The University of Waterloo

Lakehead University

Inderjit Nirdosh

Malcolm H Baird

Natarajan Ramanathan

The main objective of the invention was to develop a new flotation collector that could eliminate or reduce the amount of copper sulfate used in the flotation of sphalerite. Different series of collectors such as cupferrons, arylhydroxamic acids and amino mercaptans or amino thiols were synthesized and tested. Amino mercaptans/aminothiols were found to be very effective in floating sphalerite from a lead-zinc ore using only 10-15% of copper sulfate used with conventional xanthate collector. The present invention does not require any alteration in the current mill practices. This warrants only changing the flotation collector in zinc flotation stage from, for example, potassium amyl xanthate (PAX) to the new collector.

Flotation of sphalerite from mixed base metal sulfide ores either without or with largely reduced amount of copper sulfate addition using 2-(alkylamino)ethanethiols as collectors

The determination of the surface tension of a liquid or of the interfacial tension between two immiscible liquids is effected by drainage methods in which the movement of an air bubble or a droplet of the lighter liquid is observed, certain measurements made and the surface tension or interfacial tension determined from such measurments. The apparatus used, comprising a tapered tube, a rotating uniform diameter tube or a tilted uniform diameter tube, is simple and inexpensive and accurate measurements are obtained.

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Thunder Bay, Canada

Inderjit Nirdosh