Esterquats for the flotation of non-sulfidic minerals and ores, and method

A method for flotation of non-sulfidic minerals or ores, wherein the minerals or ores are mixed with water and an esterquat, wherein the esterquat is prepared by reacting a di- or trialkanolamine with a mixture of a fatty acid and a polycarboxylic acid and quaternizing the resultant ester subsequently with an alkylating agent, where the di- or trialkanolamine conforms to the formula (I)

• in which
• R1 and R2 independently of one another are hydroxyalkyl radicals having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, hydroxyalkenyl radicals having 2 to 20 carbon atoms and 1, 2, or 3 double bonds, or adducts of 1 to 20 mol of ethylene oxide onto a hydroxyethyl radical, and
• R3 is hydrogen, an alkyl radical having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, an alkenyl radical having 2 to 20 carbon atoms and 1, 2, or 3 double bonds, a hydroxyalkyl radical having 1 to 20 carbon atoms, a hydroxyalkenyl radical having 2 to 20 carbon atoms and 1, 2, or 3 double bonds, or adducts of 1 to 20 mol of ethylene oxide onto a hydroxyethyl radical, and where
• the fatty acid conforms to the formula (II),
• R4—COOH (II)
• in which
• R4 is an aliphatic, linear or branched hydrocarbon radical having 5 to 29 carbon atoms and 0, 1, 2, or 3 double bonds, and where
• the polycarboxylic acid conforms to the formula (III)
• in which
• Y is a carbon atom or a saturated or unsaturated, aliphatic hydrocarbon group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms and optionally carrying one or more hydroxyl groups, and
• X is hydrogen, a hydroxyl or a carboxylic acid group, to form a suspension, air is introduced into the suspension, to form a floated froth, and the floated froth is subsequently removed.