Polyacrylamides as co-depressant in hematite and quartz microflotation

Abstract In the present study, microflotation experiments were performed on pure minerals systems involving hematite and quartz in the presence of etherdiamine as collector. The influence of polyacrylamides as co-depressant was investigated in a blend with starch depressant. The results obtained demonstrated that all the polyacrylamides used were efficient in hematite depression, at different levels and following the order of effectiveness: cationic > non-ionic > anionic. The depressant power was proportional to the degree of ionicity and the molecular weight. It is proposed that the enhanced ...