Froth flotation is a process for selectively separating
hydrophobic materials from
hydrophilic. This is used in several processing industries. Historically this was first used in the mining industry, where it was one of the great enabling technologies of the 20th century. It has been described as "the single most important operation used for the recovery and upgrading of sulfide ores". The development of
froth flotation improved the recovery of valuable
minerals, such as
copper- and
lead-bearing minerals. Along with mechanized mining, it allowed the economic recovery of valuable metals from much lower grade ore than before.