Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
18th International Mineral Processing Symposium, Eskişehir, Türkiye, 16 - 18 Ekim 2024, ss.269-276
Kaolinite group clay minerals are generally formed by hydrothermal alteration of aluminosilicate minerals and have the chemical formula Si2Al2O5(OH)4.nH2O. This group of ores is mainly composed of dickite, nacrite, kaolinite, halloysite, and other clay minerals, but may also contain impurities such as quartz, iron, titanium, and alunite. Halloysite is classified as harmless and a biocompatible material according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA 4A). However, the degree of purity determines the area where the halloysite will be used. In this respect, it is very important to determine the grade of halloysite mineral in the ore. Since halloysite mineral is chemically very similar to kaolinite mineral, it can be confused with each other in chemical and mineralogical analyses. Although the kaolinite and quartz minerals are found in the structure of halloysite ore besides halloysite mineral primarily, it is necessary to provide fine-size (-38 μm) particle liberation and to remove them from each other at these sizes to reach high purity. Within the scope of the study, the particle size differentiation of halloysite, kaolinite, and quartz suspensions was studied by dispersing in the presence of sodium silicate (SS), sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP) and sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) dispersants at fine particle size. In the dispersion experiments, a significant decrease in d90 values is observed as the dosage increases for all dispersants, while a partial decrease was observed in d50 and d10 values did not change significantly for halloysite and kaolinite minerals. In quartz mineral, the addition of dispersant did not affect the particle size importantly and d10, d50, and d90 values remained almost unchanged. Especially for halloysite and kaolinite minerals, no significant change was observed after 5 kg/ton dosage for each dispersant.