Abstract: | The minerals jamesonite and marmatite have similar surface properties.Separating them using a flotation method is inefficient.For separation of lead and zinc the lead mineral is generally floated preferentially to the zinc mineral,which appears in the sinks.In this study a new of collector,2-aminothiophenoi,is introduced that can float a zinc mineral,as a product entrapped in foam,preferentially.Single mineral flotation tests revealed that 2-aminothiophenol has good selectivity for flotation of marmatite.An artificial mixture of minerals used in a flotation test showed that 2-aminothiophenol can effectively separate marmatite from jamesonite.A product assaying at 45.06% Zn and 4.06% Pb was produced.FTIR spectra were employed to probe the adsorption mechanism of 2-aminothiophenol onto marmatite.The results indicate that adsorption of 2-aminothiophenol onto jamesonite and marmatite were,respectively,physical adsorption and chemical adsorption.This agrees with the flotation results. |