Tungsten is a commercially important metal element that usually coexists with a variety of non-ferrous metals, which makes its extraction difficult. Scheelite is a commonly occurring tungsten-containing ore with the formula CaWO₄. Improving the surface properties of scheelite to increase its adsorption of the collector for flotation separation is the focus of our current research. In this paper, the effects of manganese ions on scheelite flotation in benzohydroxamic acid (BHA) system were studied by micro-flotation tests, adsorption tests, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), zeta potential, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The addition of Mn²⁺ was found to improve the recovery of scheelite. The addition of Mn²⁺ greatly improved the recovery of scheelite. Infrared spectroscopy, adsorption tests, zeta potential measurements and XPS analysis all confirmed that BHA had a higher adsorption capacity and a stronger bond to the surface of scheelite after the addition of manganese ions, increasing the floatability of scheelite particles. Therefore, Mn²⁺ shows great potential for the improvement of the flotation index of scheelite in a system with BHA.

Cerussite is a lead oxide mineral resource that is typically enriched through sulfidization flotation. The surface sulfidation degree and the high solubility of cerussite strongly affect the flotation ability of cerussite. In the current work, lead ions were used to pretreat cerussite to intensify its sulfidization flotation. The sulfidization mechanism regulating the lead ions pretreatment on cerussite was investigated by the micro-flotation test, ToF-SIMS, zeta potential measurement, adsorption test, and XPS. The results from the micro-flotation test demonstrated that the floatability of cerussite could be improved by adding an appropriate amount of lead ions. Compared with the treatment involving only Na₂S, the maximum recovery increased by 17.57%. Adsorption experiments showed that lead modification improved the stability of xanthate products on the surface of cerussite. According to the measurement of zeta potential and the results of ToF-SIMS, the addition of lead ion Pb pretreatment increased the number of active Pb sites adsorbed by xanthate, thereby improving the formation of hydrophobic Pb-dilute precipitate. Therefore, the interaction between lead ions and the surface of cerussite enhances the strength and stability of the hydrophobic layer, resulting in enhanced hydrophobicity of cerussite.