Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx

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Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

The effect of frother type and dosage on flotation performance in the presence
of high depressant concentrations
Jenny Wiese ⇑, Peter Harris
Centre for Minerals Research, University of Cape Town, South Africa

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The use of high dosages of polysaccharide depressants in order to depress the undesired naturally float-
Available online xxxx able gangue (NFG) present in ores beneficiated from the Bushveld Complex, South Africa, results in a sig-
nificant decrease in the stability of flotation froths. These unstable froths can result in restricted mass pull
Keywords: and decreased valuable mineral recovery. Previous work using a single polyglycol ether type frother,
Precious metal ores DOW 200, has shown that an increase in frother dosage could be used to overcome the destabilisation
Froth flotation of the froth to a certain extent and improve valuable mineral recovery. This resulted in an increase in
Flotation depressants
water recovery and dilution of the concentrate by entrained material. This work extends this study to
Flotation frothers
examine the effect of using a stronger frother, DOW 250, on the recovery of sulphide minerals and float-
able gangue from a Merensky ore at different dosages of guar gum and CMC, which are typically used as
depressants in the processing of Merensky ore. Results indicate that an increase in the strength of the
frother resulted in a more robust froth. Depressant type also had an influence on results obtained.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction CMC for any equilibrium concentration. Parolis et al. (2008)

The presence of naturally floating gangue (NFG) in ores mined
from the Bushveld Complex, South Africa, can result in negative
effects during the flotation process. The presence of NFG, which
consists mainly of pyroxene associated with talcaceous minerals,
results in the stabilisation of the froth and although present in
small amounts (0.5–5% by mass in the ore) can cause these un-
wanted effects. That these minerals are naturally floatable is due
to the presence of talc along pyroxene grain boundaries (Becker
et al., 2006; Jasieniak and Smart, 2009). Increasingly, concentrators
processing ores containing significant quantities of NFG are mak-
ing use of high depressant dosages to minimise the recovery of
these undesirable minerals and to increase the grade of the con-
centrate. The two polysaccharide depressants most widely used
in PGM flotation are guar gum and carboxymethyl cellulose
(CMC). The CMC molecule has a high negative charge density,
and when used at high concentration results in a strong negative
charge as it adsorbs on particles resulting in significant dispersion.
The guar gum molecule has a very low charge density and does not
result in dispersed pulps particularly in the presence of the high io-
nic strength waters found in concentrators. Steenberg and Harris
(1984), by conducting comparative adsorption studies of CMC,
guar gum and starch depressants on talc showed that starch and
guar gum produced a higher level of adsorption on talc than did
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +27 21 650 2517; fax: +27 21 650 5501.
E-mail address: Jenny.Wiese@uct.ac.za (J. Wiese).
showed that the adsorption of CMC on talc was enhanced by the
presence of Ca++, Mg++ and K+, commonly found in the recycle
process water of Merensky flotation circuits.
The use of high depressant dosages invariably results in a
marked decrease in froth stability due to the depression of froth
stabilising NFG (Bradshaw et al., 2005; Martinovic et al., 2005;
Wiese, 2009). This could restrict solids recovery and result in de-
creased valuable mineral recovery. Low mass pulls may be over-
come by an increase in frother dosage (Wiese et al., 2010), but
could result in problems further downstream. Valuable mineral
grade and recovery are strongly dependent on the stability of the
froth since the recovery of entrained gangue is directly
proportional to the amount of water recovered (Engelbrecht and
Woodburn, 1975; Zheng et al., 2006a,b; Neethling and Cilliers,
2002). A froth stability which is too low can, however, result in a
loss in the recovery of valuable minerals and the inability to trans-
port material for further processing. The polyglycol ether range of
frothers has strong surface activity, and their molecular weight
(MW) and carbon chain-length determine their strength and per-
formance (Bulatovic, 2007), with an increase in MW resulting in in-
creased frothability, but lower selectivity.
Wiese et al. (2010) using a single polyglycol frother, showed
that an increase in frother dosage resulted in enhanced valuable
mineral recovery. This work extends that study to include the
use of a stronger frother, DOW 250, to determine whether its use
would result in better management of the froth under high depres-
sant dosages.

