Project description
Improving fine particle recovery in froth flotation
Froth flotation is arguably the most important process for separating minerals from gangue. The technique takes advantage of the differences in the hydrophobicity of the materials. However, current flotation technologies are limited in their ability to recover fine particles smaller than 20 µm. The EU-funded FineFuture project aims to advance fundamental understanding of fine particle flotation phenomena, which will lead to the development of ground-breaking recovery solutions. This will help not only unlock new critical raw material deposits but also increase the resource and energy efficiency of current operations where the fines are lost to tailings.
Objective
Froth flotation is arguably the most important mineral separation technique. By making use of differences in surface properties between minerals, valuable particles are concentrated in large tanks by attaching to bubbles, which form a froth phase that overflows as a mineral-rich concentrate. However, current flotation technologies do not work adequately for fine particles, below 20 µm in size. This is a serious challenge at present limiting the exploitation of deposits and proper recycling of end of life products containing Critical Raw Materials (CRM). This FineFuture project will advance the fundamental understanding of fine particle flotation phenomena, which will lead to the development of ground-breaking technological solutions. This will not only help unlock new CRM deposits but also contribute to increase the resource and energy efficiency of current operations where the fines are lost to tailings. FineFuture will also enable proper reprocessing of old tailings deposits and be technology-transferred to other raw material particle-based processes within the circular economy, thus leading the way in the sustainable use of resources. For the EU industry the ability to float fine particles will be fundamental in securing access to raw materials in the future, yet to date there is no large scale collaborative effort to achieve this. The FineFuture consortium brings together an industry- and user-driven multidisciplinary team with the skills and experience required to tackle the challenging objectives set up for this project. Through a first of its kind research approach, the consortium’s combined expertise in science, engineering and industrial practice will allow a robust and knowledge-based development of innovative fine particle flotation technologies. This project will thus help boosting EU technologies for sustainable raw material processing in Europe and abroad, contributing to energy- and resource-efficient processing in benefit of the future generations.
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RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
01328 Dresden
Germany