Abstract
—Mineralogical composition of an ore plays a critical role in mineral beneficiation. In this study, flotation test work was done on oxidised platinum group metals (PGMs) ore after milling to achieve a grind of 60% passing 75 microns. XRF and ICP-OES analysis of the ore showed a high percentage of magnesium, that is, 18.8% and 25.9% respectively. The XRD and SEM analysis also confirmed that the oxidised PGM ore had a high proportion of talc. Rougher flotation produced a concentrate with a mass pull of 30%. This was an indication of the presence of unintentionally recovered talc. Subsequent cleaning of the rougher concentrate resulted in a significant decrease in the mass pull from 30% to 15%. These results show that there is a strong link between talc content and flotation performance. The effect of comminution on the liberation of talc needs to be critically analysed to improve flotation performance.