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Characterisation of surface roughness and wettability of salt-type minerals: calcite and barite

Abstract Salt-type minerals of calcium (calcite) and barium (barite) are important raw materials for metallurgical, chemical and agricultural industries. Flotation is the primary process for recovering these minerals from ores. This study reports the determination of the surface roughness and wettability characteristics of these salt-type minerals ground in ball, rod and autogenous mills. Surface roughness values of these minerals have been expressed by the calculated surface roughness (RBET) factors based on BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) surface area measurements. The wettability characteristics (γC) of these minerals ground by three different mills were also determined by a microflotation technique using the EMDEE MicroFlot agitator. Finally, significant correlations were found between the surface roughness (RBET) and wettability (γC) characteristics. The results revealed that the γCvalues increase with increasing RBET values. This means that if a mineral has lower surface roughness value, it will float better with lower γC value that indicates more hydrophobic character. The empirical relationships could be stated as γC = a × RBET + b type of equations; where a and b are constants.