Contribution on fluid inclusion abundance to activation of quartz flotation

In this study, comparative experiments were conducted on the recovery of quartz using flotation with different fluid inclusion abundances. A large number of fluid inclusions with various sizes have been found in natural quartz. Micrographs, inductively coupled plasma, electron probe microanalysis, homogenization temperature, Raman spectra, zeta potentials, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, and energy dispersive spectrometer were used to characterize the fluid inclusions and quartz, as well as the adsorption tests and single mineral flotation experiments to investigate its floatability. The results demonstrated that it was more likely for quartz with higher fluid inclusion abundance to connect with Fe3+ sufficiently to achieve a high level of flotation recovery, due to the powerful collecting ability by sodium dodecyl sulphonate to Fe3+. Furthermore, the mechanism indicated that the adsorption between quartz and Fe3+ was a process of chemisorption.