|
The flotation process is perhaps the most efficient, widely applicable, and complex of the ore concentration methods used by the mining industry. Theoretically, it can be applied to any mixture of particles that are essentially free form one another and that are fine enough to be lifted by rising gas bubbles. Particles ranging in size from minus 20-mesh, down to a few microns, are responsive to flotation.
However, limited knowledge of the flotation mechanism has restricted use to a relatively small number of minerals. Some of the more common are listed below. Certain of these are more fully discussed in the Section “Applications of Flotation”
|
