Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx

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Minerals Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/mineng

The importance of rheology in mineral flotation: A review

Saeed Farrokhpay ⇑
JKMRC, The University of Queensland, 40 Isles Road, Indooroopilly, Qld 4068, Australia

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: It is known that the rheological behaviour of mineral slurries affects their processing. However, in addi-
Available online xxxx tion to controlling the transportation of slurries around processing circuits, rheological behaviour also
influences separation processes such as flotation. The rheological behaviour of mineral slurries is indic-
Keywords: ative of the level of inter-particle interaction or aggregation. In fact, rheological studies can be used as a
Rheology direct approach to investigating such phenomena, thereby furthering our understanding of inter-particle
Flotation interactions and potentially of bubble–particle interactions in mineral slurries. Although the impact of
Froth
rheology in unit operations such as grinding and slurry transport has received considerable attention, this
Viscosity
Mineral slurry
has not been the case for flotation. The pathways by which the rheology influences the flotation perfor-
mance are not yet fully understood. These pathways may include various mechanisms occurring in the
pulp and froth phases. However to date, little work has been done on froth rheology. Measuring the rhe-
ological properties of mineral slurries is also difficult since particles tend to settle during measurement.
Finding a proper practical way for taking such measurements remains a challenge for research. In this
paper the importance of rheology in mineral flotation is reviewed, and the gap of knowledge in this area
is highlighted for further research.
Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction is worth mentioning that accurately measuring the rheological

It is known that the rheological behaviour of mineral slurries
can dramatically affect slurry processing. However, in addition to
controlling the transportation of slurries, rheological behaviour
can affect separation processes such as flotation. The rheological
behaviour of mineral slurries indicates the level of inter-particle
interaction or aggregation, and therefore, it can be used as a useful
processing control parameter. The flotation separation of minerals
may be influenced by inter-particular interactions, and rheological
data can offer a direct approach to further understanding these
interactions. For example, rheology has been used to investigate
particle–particle interactions in slurries of oxide minerals (Taylor
et al., 2003; Rubio-Hernández et al., 2006; Farrokhpay et al.,
2010), clays and clay minerals (Mpofu et al., 2003; McFarlane
et al., 2005; Nosrati et al., 2011; Zhou et al., 2012), coal (Lai
et al., 1989; Dincer et al., 2003), sulphide minerals (Muster and
Prestidge, 1995), and even gangue minerals such as talc (Morris
et al., 2002; Burdukova et al., 2007b).
It should be noted that although the impact of rheology in unit
operations such as grinding and slurry transport has received
attention in the past, this has not been the case for flotation. In fact,
the pathways by which the pulp or froth rheology influences flota-
tion performance is not yet fully understood (Patra et al., 2010b). It
⇑ Tel.: +61 7 3346 5987; fax: +61 7 3365 5999.
E-mail address: s.farrokhpay@uq.edu.au
properties of mineral slurries is difficult, since the solid particles
tend to settle during measurement. Researchers have used meth-
ods such as pumping slurry during measurement (Ferrini et al.,
1979; Akroyd and Nguyen, 2003; Boudrias-Chapleau et al., 2011),
using capillary viscometers (Kawatra and Bakshi, 1996) or stirring
the suspension while measuring with Couette-type viscometer
(Gustafsson et al., 2005), to overcome this problem. However, find-
ing a proper practical way to measure the rheology of such slurries
remains a challenge for research. For example these measurements
are sensitive to disturbance in slurry flows. The most appropriate
device for a specific application depends on the rheological proper-
ties of interest. For example, capillary tubes cannot be used to mea-
sure time dependent flow properties; experimental errors are also
produced as a result of particle migration away from the tube wall
when they are used for measuring suspension rheology behaviour
(Klein et al., 1995; Kawatra and Bakshi, 1996). Turbulence is also
another parameter which may affect the rheology measurements
and therefore turbulence correction procedures have been sug-
gested to process the measurement data (Shi and Napier-Munn,
1996a, 2002).
The significance of rheology in minerals processing has been re-
viewed previously (Boger, 2000); however, that review includes
only a small number (13) of references. In the current paper, the
importance of rheology in mineral flotation is comprehensively re-
viewed, and the gap of knowledge in this area is highlighted for
further research.

