Radiometric study of the adsorption of chromate ions in anionic flotation of barite and celestite minerals

An investigation of the optimum conditions for concentrating barite and celestite ores was carried out by floating the gangue minerals (calcite and quartz) with sodium oleate while depressing BaSO₄ or SrSO₄ with CrO₄^2? ions. The isotope dilution technique was applied to determine the adsorption of CrO₄^2? ions tagged with ⁵¹Cr on high grade barite and celestite minerals at different pH values in the presence and absence of sodium oleate. Flotation of synthetic ores of barite and celestite was carried out at pH 10, whereby effective selectivity between float and nonfloat minerals could be achieved.