0892-6875/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.03.028

Please cite this article in press as: Wiese, J., Harris, P. The effect of frother type and dosage on flotation performance in the presence of high depressant
concentrations. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.03.028
2 J. Wiese, P. Harris / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
For this work a Merensky ore containing a significant amount of
NFG (Becker et al., 2006; Wiese, 2009) was selected and since the
PGE in this type of ore are strongly associated with the sulphide
minerals the effect of the increased frother dosages on the recovery
of copper and nickel representing the sulphide minerals, chalcopy-
rite and pentlandite may be assessed. The investigation into the ef-
fects on PGE recovery is beyond the scope of the current paper.
2. Experimental details
An ore from the southern section of the Merensky Reef in the
Bushveld Igneous Complex, South Africa was prepared at UCT (Wi-
ese et al., 2007) for use in batch flotation tests. The mean copper
(Cu), nickel (Ni) and sulphur (S) values for the ore were calculated
using the concentrate and tailings values obtained from all the
batch flotation tests and are as follows: Cu 0.087 wt.%, Ni
0.247 wt.%, S 0.367 wt.%. The NFG content of the ore sample was
approximately 8%. All batch flotation tests were conducted using
synthetic plant water, whereby distilled water is modified by the
addition of various chemical salts to contain total dissolved solids
of 1023 ppm (Wiese, 2009).
Batch flotation tests were conducted using a method developed
at UCT (Wiese, 2009). 1 kg portions of the ore sample were milled
at 66% solids in synthetic plant water to achieve a grind of 60%
passing 75 lm using a laboratory scale stainless steel rod mill.
The milled slurry was transferred to a modified 3 L Leeds flotation
cell. The volume in the cell was made up to produce 35% solids
using synthetic plant water. The flotation cell was fitted with a var-
iable speed drive and the pulp level was controlled manually by
the addition of synthetic plant water. The impeller speed was set
at 1200 rpm.
The frothers, Dowfroth 200 (DOW 200) and Dowfroth 250
(DOW 250), supplied by Betachem were added at dosages of 40,
50 and 60 g/t. The collector, sodium isobutyl xanthate (SIBX), sup-
plied by Senmin was added to the mill prior to grinding at a dosage
of 150 g/t. The polymeric depressants used in the batch flotation
tests were Depramin 267, a carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) sup-
plied by AKZO Nobel Functional Chemicals and Stypres 504, a mod-
ified guar gum supplied by Chemquest. The MW of Depramin 267
used in this study was 325,000 g/mol, and that of Stypres 504 was
230,000 g/mol. The depressants were added at dosages of 250 and
500 g/t. Depressants were made up every second day at dosages
corrected for active content. Tests were also conducted in the ab-
sence of a depressant. The chemical salts used in making up the
synthetic plant water were obtained from Merck. (see Table 1).
The general formula for DOW 200 is CH3(C3H6O)3OH, and that
of DOW 250 is CH3(C3H6O)4OH. Both frothers are totally soluble
in water.
The air supply to the flotation cell was maintained at a flow rate
of 7 L/min in all tests and the froth height was kept constant at
2 cm throughout. Four concentrates were collected at 2, 6, 12
and 20 min of flotation time by scraping the froth into a collecting
pan every 15 s. A feed sample was taken before and a tailings sam-
ple was taken after each test. Water recoveries were measured for
each test. Feeds, concentrates and tails were filtered, dried and
weighed before analysis. All batch flotation tests were conducted
in duplicate. Error bars showing standard error between duplicate
tests are included in figures. Copper and total nickel analysis of all
samples was done using a Bruker S4 Explorer XRF spectrophotom-
eter. Sulphur analysis was carried out using a LECO S 632 sulphur
analyser.
3. Results and discussion
In order to determine the effect of the presence/absence of NFG
