Transfoamer™

The Mining Industry’s First “Switchable” Frother

In the face of declining ore grades, mines are forced to produce less Cu concentrate from the same amount of processed ore. To compensate, many mining operations have increased throughput, leading to coarser feed size distributions and shorter residence times. This necessitates the use of stronger flotation reagents (frothers in particular) and more aggressive rougher circuit operations, Conventional formulated frothers, while increasing recovery in the rougher stage, can lead to overfrothing in the cleaner circuits, creating bottlenecks and inefficiencies.

Transfoamer^TM frothers emerge as a novel solution to these challenges. Representing the first major innovation in frother chemistry in more than six decades, Transfoamer™ technology is based on a unique pH-triggered chemical transformation. The technology is particularly effective for coarse particle copper froth flotation. 

Initially, Transfoamer^TM acts as a robust frother for coarse particle flotation in the rougher stage. As the process moves to the cleaner stage, and pH levels rise, the frother's strength diminishes to that of a weak frother, effectively facilitating more efficient upgrading in the cleaners and preventing overfrothing issues. The adaptive nature of Transfoamer™ results in more controlled circuit management, improved recovery, and the potential for concentrate grade enhancements, offering a strategic advantage for modern mining operations and copper froth flotation processes.

Why select Syensqo’s Transfoamer^TM technology?

Transfoamer^TM frothers for coarse particle flotation are well-suited for copper recovery. The technology optimizes froth flotation over a range of mineralogies and can be tailored depending on the mineralogy and grind size.