Effect of dissolved species of cerussite on quartz flotation in sulfidization xanthate system

• Quartz could be activated when coexisting with cerussite in the pulp solution. • Flotation recovery of quartz was significantly improved after treatment with cerussite supernatant. • The difficulty of flotation separation of cerussite from quartz was greatly increased. Cerussite is an important lead oxide mineral, and quartz is the main gangue mineral. To investigate the effects of dissolved cerussite species on quartz surface properties and floatability in the sulfidization xanthate system, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS), zeta-potential, UV–visible spectroscopy, and flotation experiments were employed in this study. XPS and ToF-SIMS analysis indicated that lead species, such as Pb(OH) + , Pb(OH) 2 and PbCO 3 particulate in the cerussite supernatant can adsorb onto the quartz surface as active sites for the interaction of flotation reagents. Zeta potential and UV detection suggested that positively charged lead species interacted with the quartz surface and enhanced the adsorption of S and xanthate species. Flotation results confirmed that the flotation recovery of quartz was significantly increased after cerussite supernatant treatment, that is, quartz could be activated when coexisting with cerussite. This phenomenon greatly increased the difficulty in the flotation separation of cerussite from quartz using the sulfidization xanthate flotation method.