on the frothing behaviour upon increases in frother dosage, tests
Please cite this article in press as: Wiese, J., Harris, P. The effect of frother type and dosage on flotation performance in the presence of high depressant
concentrations. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.03.028
Table 1
Properties of the frothers used in this study.
Frother Description Molecular Supplier
weight
Dowfroth Polypropylene glycol methyl 205 Betachem
200 ether
Dowfroth Tri-polypropylene glycol methyl 260 Betachem
250 ether
were conducted in the absence of depressant where NFG was pres-
ent. All NFG was depressed at a depressant dosage of 500 g/t (Wi-
ese, 2009) and this allows for the determination of gangue
recovered by entrainment. At a depressant dosage of 250 g/t it
has been determined (Wiese et al., 2010) that the amount of NFG
recovered in the concentrate is of the same order as that of en-
trained gangue reporting to the concentrate.
Two phase batch flotation tests i.e. water and air only, were
conducted using DOW 200 and DOW 250 at the same dosages as
were used in the three phase tests (water, air and solids). The re-
sults of these tests are shown in Fig. 1. Greater amounts of water
were recovered from tests using DOW 250 than from tests using
DOW 200 as the frother indicating that DOW 250 is the stronger
frother of the two. The volume of froth obtained in these tests, as
indicated by the water recovery, was substantially greater than
that obtained from tests conducted in the presence of solids. This
is as a result of the destabilising effects of the solids even in the ab-
sence of a depressant where the maximum amount of froth stabil-
ising NFG was present or possibly the adsorption of frother onto
the solids (Lotter et al., 2003).
Results for total mass and water recovered for the various con-
ditions using DOW 200 and DOW 250 at increasing dosages in the
presence of guar gum at dosages of 0, 250 and 500 g/t are pre-
sented in Fig. 2. Care should be taken in assessing the recovery of
solids as their recovery is dependent on the amount of water
recovered. In the absence of a depressant the amount of water
recovered by both frothers was similar and the amounts of solids
recovered may thus be compared. Greater amounts of solids were
recovered from tests using DOW 200 than from equivalent tests
using DOW 250. This may be associated with the influence of the
frother on NFG. The system was dominated by the presence of
large amounts of NFG and the destabilising effects of the sulphide
minerals were overridden. Guar gum addition at a dosage of 250 g/
t resulted in differences in the amount of water recovered, in that
for equivalent dosages, DOW 250 always achieved higher water
recoveries than DOW 200. At a guar gum dosage of 500 g/t, gangue
reporting to the concentrate was via entrainment alone as all NFG
was depressed at this dosage. For all conditions an increase in
frother dosage resulted in an increase in the stability of the froth
as indicated by increased water recovery. DOW 200 at a dosage
of 60 g/t achieved similar water recoveries to DOW 250 at a dosage
of 50 g/t. For the Merensky ore used in this study the changes in
water recovery on increased guar gum dosage were not large when
compared to tests conducted in the absence of a depressant. How-
ever, the mass of solids reporting to the concentrate was reduced
when guar gum dosage was increased from 250 to 500 g/t.
Statistical analysis using t tests of the data presented in Fig. 2 at
the 10% significance level determined that the increases in the
amounts of mass and water recovered when the frother dosage
was increased from 40 to 60 g/t at all depressant dosages for both
frothers were significant. Differences in the recovery of solids be-
tween the two frothers were significant only in the absence of a
depressant, whereas differences in water recoveries were signifi-
cant at depressant dosages of 250 and 500 g/t.
Fig. 3 presents the results obtained for total mass and water
recovered for the various conditions using DOW 200 and DOW
 J. Wiese, P. Harris / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx 3

