Flotation chemistry of a rare earth mineral: bastnasite

Abstract

Bastnasite is the primary valuable mineral in two of the world’s largest rare earth (RE) mineral deposits and also found in Beylikova, Sivrihisar Rare Earth Oxide (REO) deposit. Although many technical studies were conducted on flotation of a number of industrial deposits in the last 30 years, the fundamentals on surface chemistry of REO are relatively modest. In this work, the fundamentals and literature on RE mineral flotation is outlined along with a review on electrokinetics and other surface chemistry issues. In particular, specific flotation reagents, i.e. those of hydroxamates developed for selective flotation of REO minerals are highlighted to illustrate their advantages together with an update on so called Beylikova thorium containing bastnasite ore.