Experimental Study on DMS-flotation Technology of a Spodumene Mine from Xinjiang

This is an article in the field of mineral processing engineering. A pegmatitic lithium polymetallic mine in Xinjiang Province, in which the main target mineral is spodumene, accompanied by a small amount of niobium-tantalite, and the gangue minerals are mainly feldspar, quartz and mica. In this article, the DMS test is carried out for the spodumene ore firstly. The middling of DMS and the fine sample of -0.6 mm are combined as feed for flotation test. After grinding the feed, the systematic flotation tests were carried out. Finally, as to the raw ore containing Li₂O 1.68%, by adopting the combined technology of DMS-Flotation, the dense medium concentrate obtained contains Li₂O 6.5% and 51.58% of recovery, the flotation concentrate obtained contains Li₂O 5.37%, and 31.94% of recovery. The total concentrate contains Li₂O 6.02%, and the recovery is 83.52%. DMS for this spodumene ore can directly produce high-grade concentrate with a recovery of 50%, and discard tailings with a yield of 43%, which can greatly save the cost of crushing grinding.