Experimental study on mica recovery from iron tailings by flotation in Anhui Province

The content of mica in an iron tailings in Anhui is relatively high, which has certain comprehensive recovery value.The content of K₂O in iron tailings is 1.21%, and the main metal minerals are residual hematite (specularite), and the main non-metallic minerals are quartz, mica, dolomite, chlorite, etc.Among them, mica is mainly muscovite and a little biotite.Muscovite mainly exists in the form of monomer, and a small amount of muscovite is connected.The particle size of muscovite is uneven, the maximum particle size can reach 0.650 mm, and the main distribution is between 0.050-0.200 mm.The mineralogical study shows that the main factor affecting the recovery of mica is the high content of chlorite, which is easy to enter the concentrate during the flotation process of mica, thus affecting the quality of mica concentrate.According to the characteristics of the tailings, in the alkaline pulp environment, BK500 is used as regulator, and BK421D and mixed amine are used as anionic and cationic collectors respectively in tests.Through the flotation process of “one rough, one sweep and four fine, middling ore return in sequence”, and mica concentrate is obtained with yield of 9.77%, K₂O grade of 7.89% and recovery of 64.41%.The research results lay a technical foundation for the resource utilization of the iron tailings.