University of Atacama

Faculty of Engineering
Department of Metallurgy
English for Englineering II /401
Ms. Evelyn Cárdenas S.

Froth Flotation

The indispensable tool for Cu concentrate production is froth flotation. This technique is
used to upgrade an ore to a concentrate by selectively floating copper-containing minerals away
from non-copper minerals. The principles of froth flotation are as follows:
(a) Sulfide minerals are normally wetted by water (hydrophilic: water-loving) but they can be
conditioned with reagents (known as collectors) that cause them to become water-repellent
(hydrophobic: water-hating).
(b) Cu-sulfide minerals can selectively be made hydrophobic by their interaction with the collector,
leaving other minerals wetted.
(c) Collisions between ~1 mm diameter rising air bubbles and the now water-repellent Cu minerals
result in attachment of the Cu mineral particles to the bubbles. The Cu minerals are floated to the
surface of the slurry by the air bubbles.
(d) The still-wetted non-copper mineral particles do not attach to the rising bubbles and remain in
the slurry.
Industrially, the process entails (a) conditioning a water-ore mixture (slurry) to make the Cu
minerals water-repellent while leaving the non-Cu minerals hydrophilic and (b) passing a dispersed
stream of small bubbles up through the slurry. These procedures cause the Cu mineral particles to
attach to the rising bubbles, which carry them to the top of the flotation cell. The other minerals are
left behind. They depart the cell through an underflow system. These are mostly non-sulfide
gangue with a small amount of pyrite. The last step in the flotation process is creating a strong but
short-lived froth by adding frother when the bubbles reach the surface of the slurry. This froth
prevents bursting of the bubbles and release of the Cu mineral particles back into the slurry. The
froth overflows the flotation cell, often with the assistance of paddles, and into a trough. There it
collapses and flows into a collection tank. A sequence of flotation cells is designed to optimize Cu
recovery and the Cu grade in the concentrate. The froth from the last set of flotation cells is, after
water removal, the Cu concentrate.

Flotation Reagents

The establishment of a hydrophobic surface on a mineral is similar in principle to waxing

automobile or shining shoes to prevent wetting. A hydrocarbon layer is established on the surface
because the hydrocarbon surface is not water-wetted. In flotation systems, chemical, rather than
mechanical, means are used to establish the hydrocarbon layer selectively on one or more of
minerals, and the layer is not complete. There are three main types of surfactants used in flotation:
collectors, frothers, and modifiers.
 Collectors are also known as promoters. They are polar reagents with a metal ion on one
end joined by an organic ion at the other end. The metal ion adsorbs onto a metal ion in
the mineral surface. The organic ion at the other end forms a new surface that is
hydrophobic. A common example, potassium amyl xanthate, C5H11OCS2K that dissolves
or ionizes in water.
 Frothers are surface-active chemicals that concentrate at the air-water interface. Frothers
produce a froth which is strong enough in the flotation cell to support the floated Cu
minerals, but breaks down quickly once the froth and its attached minerals overflow the cell.
They prevent air bubbles from coalescing or bursting by lowering the surface tension of
the slurry. Frothing properties can be persistent or non-persistent depending on the desired
stability of the froth. Examples of frothers are pine oil and high molecular weight alcohols
such as MIBC.
 Modifiers are sometimes known as regulators, and are used to vary slurry and mineral
conditions to assist in the selective flotation of minerals. Modifiers may activate poorly
floating minerals such as sphalerite, or may depress certain minerals, so that a differential
flotation can be performed on a complex ore. Chemicals that change the pH of the slurry
are also used as modifiers. PH modifiers include lime, soda ash, sulfuric acid; can act as
 activators and/or depressants by controlling the alkalinity and acidity of the slurry.
Modifiers can also counteract interfering effects from the detrimental slimes, colloids, and
soluble salts that can absorb and thereby reduce the effectiveness of flotation reagents.

Flotation cells

Air bubbles are introduced into the slurry through a rotating agitator at the bottom of the
cell. The agitator sheers the air into the 1 mm diameter bubbles needed for Cu mineral attachment.
It also disperses the bubbles across the cell.

Column Cells

Many new Cu flotation plants use column cells for cleaner. These cells provide separate
zones for particle-bubble attachment and for draining of non-attached low-Cu particles from the
froth. Column cells provide a long vertical particle/bubble contact zone and a well controlled froth-
draining zone. They are an excellent tool for maximizing % Cu in a concentrator’s final
concentrate.

Elements of a conventional flotation cell

EXERCISES:

I. Look for the meaning of all the underlined words. Then choose 2 of them and
make sentences.

1) _______________________________________________________________
2) _______________________________________________________________

II. Answer the following questions:

1) What is froth flotation used for?

2) What is the Cu concentrate?
3) What are the three main types of surfactants used in flotation? Name one
characteristic for each one of them.
4) What are lime, soda ash and sulfuric acid? What can they do?
5) How does a flotation cell work?
6) What does a column cell provide?