Since the test work has been extensive in Flotation Equipment, it is accepted as being reasonably precise in predicting results; however during the operation of the resulting plant the design is sometimes found to be inadequate. It is then suspected that the flaw in the design process lies in the samples not being sufficiently representative of the ore body, since using only a single or small number of composite samples does not recognize the variability of the flotation response of the ore, nor does it allow for the lack of ore body representation used in the design. It had not been possible to estimate the risk or error in the expected results.

Flotation is not generally applied to ores containing a preponderance of values in free metals except for certain well-known exceptions such as the floating of native copper, gold, silver, and free metals having a high degree of luster. The notable occurrence of native copper ores is in the Keewenaw district of Northern Michigan. This area, one of the older mining districts of the United States, obtained its recovery entirely with gravity plants until the late 20s. As higher recoveries became more essential, a detailed investigation was made of the flotation process and it was put into general use immediately thereafter for the recovery of relatively fine native copper, heretofore lost in the gravity plants.

Flotation is one of the key technologies within the mineral processing catalogue. And while the concepts have remained more or less unchanged since the concept was first introduced, there have been some very significant developments in the areas of both technology and reagents over the years. Take, for example, the introduction of column cells, which at the time was considered revolutionary. Today, column cell technology is widely used throughout the industry. Or the continuing trend toward larger and larger flotation units, as concentrators are designed for ever-increasing throughputs of lower head-grade ores.

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