Flotation of dispersed gold drops in melts as an element of technological scheme of enrichment

A significant part of gold reserves is represented by microand nanodispersed particles in natural deposits and in technogenic formations. In order to extract microdispersed gold particles by existing enrichment methods, they must be enlarged. This is possible in the process of heating and melting the material by flotation. As a result, the flotation of gold drops in the melts becomes an element of the enrichment scheme. It includes grinding the materials and enrichment by gravity methods after it has cooled. Usually flotation is analyzed as one of the technologies for mineral processing. But it is based on the complex and insufficiently studied physicochemical phenomenon of swimming bodies of higher density than that of a liquid on its surface under the influence of interfacial tension forces. Therefore, flotation refers not only to solid, but also to liquid substances. The conditions and mechanism of the flotation of gold and sulfide drops in oxide melts are analyzed. It was found that the flotation of gold drops in melts leads to their significant enlargement and proceeds at rather high rates. The process of passing a gas bubble through the interphase boundary of two immiscible liquids is considered using the example of a matte-slag system and the conditions for a matte drop to float together with a bubble. The scale of solving these problems is determined by the fact that they expand the idea of flotation of drops in melts as a stage of mineral processing in which valuable components are in a dispersed state.