Stimulation of frother separation of diamonds by optimizing collecting agent composition and temperature conditions

A promising way of enhancing recovery of commercial diamonds from kimberlite ore is improvement of the reagent regime of frother separation and, in particular, selection of composition of collecting agents and their application conditions. Using spectral extraction, the quantitative and qualitative distributions of lowand high-molecular fractions of collector in solid and liquid phases of frother separation are determined. The important role of resin and asphaltene fractions is emphasized: they irreversibly attach to diamond surface and ensure retention of drops of lowand medium-molecular hydrocarbons. Producibility of a collecting agent with the optimal ratio of fractions of light distillates, hydrocarbon oils, resin and asphaltenes by mixing fuel oil M-40 and diesel fuel at assigned proportions is substantiated. It is shown that the use of compound collectors at the mass fraction of fuel oil M-40 of 60–70% allows increasing recovery of diamonds by 2.7–3.5%. The proposed composition of a collector made of fuel oil M-40, diesel fraction and organic dispersant additives from cetone group stimulates dispersion of the collecting agent in water phase and enhances floatability of diamonds. The frother separation tests of developed compound collectors KSM-1 and KSM-2 have proved feasibility of the increased extraction of diamonds to concentrate by 5–7.5%. The selected temperature range of 14–24 °C for conditioning of initial ore feed with flotation agents and for the frother separation ensures the maximum recovery of diamonds in concentrate at high selectivity using the compound collectors based on fuel oil.

Morozov V. V., Pestryak I. V., Kovalenko E. G., Lezova S. P., Polivanskaya V. V. Stimulation of frother separation of diamonds by optimizing collecting agent composition and temperature conditions. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2022;(8):135-147. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236_1493_2022_8_0_135.

V.V. Morozov¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Professor, e-mail: dchmggu@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0003-4105-944X,
I.V. Pestryak¹, Dr. Sci. (Eng.), Professor, e-mail: spestryak@mail.ru, ORCID ID: 0000-0002-1745-6579,
E.G. Kovalenko, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Chief Engineer, e-mail: kovalenkoeg@alrosa.ru, «Yakutniproalmaz» Institute, 678174, Mirny, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Russia,
S.P. Lezova¹, Senior Lecturer, e-mail: svlezova@mail.ru, 
V.V. Polivanskaya¹, Cand. Sci. (Eng.), Assistant Professor, e-mail: vpolivaskaya@mail.ru,
¹ National University of Science and Technology «MISiS», 119049, Moscow, Russia.

V.V. Morozov, e-mail: dchmggu@mail.ru.

1. Chanturiya V. A. Innovation-based processes of integrated and high-level processing of natural and technogenic minerals in Russia. Proceedings of the 29th International Mineral Processing Congress. Moscow, 2019, pp. 3—12.

2. Chanturiya V. A., Dvoichenkova G. P., Bunin I. Zh., Kovalenko E. G., Podkamenny Yu. A. Combined processes of diamond extraction from metasomatically altered kimberlite rocks. Fiziko-tekhnicheskie problemy razrabotki poleznykh iskopaemykh. 2017, no. 2, pp. 117—127. [In Russ].

3. Zlobin M. N. Technology of coarse-grained flotation in the enrichment of diamond-bearing ores. Gornyi Zhurnal. 2011, no. 1, pp. 87—89. [In Russ].

4. Makhrachev A. F., Dvoychenkova G. P., Lezova S. P. Analysis and optimization of compositions of compound collectors for frother separation of diamonds. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2018, no. 11, pp. 178—185. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236-1493-2018-11-0-178-185.

5. Kovalenko E. G. Justification and choice of conditions for removing mineral films from the diamond surface during heat treatment. Materialy mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii «Nauchnye osnovy i praktika pererabotki rud i tekhnogennogo syr'ya» [Proceedings of the international conference «Scientific foundations and practice of processing ores and technogenic raw materials»], Ekaterinburg, 2014, pp. 170—173. [In Russ].

6. Dvoychenkova G. P., Morozov V. V., Chanturia E. L., Kovalenko E. G. Selection of recycled water electrochemical conditioning parameters for preparation of diamond-bearing kimberlite for froth separation. Mining Science and Technology (Russia). 2021, no. 6(3), pp. 170—180. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.17073/2500-0632-2021-3-170-180.

7. Lijun Liu, Gan Cheng, Wei Yu, Chao Yang Flotation collector preparation and evaluation of oil shale. Oil Shale. 2018, vol. 35, no. 3, pp. 242—251. DOI: 10.3176/oil.2018.3.04.

