Search Documents

By T. S. Jr. Sligh

OF all the qualities that are essential in a good cigar tobacco none is quite so important as the burn. This term is general and includes many points, the most important of which are evenness of burn, color of ash, firmness and coherence of ash, and fire-holding capacity. The fire-holding capacity refers to the length of time the leaf or cigar will continue to, glow after ignition. Chlorides tend to prevent complete combustion and products are formed thereby that are injurious to the flavor and aroma. On the other hand, the carbonates of the alkalies, particularly of potassium, aid the combustion and increase the fire-holding capacity. Barth1 thought that the harmful effect of the chlorides was due to their fusing and coating the tobacco, thereby preventing complete combustion. Schlosing,2 Nessler,3 and Garner,4 suggested widely different theories to account for the favorable action of potassium salts. In order to study carefully the action of the various salts upon the course of combustion of the cigar a knowledge of the temperature of the burning cigar is necessary. Lehmann5 who seems to be the only investigator who has made any attempt to determine the temperature of a burning cigar gives 480° C. as the maximum temperature which he recorded. It is evident, however, that his measurements were in error, probably on account of the method and apparatus used, since the lowest visible red corresponds to a temperature of about 575° C.

Jan 9, 1919

By M. Lonoff

Byproducts are more important to the copper mining companies than to the copper market. Copper ores frequently contain gold, silver, molybdenum, lead, zinc, and cobalt. With the increase in the prices of these metals copper mining has become more profitable. If byproduct prices remain high, additional firms will be attracted to the copper industry; the increased supply of copper will reduce the long-run copper price. However, this is unlikely to happen because the markets for the copper byproducts, especially molybdenum and cobalt, are small. Increased recovery from copper and other sources will depress the prices of these byproducts before the copper price is significantly affected. Should byproduct prices remain high, the copper market will both settle at a lower long-run price and be more unstable in the short run. Since changes in the copper price do not affect the entire earnings of a multi-metal mine, the copper price must fall further before such mines reduce output in the short run. Higher byproduct revenues will make copper supply less responsive to copper prices; shifts in copper demand will result in greater copper price fluctuations in the short run than they did before.

Jan 1, 1984

By J. L. Shafer, Christopher L. Caenepeel, Martha L. White

Often an in situ leach is the only practical economic method for copper recovery from small low grade oxide deposits. The decision to develop a copper property by an in situ blast and leach is strongly dependent on ore grade, tonnage, hydrology, and the copper extraction and acid consumption rates. The inherent leachability of the ore will in part determine the desired amount of fracturing of the ore deposit by the blast in order to obtain a copper extraction rate that is economical. For the last several years Occidental Research Corp. (ORC), has undertaken a modest effort to address the question of how to best identify and determine the information necessary to predict and control the operation of an in situ leach for the economic recovery of copper. Modelling of the Leaching Process During the past 10 years the activity in the mathematical modelling of the leaching of copper sulfides in copper dumps and heaps has increased dramatically. The modelling of copper oxide leaching has not received as much attention. The acid leaching of non-sulfide copper minerals while chemically less complex, compared to sulfides, does generate a vertical acid concentration gradient in the ore heap being leached due to the acid-base nature of the reaction. This is generally not observed in sulfide deposits that are biologically active, due to the buffering action of opposing reactions involving the generation of sulfuric acid from sulfide minerals and acid consuming host rock. Thus, the objective of ORC 's copper oxide modelling efforts is to determine the leaching parameters which will account for this vertical acid concentration gradient. Knowledge of this gradient will result in the correct choice of the feed acid concentration to the top of the ore dump or heap, such that the effluent will have the desired pH.

Jan 1, 1980

The Institute conducts jointly with the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers and American Institute of Electrical Engineers, certain activities as listed below, and is joint owner with them of certain properties. United Engineering Trustees, Inc. When Mr. Carnegie made his gift which made possible a home for the engineering societies, a separate corporation was organized to act as a holding company and to manage the common property. This was long known as the United Engineering Society, but the name has now been changed. to one which more nearly reflects the real function of the corporation. It holds title to the Engineering Societies Building and to various funds placed in its charge and is managed by a Board of Trustees, of which three are chosen by each of the four societies, American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, American Institute of Electrical Engineers and American Society of Civil Engineers, which have equal and undivided interests in the property. The land and building cost two million dollars. During the gear 1934, the constitution and By-laws of The United Engineering Trustees, Inc., were thoroughly revised and a better organization of its functions was affected: The Engineering Foundation and the Engineering Societies Library were made "departments? of the United

