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The main purpose of the froth zone in flotation is to transport all the valuable particles from the pulp zone into the concentrate. However, in practice, a complete recovery of these particles is rarely achieved since some of them are detachment from the bubbles and return to the pulp zone. While this is an important topic in the mineral flotation industry, the previously published papers are mainly limited to small laboratory scales. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the effect of two main flotation variables (air flowrate and froth depth) on the flotation of iron ore in a 10 m 3 industrial scale cell. It was found that, when the air flowrate increased from 45 to 146 m 3 /h, the velocity of the bubble coalescence also increased. In addition, when the froth depth increased from 5 to 30 cm, the product grade showed on average 2 unit increase (for instance, from 12% to 14%) due to the detachment of particles and liquid drainage. It was also found that the flotation concentrates recovery decreased with the increasing froth depth and air flowrate.

One of the main challenges in the copper oxide processing industry is the application of flotation to reduce operating costs. Sulfidation-flotation is a commonly employed approach for floating oxide minerals using sulfidizers in order to sulfide the mineral’s surface. In this research work, an oxidized sample from the Qaleh Zari copper mine was used which was a high grade with 5.4% of copper (malachite and azurite). The prepared sample was subjected to mineralogical studies, and the obtained results indicated that the sample was oxidized. Malachite and azurite were the predominant minerals of copper oxide, and the predominant waste minerals were quartz and iron oxides (hematite and magnetite). The addition of sodium sulfide and flotation in four consecutive steps was a successful approach to meet the proper recovery and grade. Sodium sulfide, amyl potassium xanthate, sodium sulfide preparation time, and pH were selected as operating parameters using a central composite design (CCD). Also, by measuring the zeta potential, the electric charge of malachite was determined in different conditions after adding chemicals. Finally, under optimal conditions, the consumptions of sodium sulfide and amyl potassium xanthate, sodium sulfide preparation time, and pH value were 6790 g/t, 736 g/t, 10 minutes, and 9, respectively. By applying the mentioned conditions, a concentrate with a grade of 22.13%Cu and 90.51% recovery was achieved.