preferably to about 8 mesh, although good re- 2,706,559 Patented Apr. 19, 1955 sults have been obtained with ore crushed only to through 4 mesh or through 6 mesh, the overall recovery tending to be somewhat lower, however.
- the coarsely crushed ore is then mixed with brine, by which is meant a saturated solution of the soluble constituents (practically all sodium and potassium chlorides) of the ore to form an aqueous suspension thereof.
- slimes are substantially removed from the aqueous suspension of ore by any of the conventional methods, and with suitable apparatus, known to those skilled in the art, thereby to deslime the ore preparatory to flotation.
- the deslimed ore suspended in saturated brine is then conditioned principally with a long chain aliphatic amine, such for example as octadecylamine, or a mixture of such amines, and an inert water insoluble oil such, for example, as fuel oil, and if desired a suitable frothing agent or other auxiliary flotation reagents.
- a long chain aliphatic amine such for example as octadecylamine, or a mixture of such amines
- an inert water insoluble oil such, for example, as fuel oil, and if desired a suitable frothing agent or other auxiliary flotation reagents.
- the rougher concentrate preferably without further addition of the aforesaid flotation reagents, is agitated with an inorganic colloid such, for example, as fullers earth or bentonite, in a thick or thin pulp, preferably thin, and then is refloated.
- an inorganic colloid such as fullers earth or bentonite
- a floating fine concentrate of high grade potassium chloride is removed, leaving a lower grade, coarser material as a tailing.
- this tailing is screened or sized by classification at about 28 mesh, the coarser material being suitable for use as a fertilizer while the finer material, consisting largely of sodium chloride, may usually be discarded as the amount of it is small, or it may be returned to the rougher flotation circuit together with new feed; in either case the amount of KCl lost in the operation is reduced to a minimum.
- the floating high grade concentrate may be subjected to reflotation in order to still further increase its grade, if desired, and unfloated material being screened or classified in the same way as the original tailings produced in the first reflotation s ep.
- an inorganic colloidal clay such as fullers earth, bentonite, or the slime removed from the crude ore before flotation.
- the amount of colloidal material I have found useful of the order of two to 20 lbs. per ton of raw feed. To facilitate the understanding of this invention, the following examples are given by way of illustration.
- Example I A sample of ore from the Carlsbad district of New exico was crushed to pass an 8 mesh screen and made into a pulp by mixing with a saturated solution of the same ore. The slimes were removed by decantation and the deslimed ore in the form of a pulp containing 70% solids was conditioned forone minute with reagents consisting of Armac T 0.8 lb.; fuel oil 1.47 lbs. and pine oil 0.2 lb.; all per ton of ore. The pulp was diluted and a floating concentrate removed, the unfloated tailings being discarded.
- the concentrate was mixed with saturated brine, diluted to about 10% solids, agitated with slimes of the kind removed in the previous operation in the amount of 4 lbs. per ton of ore and again floated.
- the floating concentrate consisted of high grade potassium chloride while the unfloated solids consisted of lower grade potassium chloride. This unfloated material was screened on a 28 mesh screen, yielding a coarse sylvite concentrate and a small amount of finer material, which in a continuous operation could be returned to the primary flotation cells to pass through the system again.
- Armac T consists of a mixture of aliphatic amines of the approximate composition of 25% mono-n-octadecyl amine acetate, 25% mono-n-hexadecyl amine acetate and 50% mono-n-octadecenyl amine acetate.
- Example I This test was carried out in exactly the same manner as Example I except that fullers earth, 4.0 lbs. per ton of feed, was substituted for the ore slimes.
- Example III In this example again the procedure was exactly the same as in the two foregoing examples except that bentonite, in the amount of 8 lbs. per ton of feed was used instead of fullers earth or ore slimes, the results being as follows:
- Example IV In this example the procedure was the same as in the previous examples, but the crude sylvinite ore was crushed only to 4 mesh. The colloid used was slimes from the sylvinite ore in the amount of 16 lbs. per ton of feed. It was not necessary to screen the unfioated mineral since it assayed 51.0% K20, the grade commonly used for fertilizing purposes.
- colloid material is bentonite.
- colloid material is a colloidal clay.
- the colloidal material is a colloidal clay present in the sylvinite as found in nature.
