Water-Soluble Polymer Depressants in Froth Flotation

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Metal extraction from ores requires that the metal-bearing minerals in the ores be separated and upgraded into individual mineral concentrates. Most of the mineral separation today is done by froth flotation, which separates minerals based on their surface hydrophobicity. Hydrophobic minerals are floated (like oil drops) to a concentrate while hydrophilic minerals stay in water. However, when the particle sizes of the hydrophilic minerals are very small (<~10 micron), they can be carried to the concentrate by entrainment, lowering separation efficiency. Also, many toxic inorganic reagents such as sodium cyanide, potassium dichromate, etc., are used to separate base metal minerals into individual concentrates. A potentially effective solution to counter both problems is to use polymer depressants, which have low or no toxicity and can also increase particle size, thus restore separation efficiency.