A spectroscopic study of mechanically activated sulphide minerals

Abstract: Sulphide minerals are a major source of non-ferrous metals such as lead, zinc or copper. Ores are processed to be selectively separated which can be achieved by flotation. Yet, the system is complex on the industrial level since a lot of different minerals are present in the ore and interact with each other, giving rise to activation or depression reactions. This has a notable effect on the flotation efficiency. In this study, the interactions between galena and sphalerite, which are the most common lead and zinc sulphide minerals respectively, were investigated along the wet and dry fine grinding process in an agate mortar. Both minerals were mixed and ground in different proportions and different pH conditions. Their physical properties after grinding were studied by particle size analysis, surface measurement and X-ray diffraction. The use of scanning electron microscopy enabled also to image their surface state. Oxidation reaction products were identified by diffuse reflectance infrared spectroscopy, Raman microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.