The Contact Angles of Air and Nitrogen Bubbles with Synthetic Vapour-Plated Galena in the Presence and Absence of a Collector

CIM Bulletin, 1957

J. H. WALSH; T. R. INGRAHAM

In THE DEVELOPMENT of procedures for the separation of minerals, the choice of reagents for flotation is frequently determined by the extent to which a given mineral is wettable by water. Measurements of the contact angle of an air bubble on wet mineral surfaces are often used in the laboratory to estimate the wettability of the surface. For the results of these measurements to be reproducible, the surface of the mineral must be polished to a mirror-like smoothness and must be free from oily contamination. Elaborate procedures for preparing mineral surfaces have been developed by Wark ( 1) and Taggart (2), and these procedures have been generally accepted as adequate for their purpose.

Keywords: Air, contact angle, galena, petroleum ether, potassium, Xanthate, Galena, mineral, minerals, Nitrogen, Potassium, sulphide, Sulphides