Insoluble Cross-Linked Starch Xanthate as a Selective Flocculant for Sulfide Minerals

This paper discusses recent Federal Bureau of Mines research on the selective flocculation of various minerals with insoluble cross-linked starch xanthate (ISX). ISX is insoluble, has a shelf life of more than a year when kept cold, and has a higher molecular weight due to cross-linking than the soluble, non-cross-linked starch xanthate used in previous flocculation studies on nonsulfide minerals. ISX readily flocculates a number of sulfide mineral fines, but no silicious gangue. Floc formation, floc size, and settling rate are dependent on pH. The pH dependence, however, differs for each mineral. Bornite has been selectively flocculated from bornite-quartz mixtures, and the bornite-containing flocs were separated from the unflocculated quartz using decantation and washing procedures.