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Effects of particle size and chain length on flotation of quaternary ammonium salts (QAS) onto kaolinite have been investigated by flotation tests. Dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride (DTAC) and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) were used as collectors for kaolinite in different particle size fractions (0.075 ~ 0.01 mm, 0.045 ~ 0.075 mm, 0 ~ 0.045 mm). The anomalous flotation behavior of kaolinite have been further explained based on crystal structure considerations by adsorption tests and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. The results show that the flotation recovery of kaolinite in all different particle size fractions decreases with an increase in pH. As the concentration of collectors increases, the flotation recovery increases. The longer the carbon chain of QAS is, the higher the recoveries of coarse kaolinite (0.075 ~ 0.01 mm and 0.045 ~ 0.075 mm) are. But the flotation recovery of the finest kaolinite (0 ~ 0.045 mm) decreases with chain lengths of QAS collectors increasing, which is consistent with the flotation results of unscreened kaolinite (0 ~ 0.075 mm). It is explained by the froth stability related to the residual concentration of QAS collector in mineral pulp. In lower residual concentration, the froth stability becomes worse. Within the range of flotation collector concentration, it’s easy of CTAC to be completely adsorbed by kaolinite in the particle size fraction (0–0.045 mm), which led to lower flotation recovery. Moreover, it is interesting that the coarser particle size of kaolinite is, the higher flotation recovery is. The anomalous flotation behavior of kaolinite is rationalized based on crystal structure considerations. The results of MD simulations show that the (001) kaolinite surface has the strongest interaction with DTAC, compared with the (001) face, (010) and (110) edges. On the other hand, when particle size of kaolinite is altered, the number of basal planes and edge planes is changed. It is observed that the finer kaolinite particles size become, the greater relative surface area of edges and the more the number of edges are. It means that fine kaolinite particles have more edges to adsorb fewer cationic colletors than that of coarse kaolinite particles, which is responsible for the poorer floatability of fine kaolinite.

A special experiment setup was designed to observe the interaction between bubbles and particle in flotation cell and to analyze the bubble characteristics such as bubble size, distribution and bubble-loading efficiency. Bubbles in water-gas system and three-phase system were measured. The results indicate that with the current setup the bubbles as small as 10 µm can be easily distinguished. The average size of the bubbles generated under the given conditions in two-phase system is 410 µm at frother concentration of 0.004%, which is in good correspondence with the results of other works. The effect of frother on bubble size was probed. Increasing frother concentration from 0 to 0.004% causes a reduction of bubble size from 700 to 400 µm. The bubble loading efficiency was reported. The result indicates that the fine particle is more easily entrapped than the coarse particle. Some factors, which have effect on measurement accuracy were discussed. The aeration speed has a significant effect on the accuracy of results, if it surpasses 30 mL/s, and the image becomes unclear due to the entrapment of fine particle. Another factor, which can affect observing results, is the sampling position. At a wrong sampling position, the images become unclear.

In order to offer high grade concentrate to produce alumina by Bayer, the reverse-flotation technology of bauxite was investigated. The results show that sodium hexmetaphosphate has different depression on the flotation of diaspore and kaolinite. The recoveries of diaspore decrease markedly with the increase of the concentration of sodium hexmetaphosphate with dodecyl-amine as collector. Fourier transform infrared spectra indicate that the absorbance band 875 cm−1 of the asymmetric stretching vibration of bridge oxygen P-O-P shifts to 880 cm−1, and the 1 264 cm−1 of the asymmetric stretching vibration of the bridge PO2 shifts to 1 267 cm−1 in the diaspore’s spectra. This demonstrates that sodium hexmetaphosphate interacts through bridging PO2 groups with the Al atoms exposed on the diaspore and kaolinite surfaces to form P-O-Al bond. Adsorption measurements also testify that sodium hexmetaphosphate adsorbs easily on the surface of diaspore. The adsorption density of PO3− on the surface of diaspore is about 4.7 × 10−6 mol/m2, while that on the kaolinite is only about 3.5 × 10−7 mol/m2 when pH value is 6.

Pyrite (FeS2) bulk and (100) surface properties and the oxygen adsorption on the surface were studied by using density functional theory methods. The results show that in the formation of FeS2(100) surface, there exists a process of electron transfer from Fe dangling bond to S dangling bond. In this situation, surface Fe and S atoms have more ionic properties. Both Fe2+ and S2− have high electrochemistry reduction activity, which is the base for oxygen adsorption. From the viewpoint of adsorption energy, the parallel form oxygen adsorption is in preference. The result also shows that the state of oxygen absorbed on FeS2 surface acts as peroxides rather than O2.

The effects of silver sulfide (Ag2S) on the bioleaching of chalcopyrite and pyrite were investigated in this paper. It has been shown that Ag2S enhanced the yields of bioleaching of chalcopyrite but inhibited the bio-oxidation of pyrite. The addition of Ag2S selectively increased the copper dissolution from the chalcopyrite-containing ores in shake flasks with a recovery of 85.3% compared with 24.3% without Ag2S, while slightly decreased the iron yields from 51% to 41.8%. The copper extraction of the chalcoopyrite-containing waste rock in column leaching charged with 18 kg mass increased up to 21.7% in the presence of Ag2S, while only 3.4% in the absence of the catalyst. The mechanism of Ag2S catalysis could be explained well by the “Mixed potential model”.

The linear potential sweep voltammetry and electrochemical methods were used to study the mechanism and kinetics of gold dissolution in thiourea solution in the absence and presence of sodium sulphite. The results show that in the absence of sodium sulfite the dissolution rate of gold in thiourea solution is relatively slow and it increases with the increase of the concentration of thiourea and decreases with pH. Thiourea is easily oxidized to formamidine disulphide, which reduces the leaching efficiency and increases reagent consumption. In the presence of sodium sulphite, the effective concentration of thiourea is increased and the dissolution rate of gold in thiourea solution is greatly increased. The activation energy required for gold dissolution in thiourea solution with sodium sulphite is 20.9 kJ·mol−1 in the absence of sodium sulphite. It is evident that sodium sulphite has a significant effect on the electrochemical reaction kinetics of gold in thiourea solution.

Diaspore (α-AlOOH) was heated at various temperatures from 300 to 1 000 °C for 2 h. The alteration of diaspore by thermal treatment was investigated by differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray diffraction. The mechanism of thermal decomposition of diaspore was discussed according to the Coats-Redfern equation. It is found that after thermal treatment at 500 °C, diaspore is transformed entirely to corundum (α-Al2O3). Combined with the mass loss ratio obtained from the thermogravimetric analysis data, the activation energies for the thermal treatment of diaspore are calculated as Ea=10.4 kJ/mol below 400 °C and Eb=47.5 kJ/mol above 400 °C, respectively, which is directly related to the structural alteration of diaspore during the thermal treatment. The results indicate that the thermal decomposition of diaspore is conducted primarily by means of an interfacial reaction.