Flotation of chromite and serpentine

Chromite is an important strategic mineral usually associated with other gangue minerals, mainly silicates. A good knowledge of the flotation behaviour of chromite and the establishment of conditions for its selective separation from the gangue minerals might help the future exploitation of chromite deposits. In this paper, the floatability of chromite and serpentine fine particles by sodium oleate was investigated in-depth, aiming to separation during mineral processing, i.e. to float chromite from serpentine. Process parameters investigated were the effect of collector concentration, the pH value, the type and concentration of various modifiers on the flotation behaviour of chromite. The conditions investigate where selective flotation from gangue minerals (serpentine) would be possible. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.