Experiment research of technology condition and production practice to silicon content reduction in zinc concentrate

To solve the problem of high content of silicon in the zinc concentrate in Wulagen lead and zinc ore, a small experimental study to reduce the silicon content in zinc concentrate is made. The test result shows that silicate having strong inhibition and dispersion for quartz, feldspar and clay. A proper index of zinc recovery 68.84 %, zinc grade 56.16 %, silicon content 6.45 in zinc concentrate is achieved under the condition of sodium silicate 300 g/t, copper sulphate 150~250 g/t, butyl xanthate 50~80 g/t, the -0.074 mm size-fractionated of grinding fineness accounting for 49.50 %~54.50 %. Production practice shows that the silicon content of zinc concentrate can be reduced from 11.37% to 7.16 %.