Investigation of the production of high carbon concentrate from Kütahya-Oysu graphite ores by flotation method

With the world keeping on moving from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, battery metals— graphite included—are playing an ever-more-important role. Because high-grade graphite ores are harder to come by naturally, low-grade ores must be treated to boost their value in order to satisfy the growing demand, which is expected to rise by more than 700% by 2025 as a result of the widespread use of electric vehicles. New graphite occurrences in Eastern Türkiye reveal the hidden potential of mineralization, while on the other hand, the Menderes Massif metamorphic rocks in Western Türkiye host active graphite mining and potentially prove the existence of more graphite deposits. It was reported that the deposit contains 7.2 million tons of graphite and 125 million tons of potential graphite ore. Because graphite is hydrophobic by nature, low-grade ores are often beneficiated through flotation. The present research offers the first experimental investigation on the flotation method of graphite ore beneficiation in the Kütahya-Oysu region with the aim of optimizing some affecting variables in mechanical flotation.