Surface-chemical and mineralogical properties relevant to the flotation of talc and other layer silicates

Certain physicochemical and mineralogical properties of different talc and pyrophylite samples were measured to show whether differences in floatability could be related to these properties. An indication of the expected hydrophobic nature of the samples was obtained by X-ray-diffraction measurements. The various samples were characterized by measurement of their zeta potentials, contact angles, suspension stability, and flotation behaviour in small-scale flotation cells. All the talc samples proved to be highly floatable and therefore only small differences in recoveries were observed. However, there was some indication that the suspension stability was related to the X-ray-diffraction measurements of the hydrophobic nature of the samples. No trends were observable from the zeta potentials and contact angles measured