Wills' Mineral Processing Technology, 8th Edition

Chapter 12

Froth Flotation

Flotation is undoubtedly the most important and versatile mineral separation technique, and both its use and application are continually being expanded to treat greater tonnages and to cover new areas. Recently celebrating its first centenary, flotation has permitted the mining of low-grade and complex ore bodies which would have otherwise been regarded as uneconomic. In earlier practice, the tailings of many gravity plants were of a higher grade than the ore treated in many modern flotation plants. Warranting its own history, at least one technology historian has described flotation as “perhaps the greatest single metallurgical improvement of the modern era”.

Keywords

Principle; collectors; frothers; regulators; sulfides; ...