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Description
United States Patent FLOTATION CONCENTRATION OF POTASH ORES James B. Duke, Carlsbad, N. Mex., assignor to Minerals & Chemicals Corporation of America, a corporation of Maryland No Drawing. Application March 23, 1954, Serial No. 418,229
10 Claims. (Cl. 209-466) The present invention relates to the flotation concentration of potash ores, and more particularly to the flotation concentration of such ores in two stages whereby there is produced two separate concentrates, one of which is a high grade concentrate of comparatively finely divided sylvite and the other consisting principally of coarser or granular, but somewhat lower grade, sylvite particularly suitable for use as a fertilizer for which purpose such coarser material is essential.
It has long been known that a high grade sylvite concentrate can be obtained by flotation of comparatively fine sylvite from an ore such as sylvinite by the use of a long chain aliphatic amine in conjunction with a colloidal material such as solubilized starch and that a coarse concentrate can be obtained similarly by the use of an amine and fuel oil usually by the use of shaking tables. It has not hitherto been possible, however, to treat a mixture of coarse and fine sylvinite ore without first separating it into coarse and fine fractions which is a troublesome and costly operation.
Since coarse sylvite is a valuable fertilizer, various methods have been employed for its production, for example finer material is in some cases fused, crushed and screened. Usually, however, coarser sylvinite is separated from the crushed ore and concentrated separately while the finer material is treated by flotation.
By coarse sylvinite is meant materiahas coarse as six or eight mesh; by fine sylvite is meant material finer than about 28 mesh and preferably all finer than about 35 mesh.
I have invented a novel and useful process for simultaneously recovering a high grade finely divided sylvite concentrate and a lower grade coarser sylvite concentrate from a sylvinite ore.
The advantages of the process of my invention are the elimination of fine grinding of the sylvinite ore which is necessary in the flotation process as employed at present, the virtual elimination of a troublesome middling product which at present must be returned to the circuit for further treatment, the production of two valuable products in a single flotation apparatus and the production of a valuable fertilizer by a simple method without the need of fusion, etc.
The essential steps of my process comprise 1) coarsely crushing crude sylvinite ore; (2) mixing the coarsely crushed ore with a substantially saturated aqueous solution of the soluble constituents of the ore to form an aqueous suspension thereof; (3) substantially removing slimes from the aqueous suspension of the ore; (4) subjecting the deslimed ore to flotation using as principal reagents a long chain aliphatic amine and a water insoluble oil thereby producing a floating concentrate of sylvite particles and a tailing principally consisting of halite which may be discarded; and (5) refloating said concentrate after agitating it with an inorganic colloid material thereby obtaining a high grade finely divided sylvite concentrate as a floating product and an unfloated coarser sylvite product. While it is not essential to my process, it is within the scope of my invention to subject the unfloated coarser sylvite product to a screening operation, if desired, to substantially remove low grade finer material which may be present therein.
In practicing my invention the crude sylvinite ore is crushed preferably to about 8 mesh, although good re- 2,706,559 Patented Apr. 19, 1955 sults have been obtained with ore crushed only to through 4 mesh or through 6 mesh, the overall recovery tending to be somewhat lower, however. The coarsely crushed ore is then mixed with brine, by which is meant a saturated solution of the soluble constituents (practically all sodium and potassium chlorides) of the ore to form an aqueous suspension thereof.
Next, slimes are substantially removed from the aqueous suspension of ore by any of the conventional methods, and with suitable apparatus, known to those skilled in the art, thereby to deslime the ore preparatory to flotation. The deslimed ore suspended in saturated brine is then conditioned principally with a long chain aliphatic amine, such for example as octadecylamine, or a mixture of such amines, and an inert water insoluble oil such, for example, as fuel oil, and if desired a suitable frothing agent or other auxiliary flotation reagents. By this means, there is obtained a rougher concentrate of the sylvite, the unfloated solid sodium chloride being discarded. In practice the solid sodium chloride is removed by Well known means and the recovered saturated brine returned to the circuit for further use.
The rougher concentrate preferably without further addition of the aforesaid flotation reagents, is agitated with an inorganic colloid such, for example, as fullers earth or bentonite, in a thick or thin pulp, preferably thin, and then is refloated. In this reflotation step a floating fine concentrate of high grade potassium chloride is removed, leaving a lower grade, coarser material as a tailing.
Finally, this tailing is screened or sized by classification at about 28 mesh, the coarser material being suitable for use as a fertilizer while the finer material, consisting largely of sodium chloride, may usually be discarded as the amount of it is small, or it may be returned to the rougher flotation circuit together with new feed; in either case the amount of KCl lost in the operation is reduced to a minimum.
