Most plants default to one of two spots—the mill discharge or the flotation cells. And most operators assume it doesn’t matter much.
It does. And the difference can be 3–10% recovery.
Just a few meters along the process flow can completely change all three.
Generally, the dosing point for modifiers is prioritized over that of collectors and frothers. Since pH establishes the fundamental environment for flotation, modifiers are usually added first to set the proper conditions before collectors and frothers are introduced at the appropriate locations. This article discusses the characteristics of different dosing points for collectors.
In copper ore flotation, shifting xanthate addition from the cells back to the mill discharge increased copper recovery by 2.5%—with zero change in reagent type or dosage.
For oxidized ores, finely disseminated sulfide ores, or material finer than 200 mesh → conditioning tank is usually your answer.But the real key is this: your lab flotation time tests are the foundation. Get that right, and your industrial process design follows.
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