Carrier flotation of alunite from kaolin clay

Abstract

A kaolin sample with high SO3 content, obtained from the Bali{dotless}kesir-Si{dotless}ndi{dotless}rgi{dotless} region, was used to study separation of alunite from kaolin by carrier flotation. Several parameters believed to be effective on separation were tested. Collector amount, pulp pH, size and amount of carrier mineral, agitation time and speed, and pulp temperature were varied and separation conditions were optimized. The best results obtained under the optimum conditions were as follows: 1.03% SO3 content and 57.95% kaolin recovery