How to desulfurize fluorite ore?

Fluorite is one of the main sources of fluorine in nature, and fluorite concentrates are widely used in the chemical, material and metallurgical industries.

Fluorite is mainly associated with sulfide and calcite minerals. The presence of these sulfide and calcite minerals leads to pipeline blockage and loss of efficiency during the production of anhydrous hydrofluoric acid (AHF). Worldwide, direct flotation techniques are used to select fluorite into chemical grades, but their separation efficiency remains limited due to the similar floatability behavior of fluorite, sulfide and calcite in fatty acids.

A company conducts fluorite ore beneficiation with traditional technology, one roughing and multiple cleaning. The content of fluorite, pyrite and calcite in the fluorite concentrate received is 93%, 4% and 0.5% respectively.

This high content of calcite in the concentrate not only consumes sulfuric acid, but also results in the generation of waste volumes and thermal energy during the furnace reaction for acidification of the fluorite concentrate. Hazardous gases with high sulfide content, 2 S and SO2 pollute the air.

The method of sulfur removal is to first destroy the collection and foaming performance of fatty acid collectors on fluorite by defoaming-inhibitor, and then activate the sulfide ore in the fluorite concentrate by acid, and use anionic collectors and cations to mix trapping. The collector collects trace amounts of sulfide ores and silicate minerals in fluorite concentrates.

Then, the hydrophobic agglomeration of fine-grained sulfide ore is promoted through high-speed shearing and stirring, so as to realize the reverse flotation enrichment of sulfide ore and other impurities and the purification and purification of fluorite concentrate. The method is simple, convenient and efficient to operate, the sulfide in the fluorite concentrate is completely removed, and the loss of the fluorite concentrate is small.