In some cases it is unnecessary to screen the unfloated product, since the amount of fine material present is too small to lower the grade below that required for a fertilizer product.
It will be understood that the floating high grade concentrate may be subjected to reflotation in order to still further increase its grade, if desired, and unfloated material being screened or classified in the same way as the original tailings produced in the first reflotation s ep.
Asthe inorganic colloidal material used in the second flotation step, I prefer to use an inorganic colloidal clay, such as fullers earth, bentonite, or the slime removed from the crude ore before flotation.
The amount of colloidal material I have found useful of the order of two to 20 lbs. per ton of raw feed. To facilitate the understanding of this invention, the following examples are given by way of illustration.
Example I A sample of ore from the Carlsbad district of New exico was crushed to pass an 8 mesh screen and made into a pulp by mixing with a saturated solution of the same ore. The slimes were removed by decantation and the deslimed ore in the form of a pulp containing 70% solids was conditioned forone minute with reagents consisting of Armac T 0.8 lb.; fuel oil 1.47 lbs. and pine oil 0.2 lb.; all per ton of ore. The pulp was diluted and a floating concentrate removed, the unfloated tailings being discarded.
The concentrate was mixed with saturated brine, diluted to about 10% solids, agitated with slimes of the kind removed in the previous operation in the amount of 4 lbs. per ton of ore and again floated. The floating concentrate consisted of high grade potassium chloride while the unfloated solids consisted of lower grade potassium chloride. This unfloated material was screened on a 28 mesh screen, yielding a coarse sylvite concentrate and a small amount of finer material, which in a continuous operation could be returned to the primary flotation cells to pass through the system again.
Thus, were recovered 75.7% of the KCl as a high grade concentrate, 13.7% of a lower grade concentrate and 1.6% as a low grade material which could be returned to the system for further treatment.
Armac T consists of a mixture of aliphatic amines of the approximate composition of 25% mono-n-octadecyl amine acetate, 25% mono-n-hexadecyl amine acetate and 50% mono-n-octadecenyl amine acetate.
Example I] This test was carried out in exactly the same manner as Example I except that fullers earth, 4.0 lbs. per ton of feed, was substituted for the ore slimes.
The results of this test were as follows 82.7% in the form of high grade material and 10.9% as low grade material suitable for fertilizer; the amount and grade of 28 mesh material removed by screening is insignificant.
Example III In this example again the procedure was exactly the same as in the two foregoing examples except that bentonite, in the amount of 8 lbs. per ton of feed was used instead of fullers earth or ore slimes, the results being as follows:
Percent Percent Percent K10 Wt K20 Distribution Feed 100.0 24. 4 100.0 High grade concentrate 30. 3 59. 5 73. 8 Coarse Middling (+28 mesh). 7. 7 54. 4 17. 2 Fine Middling (28 mesh). 1. 4 19. 2 1. 1 Tailing 60. 6 3. 2 7.9
Thus, 73.8% of the KCl was recovered in the form of a high grade concentrate and 17.2% as a coarse lower grade product suitable for fertilizer. The amount of low grade product removed by screening was small and even if it had not been removed by screening this product would still contain 48.9% K20, bringing the overall recovery to 92.1%.
Example IV In this example the procedure was the same as in the previous examples, but the crude sylvinite ore was crushed only to 4 mesh. The colloid used was slimes from the sylvinite ore in the amount of 16 lbs. per ton of feed. It was not necessary to screen the unfioated mineral since it assayed 51.0% K20, the grade commonly used for fertilizing purposes.
Percent Percent Percent K20 Wt. K20 Distribution Feed 100. 0 24. 4 100. 0 High grade fine concentrate. 22. 6 58. 6 54.2 Low grade coarse product..- 15. 2 51.0 31. 8 Tailings 62. 2 5. 5 14. 0
Thus, 54.2% of the potash was recovered as a high grade product and 31.8% as a coarse fertilizer grade product- I claim:
1. The process of simultaneously recovering a high grade finely divided sylvite concentrate and a lower grade coarser sylvite concentrate from a sylvinite ore which comprises (1) coarsely crushing the crude sylvinite ore; (2) mixing the coarsely crushed ore with a substantially saturated solution of the soluble constituents of the ore to form a liquid suspension of the ore; (3) substantially removing slime from the liquid suspension of the ore; (4) subjecting the deslimed ore to flotation using as principal reagents a long chain aliphatic amine compound and a water insoluble oil, thereby producing a floating concentrate of the sylvite particles and a tailing principally consisting of halite which may be discarded; and (5) refloating the concentrate after agitating it with an inorganic colloid material thereby obtaining a high grade finely divided sylvite concentrate as a floating prod not and an unfioated coarser product.
