Abstract: Flotation is one of the important beneficiation methods,and the slurry concentration is an important parameter in the flotation process.High concentration flotation technology can reduce the consumption of water and reagents,increase the equipment processing capacity and flotation rate.It's important to study high concentration flotation.The concentration of rougher Ⅰ and rougher Ⅱ in a rare earth site which with the ore specific gravity 3.6 g/cm3,is 57% and 51% respectively,and it can be considered as a typical high concentration flotation.The air distribution and slurry suspension characteristic of the two JJF-24 flotation cells of rougher Ⅰ and rougher Ⅱ were measured.The results show that the surface air dispersion can reach 3.8,while the longitudinal section air dispersion can reach 2.9,which means the air in the flotation cell is well distributed.The slurry in the cells is not suspension uniformly and a significant stratification at different depth sections appears.As the depth of the longitudinal section increases,the relationship between air distribution and slurry concentration shows a certain correlation.Further research can be conducted to find the relationship between stratification and air distribution in high concentration slurry,and to know how the two factors impact on the flotation indicators.

Key words: High concentration, Flotation, Air distribution, Suspension characteristic