Jan 1, 1936

By T. S. Hutchinson, C. E. Kemp

The bottom water drive analysis presented by Muskat has been extended to include fields with wider well spacings. Curves are presented from which volumetric sweepout, water-oil ratio, and rate relations may be calculated. The effects of non-unity ratios on sweepout eficiency and productivity decline have been studied by an approximate method. Also, the effect of gravity on volumetric sweepout has been approximated for a particurlar geometry. INTRODUCTION The purpose of this paper is to report work done in applying the analysis of bottom water drive reservoirs given by Muskat1 to a larger class of reservoirs, to extend this analysis to include the effects of gravity and non-unity mobility ratios in an approximate manner, and to investigate the rate of decline of productive capacity. The bottom water drive type reservoir is one where the oil is underlain by a water zone of sufficient thickness that water movement is essentially vertical. This system is defined in more detail in the appendix and a one well element is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1. Muskat obtained solutions to the equations describing the volumetric displacement efficiency of idealized bottom water drive systems by assuming that gravity effects due to differences in density betwecn oil and water were negligible and that the mobilities of oil and water were the same. If either of these assumptions is not made, the complexity of the system makes an analytical solution well nigh impossible at the present stage of mathematical development. Coles and Stade' developed an approximation to consider these factors. The authors have refined approximations, starting with the same basic assumption, which should give a somewhat quantitative picture of bottom water drive performance when mobilities are not equal and the effects of gravity are not negligible. The results of these approximate calculations can then be used to obtain the decline in well productivity as the field is depleted.

Jan 1, 1957

Discussion of the paper of M. B. YUNG, presented at the Pittsburgh meeting; October, 1914, and printed in Bulletin No. 93, September, 1914, pp. 2451 to 2458. T. T. READ, New York, N. Y.-I might .point out that this paper of Mr. Yung's is on a field that is comparatively little known. It is not as well known as the Kochiu tin field, of Yunnan, which is probably the third . in tin output of the world. This field under discussion is considerably further west and the tin which is produced here is, according to Mr. Yung, of somewhat higher grade than the Yunnan tin, and is used by the refiners at Hong Kong to improve the grade of the Yunnan tin. Most of you know that the tin from the Yunnan is shipped to Hong Kong, where it is refined and shipped to Europe. Mr. Yung points out that the Fu Chuan deposits are entirely alluvial and not found in any veins. They .differ in that from the Kochiu deposits, which Leclere says are "nullement alluvionels; leur origéne filonienne est de plus evidentes." Granite is the country rock here; doubtless the tin occurred in veins in the granite, and the deposits have resulted from the disintegration of the granite. This is a country of strong erosive agencies. The country is semi-tropical, and the rainfall is heavy, so that one would naturally expect deep surface erosion of this kind.

Jan 4, 1915

By Paul Billingsley

The term Boulder batholith was first applied in 1897 by W. H. Weed2 to the extensive mass of granite in western Montana within whose borders occur the ore deposits of Butte. In a general way this was known to extend from Helena on the north to the Highland Mountains near Butte on the south, and to be relatively narrow in its east-west diameter. Its intrusive relations to the surrounding sedimentary rocks, and its probable Tertiary age, were described by Weed, but in many ways his statements, based upon incomplete data, have required revision. Most notable of the errors of this description of the batholith were the failure,3 since corrected, to recognize the intrusive contact of the granite with the capping of andesite, and the complete absence of any reference to the many extensions of the granite beyond the somewhat narrow limits of its largest exposure.

Jan 1, 1915

By J. S. Seawright

Haulage is a costly feature in the operation of an open pit mine, whether it be iron, copper, or limestone. The National Iron Co. has adapted an old underground method to the open pit inclined skip haulage to bring the ore from the pit bottom to the crusher or beneficiation plant. The Rockover skip has been placed in operation where limited areas have retarded or eliminated use of long rail or road slopes. Deep and narrow orebodies subject to rapid increase in depth that discourage use of conveyor belts and necessary crushing plants are ideal for this system. The skip haulage method was developed to combine the desirable features of conveyor, truck, and rail haulage and at the same time avoid the draw- backs. The skip was designed to follow the natural angle of repose of the pit wall and can vary from 25° to 45°. Open-pit skips now in operation show that the installation is successful and provide the

