A Study of the Differential Seperation of Galena and Sphalerite

The smelting of complex lead ores is a difficult operation, especially when they contain considerable amounts of iron and zinc. When these ores are smelted, all of the zinc, which is valuable and well worth recovering, goes into the slag. With the advent of the flotation processes, and the ability of these processes to concentrate the lead and zinc minerals into separate products, the smelting of complex lead ores was to a great extent simplified.