The United States of America As Represented by the Secretary of

Don C Seidel

Jerry L Huiatt

Philip E Thompson

Thomas H Jeffers

Polymer beads are prepared containing an immobilized extractant for sorbing metal contaminants at concentrations of less than 1 mg/L in dilute aqueous solutions. A preferred polymer is polysulfone and the extractant can be a biomass material or a synthetic chemical compound sorbed into activated carbon. The polymer beads are prepared by dissolving the polymer in an organic solvent to form a solution, adding the extractant to the solution to form a mixture and injecting the mixture through a nozzle into water to form the beads.

Polymer beads containing an immobilized extractant for sorbing metals

Sylvinite ores are treated for removal of insoluble slimes by a froth flotation technique which includes flocculating the slimes with nonionic or polyacrylamide flocculants and thereafter utilizing a nonionic or an anionic flotation collector including a mixture of fuel oil or a fatty acid and a defoamer of the glycol ester or polyglycol ester type. The flocculated slimes may also be floated with a fatty acid collector alone at low pH conditions.

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Salt Lake City, UT, United States of America

Don C Seidel