Jun 1, 1955

By P. H. Mell

AMONG the minerals exhibited at the Atlanta Exhibition of 1881, soapstone, kaolin, and asbestos were well represented. The first two occur in large quantities, of very pure quality, throughout the South. The last is somewhat limited in amount, get in certain localities it exists in masses sufficiently large to pay for working; in North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama it has ken mined with some profit. I would, in this paper, call special attention to the minerals soapstone and kaolin, because their many valuable qualities seem to have been almost entirely overlooked by our Southern manufacturers. Steatite, particularly, occurs in such large quantities, and generally in such close proximity to the great iron regions of Alabama and Georgia, that it is anlazing that the iron companies will persist in sending abroad under heavy expense for firebrick. It would require a much smaller sum of money to quarry this rock and place it at the various furnaces ; and the results obtained, I am sure, would prove its superiority over the majority of firebrick brought into this region. Soapstone, as well as kaolin, is found throughout the metamorphic regions of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Below will be found seven analyses that I have made of this mineral, taken from various points in the four States above mentioned. I have also subjected these same specimens to severe fire-tests, and the results were very satisfactory. The tests mere canducted in the following manner: Small portions of the compact variety were carefully weighed and placed in a Fletcher's new crucible furnace for gas, and subjected for half an hour to a heat that will in 12 minutes fuse iron. The only effect upon these specimens was a slight change in color to a darker shade, a small loss in weight, due evidently to the evaporation of water, and, in one or two specimens, a slight degree of fusion on the sharp edges. The first specimen subjected to investigation was taken from a large outcropping in Tallapoosa County, Alabama. Specific gravity, 2.88 ; hardness, 1.9; color, blue gray. Composition: Water,....2.68 Silica,..........65.48 Iron oxide,.........2.10 Alumina,.........15.02 Magnesia,... 15.35 10061

Jan 1, 1882

By Thomas L. Kesler

THE Cartersville mining district, 35 miles northwest of Atlanta, Ga., has been of varying but continuous importance in the southern mineral industry during the past century. Noted chiefly for its production of brown iron ore, manganese oxide ores, barite, sienna, and magnesian limestone, the district and its environs have produced brick and tile clays, slate, gold, bauxite, and graphitic schist. Minor deposits of serpentine, sericite schist, copper ore, and red iron oxide have been prospected. The obvious deposits of brown iron ore, together with some associated specular hematite, were mined out years ago, although a little ore was left in the workings. Moderately steady production of sienna reached a peak about 1930, then declined rapidly. Manganese mining passed through a relatively active period from the World War to 1931, but has subsided to a small but rather constant output for the Birmingham market. However, the White Manganese Corporation has prepared for possible increased production by constructing a new washer capable of handling about 300 tons of ore per day. Principal activity in the district proper has centered for some years in the production of barite and magnesian limestone. GENERAL GEOLOGY Geologic relations of the ore deposits of this district are more or less similar to those of many Appalachian districts. The lowermost Cambrian formation, heretofore called Weisner1 in this region, supposedly partly or wholly equivalent to the Erwin and Hesse quartzites as recognized to the northeast, is overlain conformably by the Shady [+] formation, also of Lower Cambrian age. In the Cartersville district, the sedimentary rocks of these formations were folded with increasing intensity eastward, and were recrystallized.

Jan 1, 1940

By C. S. Allen

With increased coal production and mechanization of coal mines many transportation problems arise. The main objective is to bring the coal to the tipple or dump it as quickly as possible. Larger and faster haulage locomotives or two locomotives connected in tandem have been adopted to solve the problem. Motor equipment, gears and control systems of locomotives to be placed on these hauls are carefully studied to meet these requirements, by an analysis of motor characteristic curves with the corresponding tractive effort curves, in order to determine the correct load for maximum efficiency and to determine the approximate schedule. Control equipment is usually considered to be the controller and resistance. Sometimes accelerating curves are calculated in order to obtain smooth starting in the least possible time without slipping the wheels. Train control is very important, but why limit this to acceleration ? Deceleratien-or-retardation of the locomotive is a part of the train control and should be given as much consideration as the control for acceleration. Types or Braking Common braking systems for mine locomotives utilize screw-type mechanical brakes, dynamic braking and the air brake. For gathering and haulage locomotives, the srrew-type mechanical brake is regarded as standard. A brake of this kind cannot be applied without much effort and lapse of time. Motormen, like other people, follow the path of least resistance, and therefore have their brakes ready for instant application—which means that the shoes are virtually dragging. Even then, a motorman bucks and plugs the motors to gain time and avoid as much physical effort as possible. "Bucking of motors" consists in turning the reverse cylinder of the controller to parallel position corresponding to the opposite direction of travel while the locomotive is in motion, without applying power from an external source. When this occurs, both motors tend to act as series generators, because the armatures are revolving and there is residual magnetism in the field circuit. Owing to slight differences in motor manufacture, one of these will generate a slightly higher potential and will overcome the generated voltage of the second and tend to drive it as a motor in the reverse Direction.-This action retards the locomotive but is very severe on the segments of the reverse cylinder and on the motor commutators. "Plugging motors" is the application of power to the motors corresponding to the opposite direction of travel. In order to "plug" the motors it is necessary first to "buck,, them (which reverses the connections to the motors) and then to apply power. Theoretically, this should be done only in an emergency, but locomotives in mine service are frequently thus treated., Dynamic braking is retardation of the locomotive by the motors acting as generators, which take no power from the line.

