Removal of Major Phosphate Impurities by Flotation Using DTAB Collector

Removal of phosphate impurities is a prerequisite for using phosphate ores in different applications. The flotation process is one of the most promising processes that have been used to improve the phosphate grade. However, the flotation performance depends on the type of the associated impurities to valuable minerals due to their different flotation behaviour that needs more attention. In this paper, the flotation response of impurities at different pH and dodecyl tri-methyl ammonium bromide (DTAB) collector concentrations was investigated using the statistical design of experiments. The results indicated that some impurities were completely removed such as silica and alumina while others are only partially removed at about 72% and 38%, respectively. Thus, based on the impurities response to flotation and their rejection by flotation using DTAB collector, they are classified into two groups. The first group is SiO2, MgO, and Al2O3, while the second group includes only sulphide mineral (FeS2). The lowest rejection percentage for pyrite is due to its chemical composition as a sulphide mineral that has a different interaction with DTAB collector in comparison to first group minerals.