1600
DOW 200
DOW 250
1400

1200

Cumulative water, g
1000

800

600

400

200

0
40 50 60
Frother dosage, g/t

Fig. 1. Cumulative water recovered for DOW 200 and DOW 250 from batch flotation tests conducted in the absence of solids.

Fig. 2. Final mass and water recovered for guar gum at dosages of 0, 250 and 500 g/t in the presence of DOW 200 and DOW 250 at dosages of 40, 50 and 60 g/t.

Fig. 3. Final mass and water recovered for CMC at dosages of 0, 250 and 500 g/t in the presence of DOW 200 and DOW 250 at dosages of 40, 50 and 60 g/t.

250 at increasing dosages in the presence of CMC at dosages of 0, the stability of the froth in comparison to the results obtained for
250 and 500 g/t. The addition of CMC resulted in a decrease in guar gum. High dosages of CMC result in dispersed pulps and at

Please cite this article in press as: Wiese, J., Harris, P. The effect of frother type and dosage on flotation performance in the presence of high depressant
concentrations. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.03.028
4 J. Wiese, P. Harris / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
a dosage of 250 g/t it is be expected that some degree of dispersion
would be present. At this dosage slightly more froth was obtained
from tests using DOW 250 than from DOW 200, which is evidence
of it being a stronger frother. The destabilising effects of CMC are
more evident at the fully dispersive conditions at a dosage of
500 g/t where tests conducted in the presence of DOW 200 re-
sulted in very low froth stability. A procedure developed at UCT
to evaluate the coagulative/dispersive nature of a mineral pulp
was used to determine the extent to which particle aggregates
were formed in a suspension of pulp at the depressant types and
dosages evaluated. The procedure utilised an image analysis tech-
nique to measure the transmission of light through a mineral slur-
ry with the same characteristics as the pulp phase used in the
batch flotation tests i.e. 35% solids and a particle size distribution
of 60% passing 75 lm. In the absence of depressant there was an
almost immediate settling of suspended particles as indicated by
the transmission of light through the suspension. In the presence
of Stypres 504 at both dosages evaluated there was a steady in-
crease in the transmission of light through the suspension during
the course of the experiment. This was indicative of aggregation
of particles. In the presence of Depramin 267 full dispersion of
the pulp over the course if the experiment was indicated by zero
transmission of light through the suspension for both dosages eval-
uated in this study.
The increase in dosage of DOW 200 was not sufficient to devel-
op a robust froth whereas DOW 250 was strong enough to over-
come the destabilising conditions created by the high dosage of
CMC. The use of DOW 200 at a dosage of 60 g/t yielded lower water
recoveries than DOW 250 at a dosage of 40 g/t. At higher dosages of
CMC the destabilising conditions are probably as a result of the
slime-cleaning properties of CMC which would result in sulphide
particles with enhanced hydrophobicity.
Statistical analysis using t tests of the data presented in Fig. 3 at
the 10% significance level determined that the increase in the
amounts of mass and water recovered from tests in which frother
dosage was increased from 40 to 60 g/t for tests conducted in the
absence of depressant and at 250 g/t using both frothers was sig-
nificant. At a depressant dosage of 500 g/t this was only true when
DOW 250 was used as the frother, and for water only. Differences
in the recovery of solids between the two frothers were significant
only in the absence of a depressant. Differences in the recovery of
water between the two frothers were significant only at a depres-
sant dosage of 500 g/t.
The amounts of total gangue recovered as a function of water
recovered are compared in Fig. 4 for DOW 200 and DOW 250.
The values shown on the figure are for all tests conducted at
500 g/t depressant dosage irrespective of frother dosage. The gradi-
ent of the line is equivalent to the entrainment factor and is equal
to the amount of entrained material reporting to the concentrate
per unit water recovered. The values obtained for both frothers
are shown in Table 2. More gangue was recovered by entrainment
when using DOW 250 (3.19 g per 100 ml water) than when using
DOW 200 (2.92 g per 100 ml water). Values obtained for DOW
250 are slightly higher than for DOW 200 for guar gum and CMC.
The values obtained for CMC are slightly higher than for guar
gum, most probably due to full dispersion at the high CMC dosages.
These differences in the entrainment values would, however, result
in very small differences in the recovery of solids.
Fig. 5 compares the amount of NFG reporting to the concentrate
