This paper presents a study of adsorption of xanthate with alkyl chain of two (C2XK), four (C4XK) and eight (C8XK) atoms of carbon, on pyrite from Santa Catarina, Brazil. The results showed that pyrite surface changes from hydrophilic to hydrophobic when xanthate is adsorbed increasing the contact angle to 35º for C2XK, and to 90º for C4XK and C8XK. The rate of flotation of pyrite particles after adsorption increases with the increase of the number of carbon atoms in the alkyl chain in agreement with the results of contact angle measurements.
pyrite; adsorption; contact angle
