Adsorption of oleate and octyl-hydroxamate on to rare-earths minerals

The adsorption of sodium oleate and potassium octyl-hydroxamate onto the rare-earths minerals monazite and bastnaesite was investigated through microflotation experiments, zeta potential determinations and infrared spectroscopy. nazite and bastnaesite samples were purified in the laboratory reaching, respectively, final grades of 68.7 and 45.3 % RE2O3 + ThO2. sults confirm that sodium oleate chemisorbs onto bastnaesite and suggest a physical adsorption mechanism of this reagent onto monazite. Despite the lack of a full confirmation from FTIR spectrometry, there is a possibility of oleate chemisorption onto monazite in the pH range above the isoelectric point. ical adsorption mechanism was established for the interaction between octylhydroxamate and both minerals.