Investigating the influence of particle size and shape on froth flotation based benefication of lithium-rich minerals in slags

The demand for lithium, as well as other critical resources, needed for electrochemical energy storage is expected to grow significantly in the future. Slags obtained from pyrometallurgical recycling represent a promising resource of valuable materials, among them lithium and rare earth elements found in artificial minerals particulate phases. This study investigates the flotation separation of engineered artificial minerals (EnAMs) in slags, such as lithium aluminate and gehlenite as valuable and gangue phases, respectively. Flotation experiments are carried out in a Partridge-Smith cell using oleic acid (OA) as a benchmark surfactant. Particle characterization is performed using SEM-based Mineral Liberation Analysis (MLA), which provides particle discrete information. From this information, bivariate Tromp functions based on non-parametric kernel density estimation are computed to characterize the separation behavior with respect to particle descriptors. This approach enables investigating the influence of particle size and shape on separation behavior of EnAMs. Furthermore, these results allow for the optimization of flotation experiments for enriching Li-bearing EnAMs.