Abstract: Gravity is the main separation method of cassiterite for its high density，at the same time，overgrinding may happen to cassiterite for the characteristics of sexual and easily fragile.Low recovery of fine cassiterite is the main problem in the separation due to its high grindability，and flotation can be used to improve the Sn recovery of fine cassiterite.Research on technology of cassiterite mineral processing was reviewed，especially the progress in the respect of flotation reagents，new technology of flotation and flotation mechanism.The main flotation reagent was such the cassiterite collector as salicylhydroxamic acid，styrene phosphoric acid，oleic acid，etc.and the gangue depressant like sodium silicate，sodium hexametaphosphate，sodium carboxymethylcellulose，calcium lignosulphonate，oxalic acid，etc.the mechanism of flotation reagent adsorbed on the surface of cassiterite was investigated，and the collectors was essentially on the cassiterite surface available for chemisorptions.In the meantime，the new fine cassiterite flotation technology as electroflotation，carrier flotation，selective flocculation flotation，shear-flocculation flotation and dissolved air floatation is introduced.Furthermore，the study on the cassiterite flotation technology to recovery fine cassiterite highly is the key way for increase the utilization of cassiterite resources，turning the resources privilege into industry privilege and satisfying the sustainable use of tin resources，the research on which has huge realistic meaning and wide application foreground.

Key words: Cassiterite, Flotation reagent, Novel flotation technology, Flotation mechanism