8. Hao F., Davey K. J., Bruckard W. J., Woodcock J. T. Online analysis for xanthate in laboratory flotation pulps with a UV monitor. International Journal of Mineral Processing. 2008, vol. 89, no. 1—4, pp. 71—75. DOI: 10.1016/j.minpro.2008.07.004.

9. Adeniji A. O., Okoh O. O., Okoh A. I. Analytical methods for the determination of the distribution of total petroleum hydrocarbons in the water and sediment of aquatic systems: a review. Hindawi Journal of Chemistry. 2017, vol. 2017, pp. 1—13. DOI: 10.1155/2017/5178937.

10. Vershinin V. I., Petrov S. V. The estimation of total petroleum hydrocarbons in waste waters by multiwave IR spectrometry with multivariate calibrations. Talanta. 2016, vol. 148, p. 163. DOI: 10.1016/j.talanta.2015.10.076.

11. Yang Sing Leong, Pin Jern Ker, Jamaludin M. Z., Nomanbhay S. M., Ismail A., Abdullah F., Hui Mun Looe, Chin Kim Lo UV-Vis Spectroscopy: a new approach for assessing the color index of transformer insulating oil. Sensors. 2018, vol. 18, no. 7, article 2175. DOI: 10.3390/s18072175.

12. Thompson J. M. Infrared Spectroscopy. 2018, Pan Stanford Publishing Pte. Ltd. 196 p.

13. Alekseenko V. V., Voronov D. V., Katashevtsev M. D., Pakhomovskiy A. N. Investigation of the granulometric composition of emulsions using an optical microscope and automated object recognition in digital photography. Proceedings of Irkutsk State Technical University. 2015, no. 2(97), pp. 99—104. [In Russ].

14. Evdokimov I. N., Losev A. Potential of UV-visible absorption spectroscopy for characterizing crude petroleum oils. Oil and Gas Business, 2007.

15. Makhrachev A. F. Improving the efficiency of collecting reagents for diamond flotation based on vibro-jet magnetic activation. Trudy XXIII mezhdunarodnoy konferentsii «Nauchnye osnovy i praktika pererabotki rud i tekhnogennogo syr'ya» [Proceedings of the XXIII International Conference «Science fundamentals and practice of processing ores and man-made raw materials»], Ekaterinburg, 2018, pp. 122—126. [In Russ].

16. Kasomo R. M., Ombiro S., Rop B., Mutua N. M. Investigation and comparison of emulsified diesel oil and flomin C 9202 as a collector in the benefit of ultra fine coal by agglo-flotation. International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Engineering. 2018, vol. 6, no. 4, pp. 74—80. DOI: 10.11648/j.ogce.20180604.15.

17. Galimova G. A., Yusupova T. N., Ibragimova D. A., Yakupov I. R. Composition, properties, structure and fractions of asphaltenes of oil dispersed systems. Bulletin of the Technological University. 2015, vol. 18, no. 20, pp. 60—64. [In Russ].

18. Petukhov V. N., Skorobogatova A. A., Ilyasova A. Z. Investigation of flotation activity of reagents-collectors of various group chemical composition during coal flotation. Theory and Technology of Metallurgical Production. 2017, no. 1, pp. 16—19. [In Russ].

19. Morozov V. V., Lezova S. P. Compound collectors based on oil products for frother separation of diamond-bearing kimberlites. MIAB. Mining Inf. Anal. Bull. 2020, no. 12, pp. 137— 146. [In Russ]. DOI: 10.25018/0236-1493-2020-12-0-137-146.

20. Kelbaliev G. I., Rasulov S. R., Tagiev D. B., Mustafaeva G. R. Mekhanika i reologiya neftyanykh dispersnykh sistem [Mechanics and rheology of petroleum dispersed systems], Moscow, Izd-vo «Maska», 2017, 462 p.

21. Abdulredha M. M., Hussain S. A., Abdullah L. C. Overview on petroleum emulsions, formation, influence and demulsification treatment techniques. Arabian Journal of Chemistry. 2020, vol. 13, pp. 3403—3428. DOI: 10.1016/j.arabjc.2018.11.014.

22. Verkhoturova V. A., Elshin I. V., Nemarov A. A., Tolstoy M. Yu., Ostrovskaya G. H., Fedotov K. V., Shelomentseva T. V. Scientific substantiation and selection of the optimal option for restoring the hydrophobic properties of the surface of diamonds from the ore of the «International» tube. Proceedings of Irkutsk State Technical University. 2014, no. 8(91), pp. 50—56. [In Russ].