Occurring as impurities in ores, easily-slimed carbonate and silicate minerals markedly reduce selectivity and effectiveness of flotation. Preliminary slime flotation decreases this adverse effect. Investigations on the influence of composition of oxyethylated surfactants and polyacrylamide flocculants on the floatability of clayey-carbonate slimes have been performed and reported in this work, particularly for the flotation of potash ores. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.