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Kinetic Investigation of Initial Oxidative Dissolution of Pyrite in Alkaline Media (pH 9–12) and Influence of Ca and Mg: A Fundamental Study for Pyrite Depression in Froth Flotation

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Abstract

Froth flotation is a common mineral processing technique that is used to remove low economic gangue minerals, such as pyrite, from ore. The main hydrophilization mechanism on the pyrite surface is explained by the formation of hydrophilic iron (Fe) hydroxide and its complexation with calcium (Ca) and magnesium (Mg) ions; however, few quantitative results are available to determine the best physico-chemical condition to depress pyrite floatability. Fe-hydroxide formation, i.e., oxidative dissolution on a pyrite surface, is a kinetically control reaction; thus, this study investigated the short-term pyrite oxidation rate (~ 360 min) and the influence of the copresence of Ca and Mg under alkaline pH conditions (9, 10.5, and 12) as a fundamental study to establish optimal flotation and/or pre-treatment conditions for pyrite depression. The oxidative dissolution rates of pyrite increased after 120–150 min of reaction compared with the first reaction time: the rate constant (log k) increased from − 10.08 to − 9.5 in the absence of Ca and Mg. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis results showed that the formation of Fe1−xS2 became the dominant reaction in the first reaction stage; thereafter, S–S bond cleavage in the second reaction stage resulted in the acceleration of pyrite decomposition. Smaller rate constants resulted for the Ca and Mg solutions because of the formation of Ca and Mg hydroxides under alkaline conditions. However, this decrease in oxidation rate could influence the pyrite surface hydrophilization less, and hydrophilization has become the main reason for pyrite depression enhancement.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. S. Samitsu of the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS) for performing the surface area analysis. Part of this work was performed at the Waseda Research Institute for Science and Research Organization for Open Innovation Strategy, Waseda University. We thank Kagami Memorial Research Institute for Materials Science and Technology, Waseda University for the XPS analysis. We thank Edanz (https://jp.edanz.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan

    Shigeshi Fuchida & Chiharu Tokoro

  2. Graduate School of Creative Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan

    Jifeng Xue & Sana Ishida

  3. Faculty of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan

    Chiharu Tokoro

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  1. Shigeshi Fuchida
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  2. Jifeng Xue
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  4. Chiharu Tokoro
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Contributions

SF: Conceptualization, Investigation, Data curation, Writing—original draft. JX: Methodology, Investigation, Data curation. SI: Methodology. CT: Supervision, Conceptualization.

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Correspondence to Chiharu Tokoro.

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The contributing editor for this article was Grace Ofori-Sarpong.

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Fuchida, S., Xue, J., Ishida, S. et al. Kinetic Investigation of Initial Oxidative Dissolution of Pyrite in Alkaline Media (pH 9–12) and Influence of Ca and Mg: A Fundamental Study for Pyrite Depression in Froth Flotation. J. Sustain. Metall. 8, 732–741 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-022-00521-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-022-00521-z

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