Selection of an Organic Carbon Depressant for the Flotation of Refractory Gold Sulfide Ores
Bolotova L. Surimbayev B. Kanaly Y. Assylbekov A.
December 2025Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration
2025#42Issue 63965 - 3973 pp.
Flotation is widely used for the processing of refractory sulfide gold ores containing organic carbon. To mitigate the detrimental effect of organic carbon on gold recovery, depressant reagents are typically employed. This study aims to identify an effective organic carbon depressant for the flotation of refractory gold-sulfide ore from the Vasilyevskoe deposit, located in the Abai region of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The ore contains 2.82 g/t of gold, 0.16% arsenic, 0.005% antimony, and 2.28% total carbon, including 0.58% organic carbon. The majority of gold (77%) is associated primarily with pyrite and arsenopyrite. Baseline flotation tests were conducted without the use of depressants. Four Flotent-type depressants—FN-3, FN-4, FD-5, and FD-6—were evaluated. Depressant dosages of 100, 200, and 300 g/t were tested in the rougher flotation stage, with 50 g/t applied in the scavenger flotation stage. The best performance was observed with Flotent FD-6 at a dosage of 200 g/t for rougher flotation and 50 g/t for scavenger flotation. Closed-circuit flotation tests using the selected depressant were compared with tests conducted without a depressant. Gold recovery in the absence of a depressant was 85.54%, with an organic carbon recovery of 68.67% and an organic carbon content of 3.26% in the cleaner concentrate. When Flotent FD-6 was applied, gold recovery increased to 86.59%, while organic carbon recovery decreased to 55.21%. The organic carbon content in the cleaner concentrate was reduced to 2.47%, representing a 0.8% decrease compared to the test without a depressant.
Depressant , Flotation , Gold , Organic carbon , Refractory gold-sulfide ore
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Laboratory of Precious Metals, Kazmekhanobr State Scientific Production Association of Industrial Ecology, Almaty, Kazakhstan
School of Material Science and Green Technology, Kazakh-British Technical University, Almaty, Kazakhstan
GMK Vasilyevskoe LLP, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Laboratory of Precious Metals
School of Material Science and Green Technology
GMK Vasilyevskoe LLP
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