Flotation of a low-grade bauxite ore using an organosilicon cationic collector

The flotation behaviors of diaspore and three kinds of silicate minerals — kaolinite, illite and pyrophyllite — using an organosilicon cationic surfactant as collector were investigated as functions of reagent concentration and pulp pH. The results show that the organosilicon cationic collector QAS122 is a suitable collector for the flotation of aluminosilicate minerals but has weak collecting ability with regard to diaspore, enabling the flotation separation of diaspore from silicate minerals using QAS122 as collector. The flotation of a bauxite ore was then studied in detail. Finally, a reverse flotation separation process was used to process a low-grade bauxite ore. It was concluded that use of the organosilicon cationic collector is effective. A concentrate with aluminum oxide (Al 2 O 3 ) to silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ) mass ratio, or A/S, of 9.67 was obtained from natural bauxite ore with A/S of 6.07 at pH of around 11. The Al 2 O 3 recovery rate was 81.72 percent.