Preliminary study on the metallurgical recovery of iron ore tailings from the unitary flotation operation

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.3173372325105

• Palavras-chave: Statistical analyses. Collector. Fruits from the savannah.

• Keywords: Statistical analyses. Collector. Fruits from the savannah.

• Abstract:

  Mining plays a crucial role in Brazil's economy, and flotation is a fundamental operation for separating minerals. In this study, we used samples collected after a dam collapse in November 2015, as this is where iron ore tailings are found. The objective was to evaluate the potential of pequi and buriti oils, from the Cerrado, as collectors to make minerals hydrophobic during the flotation process. We conducted experiments in bench tests, varying the concentration of collectors in each test. We analyze the minerals present in the floated and non-floated materials to calculate the metallurgical recovery, which represents the fraction of iron and silicon in the stream of interest. We use statistical analyzes to evaluate the results. The results indicated that pequi oil did not perform satisfactorily, with insignificant recoveries of silicon and iron, compared to the other collector tested. On the other hand, buriti oil demonstrated statistical compliance with the proposed model and presented a better metallurgical recovery capacity. Therefore, this study investigated the application of pequi and buriti oils as collectors in mineral flotation, with buriti oil showing more promise for future industrial applications.