Froth Flotation

Purpose: To investigate modern mining technology.

Task: To simulate the process of froth flotation

Organisation: Small groups or demonstration activity

You will need:

• Large glass or see through bowl or container
• Chemicals (Detergent)
• Egg beater
• Crushed ore fine soil, talcum powder and ash

Activity:

• Fill the container with water to about half way
• Add detergent
• Create a froth using an egg beater
• Add the soil and observe what happens
• Can you find a method to skim the bubbles off?

Follow Up:

• Investigate what happened to the ore
• Investigate any change in the bubbles (base metals are attracted to and attach to the air bubbles enabling separation from the gangue or waste material)
• What method worked best to collect the bubbles?
• Examine if the method of ‘froth flotation’ is used at Cadia Mine by looking at the virtual tour on this website.

Record:

Using different coloured paper and shapes, students record the activity under the following headings:

• What I did (blue square)
• What happened (yellow triangle)
• What I learned (pink circle)

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