Study on flotation recovery of typical carbon-bearing lead-zinc sulphide ore in Guizhou with pre-decarbonization

In this study, a new process of pre-flotation decarbonization‑lead flotation‑zinc flotation was proposed to recover valuable metals from a lead‑zinc ore in Guizhou by beneficiation and to determine a reasonable and economic beneficiation process. The results of the study demonstrate that the novel process aids in the flotation of lead and zinc ores in two ways: (1) pre-decarbonization using MIBC (methyl isobutyl carbinol) and kerosene synergistically achieved the lowest loss of lead recovery of 1.94 % and zinc recovery of 1.14 % in the decarbonized product. (2) the successful separation and retrieval of lead and zinc metals were accomplished via a preferential flotation technique, using several combinations of reagents. This procedure yielded a lead recovery rate of 87.64 % and a zinc recovery rate of 94.09 %.