Celem pracy była wstępna charakterystyka (mineralogiczna, chemiczna, teksturalna) odpadów poflotacyjnych, stanowiących surowiec uboczny (odpadowy) przy uzyskiwaniu koncentratów cynkowo-ołowiowych, pod kątem dalszych analiz nad możliwością ich perspektywicznego (eksperymentalnego) wykorzystania jako sorbentów gazów kwaśnych (SO2 i CO2). Składowisko tych odpadów jest własnością ZGH 'Bolesław' w Bukownie. Materiał badawczy stanowiła próbka odpadów poflotacyjnych pobrana ze stawu osadowego nr 1, leżącego w południowej części Stawu Zachodniego. Charakterystyka wytypowanych do badań materiałów obejmowała podstawowe badania mineralogiczne (XRD, SEM-EDS), analizy chemiczne (oznaczenie zawartości wilgoci analitycznej, zawartości strat prażenia, podstawowego składu chemicznego, jak też pierwiastków śladowych) oraz wyznaczenie podstawowych parametrów teksturalnych (powierzchnia właściwa BET, rozkład i wielkość porów). Badania mineralogiczne wykazały, że materiał odpadowy stanowią głównie minerały węglanowe (w przewadze kalcyt, dolomit, ankeryt) oraz minerały stanowiące pozostałość po niewyflotowanych kruszcach (w przewadze galena, sfaleryt). Analiza chemiczna pozwoliła stwierdzić, iż w analizowanej próbce dominują związki wapnia, magnezu i żelaza uwarunkowane przewagą minerałów węglanowych w badanych odpadach. Wśród pierwiastków śladowych przeważa arsen, następnie mangan i bar, występujące jednak w ilości nie przekraczającej 1%. Analiza teksturalna wykazała, że materiał badawczy charakteryzuje się niską powierzchnią właściwą i dużymi rozmiarami cząstek. Przeprowadzone badania sugerują, że analizowany materiał charakteryzuje się ubogimi właściwościami adsorpcyjnymi, aczkolwiek mógłby on znaleźć zastosowanie w metodach odsiarczania, jak też neutralizacji dwutlenku węgla (karbonizacja). Należałoby jednak w tym celu przeprowadzić dodatkowe badania wymywalności metali ciężkich w środowisku kwasowym, jak też zastosować domieszki innych składników, takich jak cement czy zeolity, w celu immobilizacji niebezpiecznych składników odpadów.

When mineral processing separation results, for either constant or varying quality of the feed, can be approximated on the so-called Fuerstenau upgrading plots with the same one-fitting parameter a, then this parameter can be used as a selectivity indicator. If the equation has a form [...], where [...] stands for recovery of non-useful component in tailing while\ksi is the recovery of useful component in the concentrate, then at the same selectivity of upgrading (constant a) the increase of the useful component in the feed \alfa results in an increased amount of this component in both concentrate \beta and tailing [...] while the ratio of [...] to \beta is linearly dependent on \alfa when \epsilon is constant. Thus, at a constant selectivity a and constant \epsilon an increase in \alfa leads to a greater increase of the considered component in the tailing \theta than in the concentrate \beta.

The worldwide consumption of wollastonite has been increasing from day to day. It is a calcium metasilicate with the chemical formula CaSiO3. Wollastonite is the only naturally occurring, nonmetallic, white mineral that is needle-shaped in a crystal habit. Due to its high chemical and thermal resistance and nontoxic properties, wollastonite replaces asbestos. Apart from this, the acicular property of wollastonite allow it to compete with other acicular materials where improvements in dimensional stability, flexural modulus and heat deflection are sought. Due to its unique properties such as: its high brightness and whiteness, low moisture and oil absorption, low volatile content, and acicular properties, it is used also as a filling material for ceramics, plastics and paints, thermal and electrical insulator, wetting agent and smelter for glaze. Three methods are used for the beneficiation of wollastonite: mechanical sorting, dry or wet magnetic separation and flotation. Magnetic separation and flotation can be applied together in some cases. In this study, flotation has been investigated for the selective separation of calcite-rich wollastonite ores from the Buzlukdağ deposit, in the Kırşehir-Akpınar region, in the middle of Anatolia. The mineralogical analysis of the sample used in the study shows that the ore sample contains 60–62% wollastonite (CaSiO3), 4–5% augite (Ca,Na)(Mg,Fe,Al)(Si,Al)2O6, 30–32% calcite (CaCO3) and minor amount of other minerals. As a result of this study, the wollastonite concentrate which contains 0.44% Fe2O3, 52.71% SiO2, 87.85% wollastonite with 0.60% loss on ignition (using 1500 g/t potassium oleate) was obtained. The ultimate grade concentrates of calcite that can also be obtained as by-products are with 99.80% calcite content and 85.4% recovery.