0892-6875/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mineng.2012.05.009

Please cite this article in press as: Farrokhpay, S. The importance of rheology in mineral flotation: A review. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.mineng.2012.05.009
2 S. Farrokhpay / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
2. Rheology
Rheology is the study of the deformation and flow behaviour of
fluid under applied stress. The flow properties of a fluid are charac-
terised by the plot of the shear stress associated with a shear rate
applied to the fluid. Various behaviours that can be observed are
illustrated in Fig 1. In general, suspensions can either exhibit New-
tonian or non-Newtonian behaviour, with the latter including
dilatant, plastic, pseudo-plastic and Bingham behaviours. A Newto-
nian fluid exhibits a linear increase of the shear stress as a function
of the shear rate. Two important rheological terms which are often
associated with rheology studies are: yield stress, which is the
intercept of the flow curve on the shear stress axis at zero shear
rates; and viscosity, which is the slope of the line connecting the
particular point on the flow curve with the origin. It has been
shown that the material flow is significantly different below and
above the yield stress (Barnes, 1999). As shown in Fig. 1, the viscos-
ity is constant throughout the entire shear rate range for a Newto-
nian fluid, while for non-Newtonian fluids, this value changes as a
function of shear rate. Therefore, the viscosity of a non-Newtonian
fluid at any point is referred to as ‘apparent viscosity’. It has been
revealed that as the amount of solid in mineral suspensions in-
creases, the rheological behaviour of the slurries shifts from New-
tonian to non-Newtonian, with the progressive appearance of a
yield stress and an exponential increase in the slurry viscosity
(Prestidge, 1997; Farrokhpay et al., 2010).
Several researchers have reported different techniques to mea-
sure the yield stress using various types of rheometer geometries
at constant shear rates or shear stress modes. A direct measure-
ment technique (Vane method) at a constant low shear rate mode
(1 s1), was applied to measure the yield stress of concentrated
fine particles (Nguyen and Boger, 1985). However, due to the prac-
tical limitations, it is often difficult to conduct measurements at
such a low shear rate. In such cases, the yield stress can be esti-
mated using mathematical models involving the extrapolation of
the data to a zero shear rate. Mineral suspensions usually exhibit
Bingham or pseudo-plastic behaviour, and the Bingham (Eq. (1))
or Casson (Eq. (2)) models are often used to estimate viscosity
and yield stress (Hunter, 2001; Malkin and Isayev, 2006; He and
Forssberg, 2007):
s ¼ sB þ gpl D ð1Þ
s1=2 ¼ sB1=2 þ ðgpl DÞ1=2 ð2Þ
where gpl is the plastic viscosity (the slope of the shear stress/shear
rate line above the yield point which represents the viscosity of a
slurry when extrapolated to an infinite shear rate), D is the shear
rate, sB is the yield stress, and s is the shear stress.
Shear stress
Shear rate
Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of shear rate as a function of shear stress for different
fluids.
Please cite this article in press as: Farrokhpay, S. The importance of rheology in mineral flotation: A review. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.mineng.2012.05.009
Furthermore, foams behave as plastic or pseudo-plastic fluid
which can be approximated by the Bingham or Casson rheological
models (Eqs. (1) and (2)) (Exerova and Kruglyakov, 1998). In such
cases, the yield stress value is often the most useful indicator of
deviation from Newtonian behaviour.
It has been shown that in suspensions where only electrostatic
and van der Waal forces are operative (DLVO behaviour), the yield
stress and zeta potential of the particles are related to each other
according to Eq. (3) (Friend and Hunter, 1971):
sB ¼ sB max  kf2 ð3Þ
where sB max is the maximum yield stress obtained at a zeta poten-
tial (f) value of zero and k is a constant for mono disperse spherical
particles. Some researchers (Duarte and Grano, 2005; Farrokhpay
et al., 2005) have used this relationship to indicate that the stability
of mineral oxide particles indicates DLVO behaviour. The zeta po-
tential values of mineral mixtures have been also used to explain
the rheological and hetero-coagulation behaviour in suspensions
(Otsuki et al., 2011).
It should be mentioned that the rheology of suspensions is
strongly affected by a large number of factors including particle
size and chemistry of the suspension medium. For many dispersion
systems, rheological research methods offer a unique possibility of
studying the surface properties of the suspended solid particles.
Also, it has also been shown that in mineral slurries, yield stress
and viscosity are useful indicators of the degree of aggregation or
dispersion of particles (Luckham and Rossi, 1999; Johnson et al.,
2000; Penner and Lagaly, 2001; Taylor et al., 2003; Farrokhpay
et al., 2005). It is also worth mentioning that Nguyen and Boger
have concluded that the vane technique is the most suitable meth-
od for a material having yield stress of greater than approximately
10 Pa (Nguyen and Boger, 1992).
3. Rheology in mineral processing
The majority of research on rheology in mineral processing has
been focused on ore grinding. Shi and Napier-Munn (2002) have
analysed the data of 45 surveys from full scale grinding mills, using
regression analysis, and shown that slurry rheology affects indus-
trial grinding. The results of the Shi and Napier-Munn (2002) has
also confirmed some trends in the effect of rheology on grinding,
as had been reported in the literature (e.g. (Klimpel, 1982)). Their
study also extended the findings to a broader understanding of
the relationship between slurry properties and rheology, and its ef-
fects on industrial grinding. A summary of the effect of particle size
and solid loading on the rheology of grinding slurries is presented
in Fig. 2 (Shi and Napier-Munn, 1996b). Clearly, particle size and
distribution significantly affect the slurry rheological behaviour.
Fig. 3 also shows how significantly the rheological behaviour of a
mineral slurry (titania, in this case) can be changed by changing
the solid loading or pH (Farrokhpay et al., 2005). It is observed that
the yield stress values are very low at solids loading up to about
10 vol.%, but above this value, significant inter-particle interactions
occur. It has been shown that the change in the suspension yield
stress, upon changing the pH, is due to the reduction in the magni-
tude of the particle surface zeta potential. In fact, pH has a signif-
icant effect on the rheological behaviour of mineral oxide slurries
(Scales et al., 1998; Johnson et al., 1999; Morris et al., 1999; Huynh
and Jenkins, 2001).
Studies of mineral suspension behaviour have shown that
charge and morphology, particularly as they relate to the gangue
minerals, play a very important role in determining slurry rheology
(Leong and Boger, 1990; Burdukova et al., 2007a; Laskowski et al.,
2010). The relationship between mineral slurry rheology and the
mineralogy of different ore types has been investigated (Burdukova
 S. Farrokhpay / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx 3

