Abstract
Carbonate fluorapatite (francolite), calcite and dolomite separately, as well as their model mixtures, were subjected to flotation after conditioning the particles with microemulsion consisting of 20% of Custafloat AR27 (collector, blend of fatty acid soaps and sulfates), 55% fuel oil #5 and 25% water at 70% solids density and subsequent pulp dilution with water to 25% solids. The best separation of carbonate fluorapatite from calcite and dolomite occurred at pH 8.5 and microemulsion dose between 0.9 and 1.5 kg/Mg, 1.5 min conditioning time and 2 minutes of flotation time. The obtained flotation concentrates using 1.5 kg/Mg of collector contained 84% carbonate fluorapatite (34% P2O5) with 84% recovery. The 84/84 separation efficiency in terms of grade-recovery indices points to promising results which can be obtained for real phosphate ores.