as a function of water recovered for DOW 200 and DOW 250 at all
dosages evaluated. The amount of NFG reporting to the concen-
trate in each case was determined using the entrainment factors
as shown in Table 2. Greater amounts of NFG were recovered in
tests using DOW 200 than from tests using DOW 250. This is par-
ticularly evident in the absence of a depressant, but the same trend
was seen at a depressant dosage of 250 g/t. This suggests that there
Please cite this article in press as: Wiese, J., Harris, P. The effect of frother type and dosage on flotation performance in the presence of high depressant
concentrations. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.03.028
may have been some interaction of DOW 250 with NFG in that the
increase in frother chain-length has led to an adsorption of the
frother onto NFG which may have resulted in some NFG depres-
sion. In testwork conducted by Lotter et al. (2003) it was shown
using ToF-SIMS (time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry)
that DOW 250 had an affinity for Mg silicates in that these particles
were covered by a surface layer of DOW 250. Surrounding sulphide
mineral particles were unaffected. NFG recovery for DOW 200 from
a feed mass of 1 kg ranged from 50 to 80 g depending on the froth-
er dosage and that for DOW 250 from 45 to 70 g. The figure illus-
trates that at a depressant dosage of 500 g/t there was, by
definition, total depression of NFG. An attempt was made to mea-
sure the residual concentration of frother in solution, but the re-
sults obtained were inconsistent.
The analysis of the response of the sulphide minerals to frother
type and dosage in this study was determined by following the
recovery of copper and nickel. Some of the nickel present in Meren-
sky ore is associated with gangue minerals and total nickel recov-
eries obtained are lower than the sulphide nickel recoveries would
be expected to be. In this work total nickel recoveries were suffi-
cient to monitor pentlandite behaviour (Brough, 2008; Wiese,
2009).
Fig. 6 presents final copper recoveries and grades for all dosages
of DOW 200 and DOW 250 in the presence of all dosages of guar
gum.
Upon observation of the figure it is evident that copper recover-
ies were at their maximum in the absence of a depressant with
similar copper recoveries being obtained for both frothers under
all conditions. Depressant addition resulted in a decrease in copper
recovery probably due to the loss of partially liberated copper min-
erals. There was, however, little difference in the recovery of cop-
per when guar gum dosage was increased from 250 to 500 g/t.
The copper grades obtained in the absence of a depressant were
low as a result of dilution by NFG. For all dosages of guar gum
for both frothers, copper recoveries increased with an increase in
frother dosage. This was accompanied by a decrease in copper
grade due to the dilution of the concentrate by gangue. The highest
copper grades were obtained at depressant dosages of 500 g/t
where there is no expectation of NFG recovery to dilute the grade.
For all conditions, in the presence of guar gum, higher copper
grades were obtained for DOW 200 than for DOW 250. This has
been attributed to greater dilution of the concentrate grade by en-
trained gangue as a result of the increased recovery of water in
these tests. The slight differences in recovery obtained between
DOW 200 and DOW may be within experimental error as it is
not expected that frother type would influence copper recovery.
Final copper recoveries and grades for all dosages of DOW 200
and DOW 250 in the presence of all dosages of CMC are presented
in Fig. 7. The results obtained are similar to those obtained for
equivalent tests conducted using guar gum in that an increase in
frother dosage resulted in increased copper recovery with a reduc-
tion in copper grade. The recovery of copper on CMC addition did
not decrease as much as in the presence of gaur gum when com-
pared to tests conducted in the absence of a depressant. This is
due to CMC not being as strong a depressant as guar gum with im-
proved flotation of the partially liberated copper minerals (Wiese
et al., 2007). Copper recovery was not impaired even at the lowest
froth stability conditions i.e. DOW 200 in the presence of CMC at a
dosage of 500 g/t. The highest copper grades were obtained for
DOW 200 at a CMC dosage of 500 g/t. This is due to the strong
destabilisation of the froth when using DOW 200 (see Fig. 2) and
the full depression of NFG.
Final recoveries and grades obtained for nickel for both frothers
at all dosages in the presence of guar gum at dosages of 0, 250 and
500 g/t are presented in Fig. 8. As observed with copper the highest
nickel recoveries accompanied by the lowest nickel grades were
 J. Wiese, P. Harris / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx 5

