Enhanced collection of chalcopyrite by styrene-butyl acrylate polymer nanospheres in the presence of serpentine

Chalcopyrite and layered magnesium bearing silicate minerals (such as serpentine) are prone to heterogeneous aggregation under alkaline and weak acid conditions, which changed the surface properties of chalcopyrite and reduced the floatability of chalcopyrite when conventional collector such as sodium butyl xanthate (SBX) was used. To enhance the collection of chalcopyrite in the presence of serpentine, novel nanospheres of poly styrene-butyl acrylate (St-Ba) were prepared and used as collector to improve the floatability of the chalcopyrite min-erals. The micro-flotation tests showed that the St-Ba nanospheres could well eliminate the inhibition of serpentine on the chalcopyrite and greatly increase the chalcopyrite recovery. Compared with SBX, the St-Ba nanospheres enhanced the floatation recovery from 89% to 95% for the single chalcopyrite mineral, and from 42% to 84% for the mixed ores of chalcopyrite and serpentine. Adsorption tests, contact angle measurement, SEM observation and Molecular dynamics (MD) simulation revealed that the St-Ba nanospheres could be firmly adsorbed on the surface of chalcopyrite, which could not only increase the mineral hydrophobicity, but also act as a bridge between chalcopyrite particles and air bubbles to enhance the floatability of the chalcopyrite. The results of this work indicated that the organic nanospheres was an effective novel collector and could be used to solve the inhibitory effect of gangue mineral fines on target mineral flotation.