Abstract: Bioflotation， as a method to separate useful minerals from gangue minerals， uses microorganisms and their metabolites to selectively regulate the physical and chemical properties of mineral surfaces. Application of microorganisms to control flotation behavior research works both at home and abroad in recent years are reviewed on the aspects of the types of microorganisms relevant for flotation， the interaction mechanism between microorganism and minerals. The application of microorganism in flotations of nonferrous metal ore， iron ore and also the removal of sulfur from coal， especially， the mechanism of surface property control of minerals is discussed from the microorganism-minerals adsorption， chemical reactions on minerals surface and surface chemistry on microbial cell. It was pointed out that most of the published reports are based on experience， either focusing on specific biological aspects or focusing on flotation indicators. Although some accumulation has been made in the characterization of mineral surface properties， such as wettability， kinetic potential， infrared spectroscopy and calculation based on DLVO theory， the understanding of the interaction between biology， flotation agents and minerals is still unclear. In view of the diversity of microorganism and ore species， it will be the direction of future efforts to design and regulate the microbe-mineral interface behavior based on knowledge to solve the given problems in the flotation process.

Key words: Bioflotation, Microorganisms, Adsorption, Interaction