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How to Process Gold With Bubbles

Gold processing usually takes the form of introducing cyanide to leech gold particles from formations. However, in the case where gold is trapped within sulfide minerals, like pyrite, this process is ineffective. One of the alternative ways to recover and process the gold is to use the flotation process. This process uses chemical to separate the gold from the sulfides. Bubbles are introduced to create a foam which the gold particles stick to and are then sent out for further processing.

Instructions

- 1
  Crush the rocks down to small particles. In industrial gold flotation processing, the rocks must be crushed down to the size of 28 mesh which is a course grain. This is advantageous because it reduces the costs involved in using the machine that crushes the rocks.
- 2
  Place the mined and ground rock into a floater cell. The floater cell is the location where the gold will be released from the sulfides. A slurry of chemicals are created inside the floater cell. Chemicals that may be found include sulfide flotation collectors, such as xanthates and carboxylates, frothers like aliphatic alcohol or aromatic alcohol, and modifiers, such as lime. Air is introduced to created bubbles. The gold particles attach to the bubbles. Froth is produced at the top of the tank and overflows to move to the next area.
- 3
  Dry the froth to remove chemicals and water from the gold. The froth is typically transported to a dryer which lowers the water content to a very small percentage to prepare the gold for smelting.
- 4
  Smelt the gold to melt off any other impurities from the metal.

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