Effect of Aqueous Ferrous Ion on Collectorless Flotation of Pyrite

The presence of pyritePyrite in the mineral concentrates of the base metals obtained during flotationFlotation is a common problem; the depressionDepression of these impurities continues under investigation. This paper analyzes the surface state by FTIRFourier transform infra-red (FTIR) of pyritePyrite obtained during collectorlessCollectorless flotationFlotation using several concentrations of ferrous sulfate (FS) as a depressantDepressant. The results found show that the presence of 300 mg/L Fe2+ at pH 6 depresses the pyritePyrite, obtaining a 25% (w/w) cumulative flotationFlotation, at pulp potentials of + 300 mV, while in the absence of FS it is 89.9% (w/w). for all the concentrations analyzed (100, 160, 240 and 300 mg/L) the pyritePyrite flotationFlotation is less than 50%, the pyritePyrite surfaces characterized by FTIRFourier transform infra-red (FTIR) indicate the presence of different species of iron oxides such as akaganeite, lepidocrocite, schwertmanite as well as the presence free sulfate ion responsible for the pyritePyrite depressionDepression.