Products

Xanthates

What Are They?

Xanthates are a group of chemicals, which are sodium or potassium salts of xanthic acid. They are all similar compounds, yet they possess characteristics which make them very useful reagents in mineral processing.

Xanthates are usually bright yellow in solid form. Their name is derived from the Greek word for yellow ‘Xanthous’. A solution of Xanthate is orange to orange brown with a foul, offensive odour.

Commonly used Xanthates are Sodium Ethyl Xanthate, Sodium Isobutyl Xanthate and Potassium Amyl Xanthate. Abbreviations of these compounds are SEX, SIBX and PAX, respectively. The name and type of a xanthate is determined by the alcohol and the base from which it is composed.

As an example: SEX is produced by reacting ethanol with carbon disulphide and sodium hydroxide. In SIBX ethanol is replaced by isobutanol. Other alcohols may be substituted or potassium hydroxide may be reacted instead of sodium hydroxide. PAX is prepared from amylalcohol, the base potassium hydroxide and, of course carbon disulphide.

Where Are They Used?

Xanthates are used in the mining industry as flotation collectors of gold, silver, lead, copper or nickel ores.

Xanthates have the unique capability to selectively link metal ore particles with air bubbles. This characteristic is exploited in flotation tanks where only the desired ore is lent buoyancy effectively separating the valuable metal from the less valuable iron ore.

The result of the flotation is a top layer of air bubbles covered in concentrated metal ore which can be readily removed and further processed.

What Do We Manufacture?

Our plant in Kwinana, Western Australia manufactures solutions of Sodium Ethyl Xanthate and Sodium Isobutyl Xanthate. The liquid product is transported to the mine site in tankers and transferred into the Xanthate storage tank at the mineral processing facility; this way, the need to handle and dissolve solid material is eliminated.

In Mount Isa, Queensland (Australia) we produce a solution of Sodium Isobutyl Xanthate, but we can also manufacture Sodium Ethyl Xanthate if the customer requires this type of Xanthate.