Removal of titanium impurities from feldspar ores by new flotation collectors

The principal impurities in some feldspar ores are titanium and iron, which impart color and in turn degrade the quality of the ore. Mineralogical investigations on the majority of Turkish feldspar ores indicate that rutile and, scarcely, sphene are the major titanium minerals and iron mainly originates from mica minerals. Conventionally, fatty acids, and particularly sodium oleate, are extensively used to float discoloring minerals from feldspar ores with reasonable success. In this study, new collectors, oleoyl sarcosine and hydroxamate, reported for the first time in the literature, have been used to float titanium impurities. It is found that compared to fatty acids these reagents achieve superior results. The mechanism of the action is elaborated on the basis of experimental data. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.