Abstract: The floatation experiments of spodumene were carried out by a new type of collector DRQ-3 synthesizing in the laboratory. The adsorption mechanism of DRQ-3 collector on spodumene surface was established by Zeta potential measurements， Fourier transforminfrared (FT-IR) spectrum， in conjunction with the results of flotation test. The results show that: in the condition of 26 ℃， pulp natural pH (pH = 8.5)， spodumene flotation recovery rate can reach 94.50% with 50 mg/L DRQ - 3 as collector， which indicated that DRQ-3 has a strong ability of collecting for spodumene. The results of FT-IR spectroscopy showed that there was a chemical adsorption between the collector DRQ-3 and spodumene. According to the crystal structure of spodumene， it was speculated that the chemical reaction between the spodumene and DRQ-3 was mainly depended on Al3+ and the active group in DRQ-3. The results of Zeta potential measurement indicated that the electrostatic adsorption between spodumeneand DRQ-3 was impossible. Combining with the results of FT-IR spectroscopy， it was revealed that the DRQ-3 collector had adsorbed on the spodumene in the form of chemical adsorption.

Key words: amphoteric chelated collectors, Spodumene, Flotation performance, Adsorption mechanism