Fig. 2. Effects of particle size and distribution on mineral slurry rheology (Shi and Napier-Munn, 1996b).

50 50

40 40
Yield stress (Pa)

30 30

20 20

10 10

0 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Solid loading (vol%) pH

Fig. 3. Yield stress of the titania slurry as a function of solid loading (left) and pH (right) (Farrokhpay, 2004).

et al., 2008). It has been shown that non-swelling clays, such as talc
and chlorite, have the least effect on both slurry yield stress and
viscosity, but swelling clays, such as smectite, have a dramatic ef-
fect on the viscosity of mineral slurry. It has also been shown that
the distinctive morphology and electrical surface charge of clay
mineral particles are the key factors in their rheological behaviour
(Ndlovu et al., 2011a, 2011b).
The rheological characteristics should be also carefully consid-
ered in reagent selection to achieve an effective performance from
mineral flotation processes. For example, the flow properties and
apparent viscosity of mineral slurries are sensitive to the use of
chemical additives (Mosa et al., 2008); using proper dispersants
and viscosity modifiers can help to disperse slimes, reduce pulp vis-
cosity, and therefore improve the recovery and selectivity. The dis-
persant functional group architecture has a vital influence of the
mineral dispersion properties (Farrokhpay et al., 2005). A method-
ology of how to select and optimise flotation reagents has been dis-
cussed by Nagaraj (2005) and Nagaraj and Ravishankar (2007).
Grinding aids also reduce the viscosity of mineral slurries in grind-
ing mills. This can allow efficient comminution of slurries at a high-
er solids content than normal and allowing greater throughputs (or
the use of a smaller number of mills) (Pearse, 2005).

