Oil can enter a flotation circuit from a number of sources (for example, from mining equipment, oil leaks from the grinding equipment and coatings on the grinding media, but to name a few). Folklore generally states that any oil that contaminates the ore entering the flotation circuit is considered to have a negative impact on flotation. That is, a loss in concentrate grade and recovery.This represents a dilemma for some grinding media suppliers, who use a variety of quenching medium (air, polymer, oil or water) to achieve the desired physical properties of the ball. In the case of high chrome grinding media it is necessary, in some instances, to quench in oil to give the ball the right degree of toughness, which invariably leads to these balls having a thin film of oil on their surface. Once the grinding media arrives on site and site personnel recognise that the balls are covered in oil, they generally insist that the oil will have a deleterious impact on flotation performance.Obviously, any supplier worth their salt would take remedial action at the point of manufacture to minimise this problem. However, does quenching oil actually present a significant threat to the flotation process? This paper provides both laboratory and plant data describing the effect quenching oil has on the flotation of copper sulphide ore, with surprising results! FORMAL CITATION:Greet, C J and Kinal, J, 2011._x000D_
The great oil debate - does quenching oil have a deleterious effect on flotation? in Proceedings MetPlant 2011, pp 419-129 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).