25

y = 0.0319x

20

Total gangue, g
15

y = 0.0292x

10

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
Water, g
Dow 200 Dow 250

Fig. 4. Total gangue versus water recovered for all tests conducted at increasing dosages of DOW 200 and DOW 250.

Table 2
Entrainment values determined for DOW 200 and DOW
250 in the presence of guar gum and CMC at dosages of
500 g/t.
Frother type Guar gum
DOW 200 0.0292
DOW 250 0.0319
obtained in the absence of a depressant. An increase in depressant
dosage resulted in a decrease in nickel recovery. Nickel recoveries
were more susceptible to depressant addition than the recoveries
of copper. This decrease in nickel recovery was accompanied by
an increase in nickel grade. Once again an increase in frother dos-
age always led to an increase in recovery. As with copper under the
same conditions the highest grades were obtained using DOW 200
as the frother.
The results obtained for nickel recoveries and grades in the
presence of CMC are presented in Fig. 9. At a CMC dosage of
250 g/t there was very little difference in nickel recoveries and
grades for the two frothers. At a CMC dosage of 500 g/t in the pres-
ence of DOW 200 the recovery of nickel was impaired by froth
crowding under highly destabilised conditions. In these tests there
CMC
was a reversal of the grade, in that the grade increased with an in-
crease in frother dosage which is the complete opposite trend to
0.0334
that obtained for both copper and nickel under all conditions eval-
0.0356
uated. This condition yielded the lowest froths as indicated by the
lowest water recovery (see Fig. 2). This has resulted in competitive
adsorption between copper and nickel in the highly unstable froth,
with copper floating at the expense of nickel. Under the same con-
ditions DOW 250 yielded higher grades and recoveries by over-
coming the destabilising effects of the sulphide minerals as a
result of slime-cleaning. The phenomenon of slime coating re-
moval from sulphide surfaces by CMC is known (Nagaraj and Rav-
isahnkar, 2007). In the absence of a depressant where there is NFG
present, similar results were obtained for the two frothers.
This testwork was carried out using an ore containing NFG in
the form of partial talc rims along pyroxene grain boundaries. Fur-
ther work should include the evaluation of an ore with different
NFG mineralogy i.e. liberated talc to determine whether this re-
sults in differences in the mechanism of froth stabilisation.

90

80

70
Floating gangue, g

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
Water, g
DOW 200 - No depressant DOW 200 - 250 g/t Depressant DOW 200 - 500g/t Depressant
DOW 250 - No depressant DOW 250 - 250 g/t Depressant DOW 250 - 500 g/t Depressant

Fig. 5. Floating gangue versus water recovered for all tests conducted using DOW 200 and DOW 250 at dosages of 40, 50 and 60 g/t.

Please cite this article in press as: Wiese, J., Harris, P. The effect of frother type and dosage on flotation performance in the presence of high depressant
concentrations. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.03.028
6 J. Wiese, P. Harris / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx

Fig. 6. Final copper grades and recoveries for all dosages of DOW 200 and DOW 250 in the presence of guar gum.

Fig. 7. Final copper grades and recoveries for all dosages of DOW 200 and DOW 250 in the presence of CMC.

Fig. 8. Final nickel grades and recoveries for all dosages of DOW 200 and DOW 250 in the presence of guar gum.

Please cite this article in press as: Wiese, J., Harris, P. The effect of frother type and dosage on flotation performance in the presence of high depressant
concentrations. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.03.028
 J. Wiese, P. Harris / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
Fig. 9. Final nickel grades and recoveries for all dosages of DOW 200 and DOW 250 in the presence of CMC. The reversal of grade obtained using DOW 200 at a CMC dosage of
500 g/t is highlighted.
4. Conclusions
Increased frother dosage, from 40 to 60 g/t, resulted in in-
creased froth stability (as indicated by water recovery) for all con-
ditions evaluated.
The highly destabilised froths obtained using DOW 200 in the
presence of high dosages of CMC depressant resulted in froth
crowding with nickel competing with copper for adsorption. The
increased strength of DOW 250 overcame this effect.
Under destabilising conditions DOW 250 showed improved per-
formance over that of DOW 200, but under conditions with maxi-
mum NFG presence there was little difference in their performance.
An increase in frother dosage resulted in slightly improved cop-
per recoveries, with a more marked improvement in the recovery
of nickel, but at the expense of grade.
Higher amounts of NFG were recovered from tests using DOW
200 than equivalent tests using DOW 250 in the absence of a
depressant. This may be due to the adsorption of DOW 250 on
NFG particles.
It should be noted that an increase in frother dosage in a rough-
er circuit could affect downstream circuits.
Acknowledgement
The members of the UCT Reagent Research Group are thanked
for providing the financial support for this study.
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concentrations. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.03.028
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