Investigations of n-dodecane used in flotation of copper ore from the Legnica-Glogow Copper Basin (LGOM) were presented in the paper. The aim of the work was estimation of influence of nonpolar reagent's on the results of copper ore flotation. Two series of flotation tests were conducted. The first series - flotation experiments with standard flotation with xanthate collector only (KEtX), were compared with the second series: flotation experiments with n-dodecane addition (C12) in the first stage and then xanthate addition (KEtX). n-dodecane was used in form of aqueous emulsion and frother was aqueous solution of \alfa-terpincol. Flotation results showed that a part of copper minerals float with n-dodecane, and the rest of them is recovered using xanthate collector. The best results were obtained for the first series (with xanthate only). These flotation results were compared with the results of copper sulphide ores flotation with n-heptane addition. It was found that with the doses reagent used, n-heptane has a higher selectivity in comparison with n-dodecane. In the presence of various doses of n-heptane, tested material enriched better in organic carbon carriers than in the copper minerals.

“Wartowice” tailings pond was closed in 1989, resulting in 232,4 ha tailings pile requiring reclamation. The major problem is heavy metals presence and poor nutrient conditions and physicochemical structure of soil which disturbs the plants development. In order to assess the real condition of studied area the complete biological characteristic has been done. The physicochemical conditions were assessed altogether with phytosociological, microbiological and toxicological studies of deposits. We recorded only 27 species of vascular plants belonging to 15 families on the tailings pond of which 5 belong to Rosaceae, 4 to Asteraceae and 3 to Poaceae and Saliceae. Species inhabiting the tailings depended on their dispersal capacity, metal tolerance and rhizome strategy. Microbiological analyses revealed the low number of bacteria and fungi on the tailings pond, apart from the small uplift area where the plants were indentified. Bacteria identified on the tailings pond were classified to 8 genera. The low number of bacteria suggests the lack of nutrients which affects the development of soil microflora. Toxicity tests showed that post-flotation sludge is not toxic to microorganisms because of its high pH. Some plants, such as lucerne could even influence positively the microorganisms development what has been proved in our studies. The tailings toxicity was higher towards producers, where Secale cereale appeared to be the most sensitive species. Amendment with topsoil from adjacent areas can influence positively the phytotoxic properties of tailings and enrich them into native seeds.

In this research, graphene oxide was introduced as an efficient flotation reagent for the selective separation of molybdenite from chalcopyrite. The performance of graphene oxide and its adsorption mechanism on chalcopyrite were investigated by flotation tests, FTIR spectra, and XPS measurements. First, graphene oxide was synthesised, and then its performance was evaluated by SEM, XRD, and EDX. Flotation tests were carried out in a hallimond flotation cell with a volume of 300 ml. Optimum flotation values were achieved at pH = 9 by adding 250 g/t of PAX (Potassium Amyl Xanthate) as a collector and 50 g/t of A65 (Poly Propylene Glycol) as a frother. The results showed high recovery, around 80% for molybdenite, while chalcopyrite was depressed in high amounts by employing 11 kg/t of graphene oxide as a depressant. Compared to common chalcopyrite depressants such as NaHS, Na2S, and C2H3NaO2S, graphene oxide had a higher potency in depressing, which can be applied as a green-depressant in the separation of molybdenite from chalcopyrite by the flotation process. Also, the validity of the depressing effect on chalcopyrite was verified by XPS and FTIR spectra.

The paper presents an assessment of flotation efficiency in the separation of plastics from metals derived from printed circuit boards (PCBs). The PCBs were ground in a knife mill prior to flotation. The contact angles of various materials corresponding to the grains from ground PCBs were measured, and a series of flotation tests was carried out to obtain the best product. The impact of the following parameters were investigated: the reagent and its dose, the airflow rate through the flotation tank and the feed concentration. The highest efficiency of metal recovery from PCBs was achieved for Dimethoxy dipropyleneglycol at a concentration of 157 mg/dm3 and with an airflow of 200 dm3/h and a feed concentration of <50 g/dm3. In the hydrophilic product (concentrate), it was mainly Cu (40%) and Sn (7.8%) that were identified by means of XRF, but there were also trace amounts of precious metals such as Au (0.024%), Ag (0.5797%) and Pd (149 ppm). Impurities in the form of Si (5%), Ca (3.2) and Br (2.1) were also identified in this product. Small amounts of metals in their metallic form were identified in the hydrophobic product (waste), mainly Cu (2.3), Al (1.7) and Sn (1.1). As a result of the research, high recovery ratios were obtained for Cu (93%), Sn (84), Ag (83) and Au (69). The purity of obtained metal concentrate with this method was lower in comparison with the other methods of the recovery of metals from ground PCBs for the same feed, i.e. electrostatic or gravity separation. Also considering other factors such as the environmental impact of the flotation process, the number of facilities and their energy consumption, this process should not be used in the developed metal recovery technology. Using electrostatic separation for the same feed obtained much better results.

