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Froth Flotation ore separator
Ore Separator
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Separating valuable metals from waste has always been a problem. in 1901 a Melbourne brewer named Charles Potter tried mixing ore in a vat with water and acid. Bubbles made by the acid carried a froth mineral of to the surface of the vat, where it could be skimmed off. At the same time, Guillaume Delprat, a mining engineer with BHP had discovered the same idea by accident.
The froth-flotation process needed years of experimentation before it worked well but it was copied by mining companies all over the world and is still used.
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