Please cite this article in press as: Farrokhpay, S. The importance of rheology in mineral flotation: A review. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.mineng.2012.05.009
4 S. Farrokhpay / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
4. Rheology in flotation
Rheological investigations can be used to understand the inter-
actions occurring in the flotation process (Genc et al., 2010; Patra
et al., 2010a; Vasudevan et al., 2010). It has been demonstrated
that effective fine particle flotation requires a substantial disper-
sion state (characterised by low viscosity). This results in a reduc-
tion in turbulence damping, and helps to balance out particle–
bubble attachment and detachment while enhancing the ultrafine
particle floatability (Schubert, 2008). Rheology can be also used to
improve fine particle flotation (Bakker et al., 2009; Gomez et al.,
2010).
The viscosity of flotation medium may also affect the flotation
recovery. A higher recovery of coarse composite copper bearing
particles has been reported by increasing the viscosity of the flota-
tion medium (when a glycerol water mixture was used) (Farrokh-
pay et al., 2011). The stability of bubble–particle aggregates has
been reported to be higher when the viscosity of the suspending
medium is higher (Xu et al., 2011). Xu et al. (2011) have exposed
a single particle–bubble system to shear forces (using vertical
oscillatory movement). Though this approach may not have used
a real flotation system, their findings have been validated in actual
flotation systems by Farrokhpay et al. (2011).
The significance of froth properties in determining flotation per-
formance is also well known. It is believed that rheology is an
important froth property, because it can affect both froth mobility
and froth stability. Mobility and stability are two important prop-
erties of froth in flotation. Froth mobility includes the vertical mo-
tion of the froth from the interface between the pulp and the froth
towards to the upper surface, and the horizontal motion towards
the concentrate overflow weir. Froth stability describes the pro-
cesses that occur within the froth while it is flowing, including
bubble bursting, particle detachment and drainage of water and
solids from the froth.
The relationship between the pulp viscosity and froth stability
(maximum froth height attained in a column) of an ore slurry at
different pH values is summarised in Table 1 (Farrokhpay and Za-
nin, 2011). The higher froth stability at lower pH values is probably
due to the increase in slurry viscosity and particle aggregation. Far-
rokhpay and Zanin (2012) have shown that the zeta potential of
ore particles and the ore slurry viscosity are both pH dependent;
the magnitude of the zeta potential decreases by decreasing the
pH, while the viscosity increases at lower pH values.
The effect of metal ions (salts) on the viscosity and froth stabil-
ity of the ore slurry is also presented in Fig. 4 (Farrokhpay and Za-
nin, 2011). The froth height increases with increasing metal ion
concentrations in the slurry, particularly for aluminium or calcium
ions. From Fig. 4, it can be also clearly observed that in the pres-
ence of metal ions the ore particles aggregates, with higher viscos-
ity is observed at higher metal ion concentrations. This suggests
that the presence of metal ions favours particle aggregation prob-
ably due to the neutralisation of negatively charged species (of the
ore surface) and reducing electrostatic stabilisation. According to
Vergouw et al. (1998), particle interaction depends on the charge
Table 1
Effect of pH on the viscosity and froth stability of a zinc ore slurry (Farrokhpay and
Zanin, 2011).
pH Viscosity (cP) Max froth height (mm)
11 1.0 400
9 1.2 450
7 1.5 550
6 2.0 750
4 2.5 900
3 3.0 N/A
Please cite this article in press as: Farrokhpay, S. The importance of rheology in mineral flotation: A review. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.mineng.2012.05.009
900
Max froth height (mm)
750
600
450
300
150
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
2.0
1.6
Viscosity (cP)
1.2
0.8
0.4
0.0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
[metal ion] (g/L)
Fig. 4. Effect of metal ions addition [Al+3 (x), Ca+2 (j), and Na+ (h)] on the viscosity
and froth stability of a zinc ore slurry (Farrokhpay and Zanin, 2011).
developed on a mineral surface in aqueous media. However, the
presence of metal ions may reduce electrostatic repulsion between
those particles, via ionic exchange or precipitation, leading to par-
ticle aggregation (Mirnezami et al., 2003). Specific adsorption of
metal ions can neutralise the charge on a particle and promote
aggregation (Duarte and Grano, 2005). In a different study, the ef-
fect of salts (MgCl2, NaCl and NaClO3) on froth structure in coal flo-
tation has been investigated (Kurniawan et al., 2011). The froth
stability results indicate a correlation between the flotation recov-
ery and froth stability, with the most stable froth observed in the
presence of MgCl2 (Kurniawan et al., 2011). However, since Kurni-
awan et al. (2011) have not reported any rheology data for the ore
slurry they used, it is not possible to correlate these findings on
froth structure/stability with the slurry viscosity.
Glembotski (1972) described froth and froth quality based on
their visual parameters. According to this classification, a good
froth consists of small mineralised air bubbles, which can be bro-
