What the froth knows before recovery does.

The assay lab is honest, but slow. By the time the concentrate grade tells the metallurgist something has changed, the upset is already rolling through the flotation bank — and the operator is reacting to a problem that started fifteen minutes ago.

The froth has been telling them the whole time.

Why the surface is the leading indicator

Flotation cells are stable when the chemistry, the slurry, and the air balance hold together. The moment one drifts — reagent strength, pulp density, feed grade — the froth visibly changes: bubble size shifts, surface velocity slows or speeds up, the texture goes glassy or coarse.

Plant veterans read the cell by eye. They have done it for decades. The problem is they can't watch every cell, every minute of every shift.

What a froth camera changes

A camera looking down at the cell surface, with a neural network reading bubble structure and an optical-flow model measuring surface velocity, gives the controller exactly what the experienced operator sees — quantified, continuous, and on every cell.

• Bubble size distribution: a direct read on air rate and reagent balance
• Surface velocity: an early warning on pulp level and froth depth shifts
• Texture metrics: catch grade drops before the assay confirms them

The advanced process controller acts on these signals before the lab catches up. Recovery stabilises. Grade tightens. The froth keeps doing what it has always done — and now the plant listens.