Flotation's important role in the green transition

The demand for minerals is forecast to double by 2050 and it is essential that governments and industry ensure that supply is reliable and sustainable, as the urgency to deal with climate change accelerates. 

Meeting these demands places the mining industry at the centre of the green transition; mining must deliver the minerals needed and do so sustainably (see posting of 10 April 2023). The difficulty in delivering the minerals demanded by society while decreasing the environmental footprint is being compounded by declining ore grades. This has direct implications for the amounts of water and energy needed for production, increasing the environmental footprint of mining. 

It is impossible to overestimate the importance of froth flotation in the quest for net zero. I have often said that it is the world's most important technology; without it many of the metals, such as copper, that society depends upon would be classed as precious metals, and it is true to say that the world would be a very different place without froth flotation. We are now only 3 weeks from the start of Flotation '23 in Cape Town, the biggest MEI conference in our history and innovation in machines, circuits and reagents will be discussed over the four days in the 156 presentations from around the world.

Innovation, at both equipment and process flowsheet levels, is also the theme of MEI's Mill Circuits '24 conference, which will be held back to back with Physical Sepatation '24 in Cape Town next June. 

Our first keynote speaker at Mill Circuits' 24 will be Dr. Dariusz Lelinski, the Global Director for Flotation at FLSmidth, USA, who will be with the FLSmidth team at Flotation '23.  He was a keynote speaker ten years ago at Flotation '13.

Dariusz Lelinski (2nd right) at Flotation '17

In his keynote next June, Dariusz will explore how different flotation technologies can improve both productivity and sustainability performance. Innovation can encompass either evolutionary or revolutionary developments, both being important and complementary.

The results of evolutionary innovation are more predictable, associated with lower risk, lower cost and are easier to be accepted and implemented by an inherently conservative industry such as mining. Examples of evolutionary technology include FLSmidth's nextSTEP™ forced air mechanism,  WEMCO®II self-aspirated mechanism,  and mixedROW™ systems.

Revolutionary innovation requires larger investment and a longer time for development, but the potential improvements justify the greater risk. The prospective benefits of adopting revolutionary innovations include game-changing flowsheet developments that are far beyond what is possible today; examples are the Reflux Flotation Cell™ and coarseAIR™ coarse particle flotation technologies.

The keynote will present the results of industrial trials and equipment applications for various commodities using these innovative technologies and associated flowsheet changes and potential for future flowsheet improvements will be discussed and analyzed. Both evolutionary and revolutionary innovation is needed and essential. Balancing them allows for improvements and optimization to be implemented today while the development of ‘mine of the future’ flowsheet technologies are proven and commercialised. 

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