This study shows the results of flotation concentration of mica minerals from kaolinised granite taken from the “Bašića bare” deposit – Kobaš, Srbac, The Republic of Srpska (B&H). Mineralogical composition of kaolinised granite is as follows: kaolinite, feldspar, quartz, and mica. After separating >0.630 mm, and <0.043 mm size class where kaolinite is concentrated, the rest is –0.630+0.043 mm class containing quartz, feldspar and mica. The mica concentrate was obtained by the flotation concentration, while feldspar and quartz were in the flotation underflow. According to the mineralogical analysis, the most abundant minerals are mica and chlorite/clays, while quartz and feldspar occur much less, and accessory minerals are represented in trace. The semi-quantitative mineralogical analysis obtained by the X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) method of the mica concentrate amount to: mica ≈55%, chlorite/clays ≈35%, quartz ≈5%, feldspars (plagioclase and K-feldspars combined) ≈5%.

In this study, emulsified kerosene was investigated to improve the flotation performance of ultrafine coal. For this purpose, NP-10 surfactant was used to form the emulsified kerosene. Results showed that the emulsified kerosene increased the recovery of ultrafine coal compared to kerosene. This study also revealed the effect of independent variables (emulsified collector dosage (ECD), frother dosage (FD) and impeller speed (IS)) on the responses (concentrate yield (γC %), concentrate ash content ( %) and combustible matter recovery (ε %)) based on Random Forest (RF) model and Genetic Algorithm (GA). The proposed models for γC %, % and ε% showed satisfactory results with R2. The optimal values of three test variables were computed as ECD = 330.39 g/t, FD = 75.50 g/t and IS = 1644 rpm by using GA. Responses at these experimental optimal conditions were γC % = 58.51%,  % = 21.7% and ε % = 82.83%. The results indicated that GA was a beneficial method to obtain the best values of the operating parameters. According to results obtained from optimal flotation conditions, kerosene consumption was reduced at the rate of about 20% with using the emulsified kerosene.

Fresh bituminous coal was stored in air-/water-oxidation conditions after 20 and 80 days, respectively. FTIR results show that the Hydrophilicity Index (HI) value of air-oxidized coal is higher than that of water-oxidized coal. SEM results show that the surface roughness of water-oxidized coal is higher than that of air-oxidized coal and water-oxidized coal surface has more holes and chips than air-oxidized coal surface. Flotation results show that the floatability of water-oxidized coal is worse than that of air-oxidized coal. The flotation performance of both air-/water-oxidized coals can be improved at larger collector dosages. The air-oxidation processes changed the HI value of coal greater than the water-oxidation processes while the water-oxidation processes changed the surface morphology of coal greater than the air-oxidation processes. Both the changes in HI value and surface roughness of coal determine the flotation behavior of oxidized coal. The changes in the surface morphology of coal particles after oxidation processes may be the primary factor determining the floatability of coal particles while the changes in the HI value of coal particles may be the inferior factor.

The article presents the results of plasma vitrification of solid remnants from thermal waste treatment with and without the addition of a carbonate fraction obtained from lead-zinc ore flotation. The substrates used in the research were slags and ashes from medical waste treatment, incineration of municipal waste, sewage sludge as well as hazardous and industrial wastes.

The plasma treatment resulted in acquiring products of different quality depending on the processed substrate. Most of the obtained products were of vitreous and homogenic build. Treatment of remnants from incineration of hazardous and industrial wastes resulted in obtaining heterogeneous and rough surfaced products. A 20% share of the carbonate fraction enabled the obtaining of a vitrified product with a glassy surface and fracture. Hardness of the obtained products was rated in Mohs scale and ranged from 6 to 6,5. Leaching tests showed a decrease in heavy metal concentration in the leachates from vitrificates with the addition of carbonate fraction compared to the ones with it.

