Several approaches to the flotation of oxidized zinc ores were already studied, and according to most of the researchers, the cationic flotation with high concentrations of sodium sulfide, using primary amine as collector, has been the most appropriate option to concentrate this type of ore. In this work, the application of innovative systems of reagents to float willemite was investigated, including the stages of gangue depression, dispersion, sulfidization and zinc flotation. The flotation tests using amine emulsion with vegetable oils and diesel oil showed that the amine emulsion yielded a better flotation performance than that of amine without emulsion, besides allowing a significant reduction of sodium sulfide dosage. Among the vegetable oils studied castor and babaçu coconut oils yielded reasonable results, despite not leading to the same zinc recovery levels achieved with diesel oil.
Flotation; zinc ore; emulsion
