Effect of Ultrasonic Energy on Flotation Behavior of Pyrite Mineral

Pyrite is a mineral which has very low economic value although it is very common in the world. When the pyrite is concentrated together with the precious minerals, it produces a decrease in the grade and an increase in the smelting costs of the precious mineral. Therefore, pyrite must be separated from precious minerals before pyrite-containing minerals are used in the industry. Pyrite is usually removed by flotation and considered to be residue. Sufficient selectivity and yield cannot be achieved when valuable minarels liberated in thin and very thin dimensions are recovered by flotation. Therefore, various improvement studies are carried out to increase selectivity and yield by flotation processes. One of these improvement studies is to investigate the usability of ultrasonic energy by flotation. In this study, the effect of ultrasonic energy on the flotation behavior of pyrite mineral was investigated using a Hallimond flotation unit. In the first stage, the most suitable pyrite grain size, pH, air amount and reagent amount were determined in Hallimond tube. In the second stage, the effect of ultrasonic energy on pyrite mineral flotation was investigated in 3 experiment series.