Flotation separation of specularite from chlorite using propyl gallate as a collector

Separation of specularite from iron-containing silicate iron ore is challenging due to the similar surface properties of minerals and gangues. In this work, propyl gallate (PG) was applied as a chelating collector to separate specularite from chlorite. The flotation results indicated that collector sodium oleate (NaOL) shows little selectivity for the separation of specularite and chlorite. In contrast, the separation of specularite can be achieved with no depressant required when PG was used as the collector. The optimal separation results were obtained for single mineral flotation with recoveries of 87.11% and 6.98% for specularite and chlorite, respectively, and for mixed mineral flotation with 65.13% TFe grade and 76.28% TFe recovery, when the slurry pH was 8 and PG concentration was 40 mg L(−1). FT-IR and XPS analyses indicated that PG could be favorably adsorbed on specularite via phenolic hydroxyl groups, and molecular dynamic simulation results further elucidated the adsorption mechanism. This research suggested that the chelating flotation collector could be effective in the separation of minerals from iron-containing silicate iron ores.