Antimony ore, as a rare and widely used mineral, plays an important role in many fields such as batteries and catalysts. In order to meet the growing market demand, it is particularly important to efficiently select high-purity antimony concentrate from a large amount of ores. Choosing the right antimony ore dressing technology can not only improve the extraction rate of antimony, but also significantly reduce production costs.

When selecting the selection method of antimony ore, it is necessary to comprehensively consider the physical and chemical properties such as ore type, mineral structure and composition, while taking into account the content of valuable components in the ore and the economic benefits of mineral processing. At present, the commonly used antimony ore dressing process methods in actual production mainly include AI intelligent photoelectric sorting, gravity separation, heavy medium separation and flotation.

1. Antimony ore AI intelligent photoelectric process methodAI combined with optical imaging (visible light, near infrared, x-ray fluorescence, etc.) and machine learning algorithms can be used to select antimony-containing minerals and gangue minerals in antimony ore according to the differences in color, gloss, shape, texture, etc. Through AI intelligent photoelectric sorting, high-grade block antimony concentrate can be directly selected from the ore, while a large amount of waste rock can be removed to improve the grade of the selected ore. In addition, photoelectric sorting can effectively reduce the production cost and energy consumption of mineral processing, power consumption: 1t/1kw, so it is widely used in mineral processing plants. Process flow: crushing-screening-ore washing-AI intelligent photoelectric sorting. The process has a short construction period, simple installation and maintenance, simple operation, and can establish a sorting model according to the changes in on-site materials, with strong flexibility.
2. Antimony ore gravity separation process methodGravity separation technology is widely used in antimony ore beneficiation because of its low cost and high efficiency. Antimony ore has a large density and coarse particle size, and is easy to separate from gangue minerals by gravity separation. Whether it is a single sulfide antimony ore or a sulfide-oxidation mixed antimony ore, gravity separation technology can achieve good separation results. Although gravity separation technology cannot directly produce qualified antimony concentrate, it can be used as a pre-selection operation for flotation operations, especially for the beneficiation of antimony oxide ores.
3. Antimony ore heavy medium beneficiation processHeavy medium beneficiation is another pre-selection method for antimony ore, which is suitable for other types of ores except antimony ore with crystal structure. In the heavy medium beneficiation process, factors such as the selection of weighting agent, preparation and recovery of medium will affect the beneficiation effect.
4. Antimony ore flotation process

   Flotation is one of the most commonly used beneficiation methods for antimony minerals. Antimony sulfide minerals are easy-to-float minerals, and the ore grade can be significantly improved by flotation. In the flotation process of stibnite, lead salts are often used as activators, and copper salts or lead salts can also be used for activation, and then collectors are used for flotation. Commonly used collectors include butyl xanthate, shale oil and ethyl thiourea mixture, etc., while frothers are often selected from pine oil, No. 2 oil, etc.

   For difficult-to-float ores such as antimony oxide ore, a single flotation process is usually used to treat a single stibnite. For sulfide-oxidation mixed antimony ore, coarse-grained minerals are treated by gravity separation, and fine-grained minerals are treated by flotation or gravity separation + flotation combined process. When the antimony content in the oxide ore exceeds a certain proportion, it is usually directly reduced and smelted to extract metallic antimony without beneficiation treatment. For fine-grained oxide ores or refractory oxide ores, the ore is first reduced to metallic antimony and then treated by conventional flotation.

          Therefore, the antimony concentrate after beneficiation treatment has a higher grade and can be further processed to extract higher purity antimony compounds for use in electronics, ceramics, glass and other industrial fields. With the advancement of science and technology and industrial development, the demand for antimony will continue to grow. Therefore, continuous research and development of more efficient and environmentally friendly antimony ore beneficiation technology and equipment, and improving the utilization rate, beneficiation recovery rate and purity of antimony ore resources will better protect the environment and resources while meeting market demand.