To achieve the flotation separation of chalcopyrite from galena, a novel organic fenugreek gum (FG) with high water solubility was introduced as a galena depressant in this work. The effect of FG on the flotation separation of chalcopyrite from galena was investigated through micro-flotation tests, and the underlying mechanisms were further studied and discussed. Flotation results revealed that FG had a stronger depression effect towards galena than the traditional organic galena depressant dextrin. When 4 mg/L FG was added, galena was depressed intensively with the recovery less than 5% at the whole pH range tested from 2 to 11, while chalcopyrite recovery was always above 90%. Artificial mixed minerals flotation results further proved that FG could selectively depress galena flotation, and a concentrate with CuFeS₂ grade of about 86% and recovery of around 96% was obtained from a feed material containing 48.35% CuFeS₂ when 4 mg/L FG was added at pH 8.5. The results of the adsorption, zeta potential, and FTIR studies showed that FG was more inclined to adsorb on galena surface than chalcopyrite, and the pre-adsorbed FG on galena surface could further interfere with the following PAX coverage. XPS spectra analyses illustrated that the adsorption of FG on galena surface was physical, and hydrogen bonding was considered as the main driving force. Based on the results and analyses reported in this work, it can be concluded that FG has a potential to be a selective depressant to separate chalcopyrite from galena.

为了实现方铅矿中黄铜矿的浮选分离，在这项工作中引入了具有高水溶性的新型有机胡芦巴胶（FG）作为方铅矿抑制剂。通过微浮选试验研究了FG对方铅矿中黄铜矿浮选分离的影响，并进一步研究了其潜在机理。浮选结果表明，FG对方铅矿的抑制作用要强于传统的有机方铅矿抑制剂糊精。当添加4 mg / L FG时，方铅矿被严重压抑，在2至11的整个pH范围内回收率均低于5％，而黄铜矿的回收率始终高于90％。人工混合矿物浮选结果进一步证明，FG可以有选择地抑制方铅矿浮选，并具有CuFeS ₂精矿。当在pH 8.5下添加4 mg / L FG时，从含48.35％CuFeS ₂的进料中可得到约86％的粗级和约96％的回收率。吸附，Zeta电位和FTIR研究的结果表明，与黄铜矿相比，FG在方铅矿表面更倾向于吸附方铅矿，并且在方铅矿表面上预先吸附的FG可能进一步干扰随后的PAX覆盖。XPS光谱分析表明，方铅矿表面FG的吸附是物理的，氢键被认为是主要驱动力。根据这项工作报告的结果和分析，可以得出结论，FG有潜力成为选择性将黄铜矿与方铅矿分离的抑制剂。