The effect of an external magnetic field on cationic flotation of quartz from magnetite

In this study, the effect of an external magnetic field on cationic flotation of quartz from magnetite was investigated by using a magnetic micro-flotation column. For this purpose, a micro-flotation column jacketed with three coils was fabricated to create a funnel-shaped magnetic field. Both the theoretical magnetic field strengths and the magnetic forces were calculated. The results from flotation experiments with 6 × 10−5 M dodecylamine as collector using a binary mixture of quartz and magnetite as a feed material show that the separation efficiency increased from 0% without the magnetic field to 88% in the presence of the magnetic field. The significant enhancement in separation efficiency is evident.