Study of promises for the use of ultrasound in the technology of secondary benefication of processing wastes

Mining Institute of Far Easten Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Khabarovsk, Russia

^* Corresponding author: olya-vo@mail.ru

Abstract

The results of the study, aimed at designing of benefication technology of mine processing wastes of Voznesenskiy ore district, are presented in this paper. By the expert appraisals, the amount of tailings dumps of the Yaroslavskaya Mining Company is estimated to be more than 30 million tons. Sample testing has shown that fluorite content varies from 13% to 23%, calcite - up to 14%, and zinc - in the range of 0.4-0.6%. The research was conducted with tailing samples containing 20.7% of CaF₂ and 10.2% of CaCO₃. Mineral grains of the secondary raw material were examined for their surface state and a package of necessary preliminary operations, which provide an efficient material - flotation reagents interaction, was determined. It has been established that extraction of fluorite to concentrates that would match existing requirements is possible in principle. The use of ultrasonic treatment of material in its preparation for flotation is conditioned by an effective desorption of films of different nature from mineral particles. The suggested scheme of fluorite flotation involves preliminary treatment of raw material by ultrasound with dumping of released mud fractions. The optimal operating regime allows obtaining concentrates of higher quality than it is under usual technology without the ultrasonic exposure. In this process, the extraction of fluorite to a concentrate with 94.47% of CaF₂ increases up to 61.11%, which is higher by 2.96% against the original studies.