Iron Oxide Slime Coatings In Flotation

IN spite of considerable study,1-5 the nature of slime coatings in flotation is still not completely understood. However, phenomena that control flocculation and dispersion of colloidal systems are now interpreted in terms of electrical double layers."' Colloids will flocculate even though the particles carry the same charge, but when two dispersed colloids of opposite charge are mixed, flocculation ensues even more rapidly. Analogous phenomena seem responsible for slime coating on minerals in flotation systems. To shed new light on the issue it was considered desirable to devise a tool that would measure slime coatings. The usual method has been to examine photographs of presumably representative surfaces, after an intervening washing in running water. But such an examination is non-quantitative, and the changes in chemical environment represented by the washing may have removed the slime coatings that existed during flotation. To provide the possibility for a correlation with electrical double layer phenomena, the experiments were made with quartz, corundum, and iron oxide, for which electrokinetic data are available.8-12 Since the properties of the electrical double layers of these oxides depend on the pH of the solution, pH will be the most important variable. Furthermore, because the zero point of charge for silica, iron oxide, and alumina occurs at pH 3.7, 8, and 9.5, respectively, the relative charge on the slime and mineral can be changed over wide ranges. Because of its practical importance in quartz flotation, iron oxide powder was chosen as the slime. Also, its uniform composition, contrasting color, and ease of analysis make experimentation simple.