2. The process of simultaneously recovering a high grade finely divided sylvite concentrate and a lower grade coarser sylvite concentrate from a sylvinite ore which comprises (1) coarsely crushing the crude sylvinite ore; (2) mixing the coarsely crushed ore with a substantially saturated solution of the soluble constituents of the ore to form a liquid suspension of the ore; (3) substantially removing slime from the liquid suspension of the ore; (4) subjecting the deslimed ore to flotation using as principal reagents a long chain aliphatic amine compound and a water insoluble oil, thereby producing a floating concentrate of the sylvite particles and a tailing principally consisting of halite which may be discarded; (5) refloating the concentrate after agitating it with an inorganic colloid material thereby obtaining a high grade finely divided sylvite concentrate as a floating product and an unfioated coarser product; and (6) screening said unfioated product to obtain a coarse, medium grade product and a low grade finer product which may be discarded.
3. The process according to claim 1 colloid material is fullers earth.
4. The process according to claim 1 colloid material is bentonite.
5. The process according to claim 1 colloid material is a colloidal clay.
6. The process according to claim 1 which the the the
in which in which in which the colloidal material is a colloidal clay present in the sylvinite as found in nature.
References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Jackson May 13, 1952 Zukosky Jan. 5, 1954
Claims (1)
1. THE PROCESS OF SIMULTANEOUSLY RECOVERING A HIGH GRADE FINELY DIVIDED SYLVITE CONCENTRATE AND A LOWER GRADE COARSER SYLVITE CONCENTRATE FROM A SYLVINITE ORE WHICH COMPRISES (1) COARSELY CRUSHING THE CRUDE SYLVINITE ORE; (2) MIXING THE COARSELY CRUSHED ORE WITH A SUBSTANTIALLY SATURATED SOLUTION OF THE SOLUBLE CONSTITUENTS OF THE ORE TO FORM A LIQUID SUSPENSION OF THE ORE: (3) SUBSTANTIALLY REMOVING SLIME FROM THE LIQUID SUSPENSION OF THE ORE; (4) SUBJECTING THE DESLIMED ORE TO FLOTATION USING AS PRINCIPAL REAGENTS A LONG CHAIN ALIPHATIC AMINE COMPOUND AND A WATER INSOLUBLE OIL, THEREBY PRODUCING A FLOATING CONCENTRATE OF THE SYLVITE PARTICLES AND A TAILING PRINCIPALLY CONSISTING OF HALITE WHICH MAY BE DISCARDED; AND (5) REFLOATING THE CONCENTRATE AFTER AGITATING IT WITH AN INORGANIC COLLOID MATERIAL THEREBY OBTAINING A HIGH GRADE FINELY DIVIDED SYLVITE CONCENTRATE AS A FLOATING PRODUCT AND AN UNFLOATED COARSER PRODUCT.
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US418229A US2706559A (en) | 1954-03-23 | 1954-03-23 | Flotation concentration of potash ores |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US418229A US2706559A (en) | 1954-03-23 | 1954-03-23 | Flotation concentration of potash ores |
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| Publication Number | Publication Date |
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| US2706559A true US2706559A (en) | 1955-04-19 |
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| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
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| US418229A Expired - Lifetime US2706559A (en) | 1954-03-23 | 1954-03-23 | Flotation concentration of potash ores |
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Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US2950007A (en) * | 1957-03-18 | 1960-08-23 | American Metal Climax Inc | Concentration of potash ores |
Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US2596407A (en) * | 1949-03-22 | 1952-05-13 | Int Minerals & Chem Corp | Concentration of nonmetallic minerals by flotation |
| US2665004A (en) * | 1949-04-11 | 1954-01-05 | Albert W Zukosky | Process for treating froth flotation concentrates |
-
1954
- 1954-03-23 US US418229A patent/US2706559A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Patent Citations (2)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US2596407A (en) * | 1949-03-22 | 1952-05-13 | Int Minerals & Chem Corp | Concentration of nonmetallic minerals by flotation |
| US2665004A (en) * | 1949-04-11 | 1954-01-05 | Albert W Zukosky | Process for treating froth flotation concentrates |
Cited By (1)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US2950007A (en) * | 1957-03-18 | 1960-08-23 | American Metal Climax Inc | Concentration of potash ores |
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