Froth flotation process is extensively used for selective separation of base metal sulfides from uneconomic mineral resources. Reliable prediction of process outcomes (metal recovery and grade) is vital to ensure peak performance. This work employs an innovative hybrid machine learning (ML) model-constructed by combining the random forest model and the firefly algorithm-to predict froth flotation efficiency of galena and chalcopyrite in relation to various experimental process parameters. The hybrid model's prediction performance was rigorously evaluated, and compared against four different standalone ML models. The outcomes of this study illustrate that the hybrid ML model has the prediction ability to process outcomes with high-fidelity, while consistently outperforming the standalone ML models.
K E Y W O R D Scomplex sulfide ore, firefly algorithm, froth flotation, machine learning, random forests
INTRODUCTIONFroth flotation process is the most widely used practice to concentrate sulfide minerals-the main economic sources of world supplies of base metals. The flotation efficiency of metal sulfides is influenced by several key process variables (eg, water chemistry, reagents chemistry, feed characteristics, cell type, and aeration rate). [1][2][3] Although each of these parameters influences the flotation process outcomes (metal recovery and grade) independently, their interdependence