| Abstract: | Preliminary studies of the floatability characteristics of monazite, zircon and rutile, performed in a modified Hallimond tube, initiated a bench scale investigation of the flotation of a Brazilian monazite ore from Sao Goncalo do Sapucai, MG. The testwork was conducted with the utilisation of a commercial hydroxamate and sodium oleate as collectors and sodium metasilicate as depressant. In all tests, the best collector/depressant ratio defined during the microflotation experiments was confirmed at bench scale. The results indicated that with both collectors it is possible to produce a high purity cleaner monazite concentrate (> 60% RE2O3). The concentrations of collector and depressant must be well defined to prevent a significant increase in the flotation of gamgue minerals such as ilmenite, zircon and rutile, causing contamination of the monazite concentrate. |