The gold recovery from cyanidation tailings was only 4.01% with the general flotation process, the surface analyses of flotation products were performed, and the results showed that the poor gold recovery with general flotation process was due to the passive films covering the surface of the gold bearing pyrite. These films are mainly hydrophilic hydroxides of Ca, Fe and Mg, at the same time, the depression of CN– to pyrite flotation in the flotation slurry was also a main contributing factor. With the surface repair regeneration procedures, it was proven that sulfuric acid pretreatment plays a dominant role in the removing and cleaning of passive films, while destroying free cyanides in the slurry. Sodium carbonate was then used as a buffering pH modifier and as a slurry dispersant after sulfuric acid pretreatment. The gold recovery was as high as 93.41%, compared to the original gold recovery of 4.01%.

In area of zinc and lead exploration the most common elements of landscape are mine spoil-heaps and also dumps and settling tanks connected with zinc and lead metallurgy and ore flotation. They are located in the northern part of Katowice Province, on a line Piekary - Bytom - Bukowno - Olkusz and cover area of about 350 hectares. The individual settling tank in this area is between 15 and 40 hectares and considerably deforming landscape. A fine-grained dolomite is main material of tank sediments. The sediment contains maximally up Io 8.0% of Zn, 1.5% of Pb and Cd in content usually over 100 mg/kg. In spite of high salinity and high Zn, Pb and Cd content the settling tanks can be soil-less reclamated but the first stage of the reclamation should be trying to stop weathering and erosion processes. For the soil-less reclamation so

Five cosmetics wastewater samples were treated by Dissolved Air Flotation (DAF) assisted by coagulation. Different aluminum based coagulants were used: (Al2(SO4)3, Al 1019, Al 3010, Al 3030, Al 3035, PAX 16 and PAX 19). The raw wastewater COD values were in the range 285-2124 mg/l. The efficiency of DAF depended on different coagulants and production profi le of factory. COD removal was varied from 11.1 to 77.7%. The efficiency of coagulants was similar during treatment of particular sample. The best results were obtained with Al2(SO4)3 and for sample 5 - lotions and shampoos production. The wastewater from UV fi lter creams production (sample 4) was resistant to treatment by DAF regardless of used coagulant. HS-SPME-GC-MS analysis can be a confirmation of DAF effectiveness

Considering that the clay content in the western Liaoning region is high, the dominant fraction is <0.045 mm high ash in fine-grained low thermal coal and coal slurry. Self-developed CMC (Cone type Multi-stage Cyclone) multiple multistage small cone angle hydrocyclone groups are used for desliming flotation experiment research, product particle size analysis, hydrocyclone underflow product order evaluation tests and flotability evaluation. The results showed that 150 mm hydrocyclones with small cone angles are more suitable as the main desliming equipment before flotation than those with 75 mm and 50 mm hydrocyclones with small cone angles, but the bottom abortion rate is lower, and the phenomenon of “overflow running” is more serious. In the deslime-flotation process of the CMC multistage and small-cone angle hydrocyclone groups, the removal rate of fine particles with ash contents of 69.82% <0.045 mm in the original coal slime reaches 64.43%, basically solved the problem of “overflow and coarse running” of cyclones, and high ash fine clay minerals such as kaolin were enriched in the overflow. The group of three kinds of CMC hydrocyclone underflow products due to their different size widths shows that the flotability of the three underflows can be mixed into the float. Compared with raw coal direct flotation plants, the yield and combustible recovery rate can increase 2-3 times, and the floatability level is increased from extremely difficult to float to difficult to float, which can also be used for the underflow product floatability. The flotation process is different, strengthening the graded plant recycling process and providing a technological reference for better realization of narrows lime flotation.

As part of the presented work, tests were carried out to check the possibility of replacing of conventional reducers used in the lead pyrometallurgical processes by cheaper, but equally effective substitutes. For research of lead oxide reduction, the following fine-grained carbonaceous materials were used, ie anthracite dust and coal flotation concentrate, as well as traditional used coke breeze for comparison. The obtained test results indicate a similar ability to reduce the lead oxide of all studied carbonaceous materials.

This paper presents simulation results of the consolidation process of the flotation waste landfill “Żelazny Most”. The mathematical model used in presented research is based on Biot’s model of consolidation and is extended with rheological skeleton. The load is the mass pressure of the landfill itself. The initial point selected for calculations was based on the ground water level calculated in a landfill. The creeping process in this waste landfill was analyzed along the north – south section. The solution is therefore 2D with the assumption of a plane strain state. Effective model parameters data were obtained in laboratory tests on the material from the waste landfill. Results obtained for a stress state in a storage state can help to determine whether the adopted linear model of visco-elastic medium does not lead to changes in the Coulomb – Mohr potential yield, showing the emergence of plasticity of material storage areas.