The flotation of slime–fine fractions of Mt. Keith pentlandite ore in de-ionised and saline water

In this work, the flotation of slime–fine fractions of Mt. Keith pentlandite ore was studied in de-ionised water, and bore water with high ionic strength. Compared with de-ionised water, bore water increased pentlandite flotation significantly while decreasing serpentine flotation. Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) was tested as a dispersant to improve pentlandite flotation in both de-ionised and bore water. The degree of substitute (DS) of CMC, an indication of the charge density, was found to be an important parameter. In de-ionised water, the higher the DS of CMC, the better the pentlandite flotation, while in bore water, the lower the DS of CMC, the better the pentlandite flotation.