Virginia Lawson

Frothing is primarily a function of the concentration of frother in the system.  The machine makes the bubbles and the frother preserves them.  The fineness of product or its composition such as its mineralogy as well as other chemistry features (pH for example) can affect the froth and its persistance.  Smaller bubbles increase the kinetics of all particles in flotation and thus will improve your yield.  Although the flotation performance is improved with the smaller bubbles the management of froth needs to be understood and is a very important component of good plant design.  Glencore has extensive experience pumping 7 micron zinc froths at McArthur River and Mount Isa and have recently developed improved froth management systems that enable even the toughest froths to be pumped and thickened.  These improvements have significantly improved froth management and trials are commencing in a CHPP where the froth from tank cells cannot be pumped.