Activating hemimorphite using a sulfidation-flotation process with sodium sulfosalicylate as the complexing agent

In this paper, the effects of sodium sulfosalicylate on hemimorphite activation were studied. Sulfosalicylic acid ions enhanced the sulfidation-flotation process, which increased the flotation recovery by 49.70%, and after lead ion assisted activation, the flotation recovery subsequently increased by 13.11%. Time-of-flight secondary ion spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) surface analysis revealed that the surface structure of the hemimorphite was greatly damaged by sodium sulfosalicylate, which could promote ZnS film formation for obtaining hemimorphite hydrophobicity. The ZnS film thickness on the hemimorphite surface was approximately 41.78 nm with direct sulfidation. After activating sulfidation, excellent flotation effects were obtained as the ZnS film reached about 418.19 nm. 3D images showed a heterogeneous and homogeneous ZnS film on the hemimorphite surface after direct sulfidation and activating sulfidation, respectively. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS)-based analysis of the substances on the hemimorphite surface further indicated that the atomic concentration of sulfur on the surface of the activating sulfidation hemimorphite nearly double that of the direct sulfidation hemimorphite (1.57% versus 2.38%, respectively). After activating sulfidation, the XPS spectra indicated that a deep complexation reaction occurred with sodium sulfosalicylate on the hemimorphite surface with various elements and significantly influenced elemental distribution on the hemimorphite surface.