This project supports a cooperative project by a US scientist, Dr. Jan Miller, from the Department of Metallurgical Engineering at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and Dr. G. Onal from the Mining Engineering Department, Istanbul Technical University, Turkey. The research aims at improving the understanding of the floating chemistry of boron minerals, to make more efficient use of boron resources, and to minimize environmental impact of the process operations. Specifically, recent studies at the U. of Utah have identified the importance of surface charge and collector colloid adsorption phenomena in the selective flotation of soluble salts, and the significance of these findings in the flotation of boron minerals will be examined. Based on this flotation chemistry information, a process strategy will be developed for the more effective recovery of these boron minerals by flotation technology. Plant samples obtained from boron processing plants in the U.S. and Turkey will be used to examine the viability of flotation technology for boron recovery. Scope: This project allows cooperation of two well known scientists, whose capabilities complement each other, to do important scientific work; they will be joined by a young American scientist at the U. of Utah and another at I.T.U. in Istanbul. The results of the project are expected to contribute towards the development of a flotation separation strategy for more effective recovery of boron minerals from saturated solutions. The U.S. is the largest producer of boron compounds while Turkey has the largest boron reserves in the world. Both countries will benefit from this collaboration. This project meets a number of important objectives of the Division of International Programs.
