An investigation into the effective mechanism of multiple-charged cations for the selective flotation of k-feldspar and na-feldspar

Feldspar and quartz minerals have a significant role in our countries industry. Feldsparand quartz are indispensable commodities to ceramic and glass industries, respectively.Feldspar is used in glass industry due to its alkali and alumina contents, but minerals such asnepheline syenite and glass residues are alternative form of substitutes for feldspar. High alkalicontents are required in ceramic industry, but the use of quartz is limited since it decreases thealkali percentage of ceramic ingredients. Due to these reasons, to provide the resources forvarious industries, it is required to separate quartz and feldspar minerals which occursimultaneously interlocked in nature and have identical crystal structure.For these purposes, the effects of mono-salt and multi-salt samples (i.e. NaCl, KClCaCl2, and BaCl2) from the Nevşehir-Gülşehir deposits on selective flotation were studied.Experimental conditions for both natural and HF mediums were determined by DenverFlotation Tests. From the results of these tests, optimum values for cleaning concentrate with10.01 % K2O and 2.09 % Na2O and cleaning tailing with 9.87 % K2O and 2.3 % Na2O wereobtained by adding 0.5 gr/lt BaCl2 to scavenging circuits and 3 gr/lt BaCl2 to cleaning circuitsusing tree technique in HF mediums. The total alkali content of concentrate produced was12.2 % and the ratio of K2O/Na2O was determined as 4.79. In the scavenging circuit, optimumvalues for scavenging concentrate with 8.31 % K2O and 2.79 % Na2O and scavenging tailingwith 7.93 % K2O and 3.10 % Na2O were produced. Finally, it was concluded from the resultsof tests that the products were suitable for both the ceramic and porcelain industries.Keywords: Feldspar, Flotation, HF, Quartz, Salt