ken down on the froth surface without forming larger tough-
skinned bubbles. The froth should be mobile and not excessively
viscous. Moolman et al. (1995) have also categorised froth into:
(i) ideal froth, where the froth is neither too runny nor too viscous;
(ii) runny froth, where the froth loading (mineralisation) is too low,
the froth is watery, excessively mobile and unstable; and (iii)
sticky or viscous froth, where the froth loading is too high, the froth
is highly viscous, and the mobility is lower than that of an ideal
froth. In flotation plants, experienced operators use their fingers
to test whether the froth is viscous or not, and the froth viscosity
is often used to adjust the operating variables (Shi and Zheng,
2003).
In recent years, a number of studies have been undertaken to
identify froth characteristics, and to model froth recovery in labo-
ratory and industrial flotation cells (Alexander et al., 2003; Seaman
et al., 2004; Gallegos-Acevedo et al., 2007; Vanegas and Holtham,
2008; Yianatos et al., 2008; Franzidis and Harris, 2010). A limited
number of studies have also been undertaken on froth rheology
(Moudgil, 1993; Rubinstein and Melik-Gaikazyan, 1998; Shi and
Zheng, 2003). These studies have been performed in either batch
flotation cells or in industrial cells using complex ore mixtures.
The results have showed that rheological measurements are
strongly correlated with certain froth properties, such as solid or
 S. Farrokhpay / Minerals Engineering xxx (2012) xxx–xxx
water content and froth grade. However, due to the complexity of
the applied system, they were not been able to identify the mech-
anisms that govern the rheological behaviour of froth. Therefore,
more research is needed to understand froth rheology.
The relationship between the pulp rheology and flotation recov-
ery/grade was discussed above. However, a correlation between
froth rheology and the grade of hydrophobic and hydrophilic min-
erals (chalcopyrite and quartz, respectively) is also reported, as
shown in Fig. 5 (Shi and Zheng, 2003). Shi and Zheng (2003) have
used froth ‘torque’ as a proxy for shear stress; torque values can be
converted to shear stress values using equation provided by Ngu-
yen and Boger (1983). A correlation has also been observed be-
tween froth viscosity and mineral recovery (and grade) in
phosphate flotation (Moolman et al., 1996). Clearly, froth rheology
changes when air flow rate and froth height are changed. However,
the reason for the froth rheology change is not yet clear (Farrokh-
pay, 2011). As discussed, a more viscous pulp may result in a more
stable froth (Farrokhpay and Zanin, 2011). However, it is not yet
clear whether froth rheology is an independent parameter, or it
is only a by-product of the pulp rheology. For example, phosphate
flotation tests in the presence of a silica depressant indicated that
higher froth viscosity is indeed an effect, rather than a cause for the
presence of silica particles in the froth (Moudgil, 1993).
5. Conclusion
This review has revealed that, although rheology parameters
are known to be important in mineral flotation processing, the
mechanisms (either through pulp or froth phases) by which the
rheology influences the flotation performance is not yet fully
understood. This may be due to the lack of accurate and reliable
Fig. 5. Froth rheology data as a function of concentrate grade for (a) Chalcopyrite
and (b) Quartz (Shi and Zheng, 2003).
Please cite this article in press as: Farrokhpay, S. The importance of rheology in mineral flotation: A review. Miner. Eng. (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
j.mineng.2012.05.009
5
methods for measuring rheological properties of mineral slurries,
since the solid particles tend to settle during the measurements.
Finding a proper practical way to measure the rheology of such
slurries remains a challenge for research. Furthermore, little work
has been done on froth rheology. A direct correlation between froth
viscosity and mineral flotation grade has been shown; however, it
is not yet clear whether froth rheology is a consequence of pulp
rheology (and can be controlled by the latter) or if it should be con-
sidered separately. Further investigations into this area are
undoubtedly warranted.
In conclusion, in order to better understanding the effect of rhe-
ology in mineral flotation, investigating the following topics is
proposed:
(a) Proper methodology for accurately measuring rheological
properties of the mineral slurries (considering the non-New-
tonian behaviour of high solid suspensions, and settling
behaviour of mineral ores)
(b) Correlating the pulp/slurry rheological characteristics with
the mineral flotation performance for different mineral sys-
tems; how and why flotation performance can be affected
upon changing the rheology?
(c) Froth rheology and correlating it with froth mobility which
may be used as a proxy in predicting froth recovery in flota-
tion process, and consequently, the overall flotation
performance
(d) Relationship between the pulp and froth rheology and high-
lighting the influential parameters (such as particle size,
shape and density, water chemistry and ore mineralogy)
(e) Studying the effect of clay minerals on the pulp and froth
rheology in mineral flotation.
Acknowledgment
The author gratefully acknowledges fruitful discussions with
Professor Dee Bradshaw (JKMRC).
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