The present disclosure relates to flotation oils, processes for making such flotation oils, and uses thereof for example in the froth flotation of ores such as sylvinite ores to recover potassium chloride.

The invention relates to a flotation agent for lithium or phosphate ore, comprising at least one fatty acid and at least one 1-alkyl-5-oxopyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid or 1-alkenyl-5-oxopyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid or a mixture thereof of the formula (1)

##STR00001##

wherein R is a C.sub.7 to C.sub.21 alkyl or alkenyl group, wherein the amount of fatty acid is from 70 to 99 wt.-%, and wherein the amount of the 1-alkyl-5-oxopyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid or 1-alkenyl-5-oxopyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid of the formula (I) is from 1 to 30 wt.-%.

The invention relates to a method for manufacturing a concentrate enriched in a phosphate mineral content from an ore, which contains a phosphate mineral and a non-phosphate mineral, by a flotation, which method comprises the step of adding a surfactant system comprising (A) a fatty acid, (B) a blend of ethoxylated and non-ethoxylated alcohols, which is obtainable by blending (i) a reaction product of a first C.sub.12-C.sub.16 aliphatic alcohol having an average degree of branching of 1.9 to 3.5 and 10 to 20 equivalents of ethylene oxide, and (ii) a second C.sub.12-C.sub.16 aliphatic alcohol having an average degree of branching of 1.9 to 3.5, wherein the amount of (i) is 80 to 95 wt. % and the amount of (ii) is 5 to 20 wt. % and wt. % is based on the overall weight of the mixture of ethoxylated and non-ethoxylated alcohols, to a prepared aqueous pulp of the ore and optionally one or more flotation auxiliaries to obtain an aqueous mixture. Furthermore, a use of the surfactant system as flotation collector is disclosed.

The present invention relates to the use for ore beneficiation, of at least one derivative of alkoxylated (polyester)amine. The present invention also relates to the flotation pulp and the tailings comprising said product useful for ore beneficiation.

The flotation reagents from acidic olive oil are made by transesterification of acidic olive oil. Acidic olive oil is olive oil having an acid value high enough to render it unsuitable for consumption, typically greater than 3.3% and/or between 3.3-7%. Transesterification of the olive oil with methanol converts fatty acids in the olive oil to an ester fraction and a glycerol fraction. The ester fraction may be sulfonated and used as the collector in a reverse flotation process, selectively removing the carbonate gangue from phosphate-carbonate rock in the froth, leaving phosphates in the sink. The glycerol fraction may be used without modification as the collector in the reverse flotation process. Both fractions are highly selective for carbonates, substantially reducing loss of phosphates in the froth.

The subject invention provides safe, environmentally-friendly, compositions and methods for extracting minerals and/or metals from ore. More specifically, the subject invention provides for bioleaching using a composition comprising one or more biosurfactant-producing microorganisms and/or microbial growth by-products. In specific embodiments, the composition comprises biosurfactant-producing yeasts and/or their growth by-products.

The present disclosure relates to flotation oils, processes for making such flotation oils, and uses thereof for example in the froth flotation of ores such as sylvinite ores to recover potassium chloride.

The present invention relates to the use of branched fatty alcohol-based compounds selected from the group of fatty alcohols with 12-16 carbon atoms having a degree of branching of 1-3, and their alkoxylates with a degree of ethoxylation of up to 3, as secondary collectors for the froth flotation of non-sulfidic ores, incombination with a primary collector selected from the group of amphoteric and anionic surface active compounds.

Processes of extracting mineral deposits in ore include treating a saline source, e.g., seawater, to reduce a concentration of one or more multivalent ions (e.g., Ca.sup.2+, Mg.sup.2+, SO.sub.4.sup.2−) dissolved in the saline source by passing the seawater through one or more nanofilters to produce treated saline water while maintain a certain concentration of dissolved monovalent ions (e.g., (Na.sup.+, K.sup.+ and Cl.sup.−) in the treated saline water. The treated saline water can be used in an operation to extract minerals from ore such as in a flotation operation to extract minerals from ore, or to consolidate tailings generated from an extraction of minerals from ore, or both.

An ore dressing process for medium-grade and low-grade mixed collophanite includes the following steps: S1; crushing ores to obtain crushed ores; S2: screening the crushed ores to obtain fine-fraction ores and coarse-fraction ores divided into at least two size fractions; S3: performing a photoelectric separation to the coarse-fraction ores of different size fractions to obtain photoelectric separation concentrates and photoelectric separation tailings of each size fraction; S4: combining the photoelectric separation concentrates of the each size fraction to obtain pre-enriched concentrates; S5: combining the fine-fraction ores and the pre-enriched concentrates, and then performing an ore grinding to obtain minerals to be separated; S6: adding water to the minerals to be separated to obtain a floatation pulp, and then performing a floatation to obtain phosphate concentrates and tailings.