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Froth flotation to separate plastics, Argonne National Laboratory Froth flotation cells to concentrate copper and nickel sulfide minerals, Falconbridge, Ontario. Froth flotation is a process for separating minerals from gangue by exploiting differences in their hydrophobicity. Hydrophobicity differences between valuable minerals and waste ...
Froth flotation cells used to concentrate copper and nickel sulfide minerals. Froth flotation is an important concentration process. This process can be used to separate any two different particles and operated by the surface chemistry of the particles. In flotation, bubbles are introduced into a pulp and the bubbles rise through the pulp. [19]
These resulted in high losses of copper. Consequently, the development of the froth flotation process was a major step forward in mineral processing. [21] The modern froth flotation process was independently invented in the early 1900s in Australia by C.V Potter and around the same time by G. D. Delprat. [22]
And in 1923, Minerals Separation staff chemists in the San Francisco office, Cornelius Keller and Carl Lewis under director Edward H. Nutter, perfected the use of chemical xanthates, replacing the use of oil and easing the workings in the froth cells. The firm moved into research for the use of flotation in nonmetals as well, such as potash.
Froth flotation – Process for selectively separating of hydrophobic materials from hydrophilic; Magnetic separation – Process of separating components of mixtures by using magnets; Vanning – Ore dressing in which ores are washed on a shovel; Extractive metallurgy – Ore extraction material science
Essentially, reagents are used to make the copper water-repellent, thus the Cu is able to concentrate in a flotation cell by floating on air bubbles. In contrast to the 0.5–2% copper in chalcopyrite ore, froth flotation results in a concentrate containing about 30% copper. [23] The concentrate then undergoes a process called matte smelting.
Cyanidation is also widely used in silver extraction, usually after froth flotation. [2] Production of reagents for mineral processing to recover gold represents 70% of cyanide consumption globally. While other metals, such as copper, zinc, and silver, are also recovered using cyanide, gold remains the primary driver of this technology.
There are two methods of smelting zinc: the pyrometallurgical process and the electrolysis process. [2] Both methods are still used. [2] [4] Both of these processes share the same first step: roasting. The top path is the pyrometallurgical process of smelting zinc and the bottom path is the electrolytic process.