flottation collective

CONT: Froth flotation was first used to recover sulfide minerals which were too fine to be recovered by gravity concentrators such as jigs, tables, and sluices. These early operations removed all of the sulfide minerals into one concentrate. Although good recoveries were achieved by this bulk flotation, the concentrate grades were poor. As the understanding of the chemistry of flotation improved, better reagents became available and differential flotation became a reality. It became possible, in many cases, to float only the valuable sulfide minerals and leave the unwanted pyrite (fool's gold) with the gangue.