Jan 1, 1942

By C. S. Allen

With increased coal production and mechanization of coal mines many transportation problems arise. The main objective is to bring the coal to the tipple or dump it as quickly as possible. Larger and faster haulage locomotives or two locomotives connected in tandem have been adopted to solve the problem. Motor equipment, gears and control systems of locomotives to be placed on these hauls are carefully studied to meet these requirements, by an analysis of motor characteristic curves with the corresponding tractive effort curves, in order to determine the correct load for maximum efficiency and to determine the approximate schedule. Control equipment is usually considered to be the controller and resistance. Sometimes accelerating curves are calculated in order to obtain smooth starting in the least possible time without slipping the wheels. Train control is very important, but why limit this to acceleration ? Deceleratien-or-retardation of the locomotive is a part of the train control and should be given as much consideration as the control for acceleration. Types or Braking Common braking systems for mine locomotives utilize screw-type mechanical brakes, dynamic braking and the air brake. For gathering and haulage locomotives, the srrew-type mechanical brake is regarded as standard. A brake of this kind cannot be applied without much effort and lapse of time. Motormen, like other people, follow the path of least resistance, and therefore have their brakes ready for instant application—which means that the shoes are virtually dragging. Even then, a motorman bucks and plugs the motors to gain time and avoid as much physical effort as possible. "Bucking of motors" consists in turning the reverse cylinder of the controller to parallel position corresponding to the opposite direction of travel while the locomotive is in motion, without applying power from an external source. When this occurs, both motors tend to act as series generators, because the armatures are revolving and there is residual magnetism in the field circuit. Owing to slight differences in motor manufacture, one of these will generate a slightly higher potential and will overcome the generated voltage of the second and tend to drive it as a motor in the reverse Direction.-This action retards the locomotive but is very severe on the segments of the reverse cylinder and on the motor commutators. "Plugging motors" is the application of power to the motors corresponding to the opposite direction of travel. In order to "plug" the motors it is necessary first to "buck,, them (which reverses the connections to the motors) and then to apply power. Theoretically, this should be done only in an emergency, but locomotives in mine service are frequently thus treated., Dynamic braking is retardation of the locomotive by the motors acting as generators, which take no power from the line.

Jan 1, 1942

By R. C. Gifkins, A. Gittins

A. Gittins and R. C. Gifkins (University of Mel-houvne)— Evidence from somewhat similar experiments to those described in this paper has led us to the conclusion that possibility 2) of the four listed on p. 319 is a description of what happens in grain boundary sliding. That is, sliding is limited by accommodation deformation, it being necessary to the Continuance of sliding that this accommodation should take place. An example of such accommodation, though probably not the most important, is fold formation at triple points. The evidence and arguments for this point of view are set out in Refs. 14 to 16. In particular, an experiment with a lead bicrys-tall5 seems to support point 2) rather than 3). In creep of this specimen it was found that at least 90 pct of the extension of a zone 0.3 mm wide at the boundary was supplied by sliding at the boundary. The sliding was localized in a region at the boundary very much smaller than 0.3 mm, in fact, in a region too narrow to resolve optically. In poly crystalline Specimens&apos; there appears to be a surface effect, as found by Rachinger," but it appears that this may not manifest itself at low strains. "Low strains" means <10 pct for a Pb-TI alloy, <2.5 pct for magnesium or "Magnox" A12 alloy, or <40 pct for a 0 brass. Up to this extension the sliding, measured by the mean vertical step at boundaries, is proportional to extension. We are able to say this with some confidence, since the error bars on our points are statistically derived. Our results would lead us to think that the error bars on other work, including that of Mullendore and Grant, are much too large at low strains to show this

Jan 1, 1963

The following discussion occurred on the afternoon of Sept,. 22, 1930, as part of the fall meeting of the Iron and Steel Division at Chicago. About seventy-five men attended this session. C. B. Murray opened the meeting, as follows: C. B. Murray, Cleveland, Ohio.—It is very encouraging to see so many here this afternoon to discuss this important matter of beneficiation. The producers of ore, I am sure, are anxious to furnish the grade of ore that the consumer wants. The consumer sometimes wants that which cannot be economically produced and often the producer cannot understand why the consumer wants certain things. It was to bring together these two interested parties that this meeting was proposed. I was appointed the chairman of the meeting, chiefly because I happened to be the chairman of the Iron Ore Committee of the Institute. I know a little about iron ore but have not perhaps kept up with the times in blast-furnace practice. I am asking Mr. Sweetser, who is well informed from both sides, to take over the meeting and carry on the discussion. R. H. Sweetser, Columbus, Ohio.—We want to have a free discussion between the iron-ore men and the blast-furnace men as to just what we are trying to reach in the beneficiation of iron ores. Many of those present have had a great deal of experience. There are men here from the ranges who have been passing through the experimental stage of beneficiation of iron ores, and there are some who have already gone on to commercial production. We have reached the point where the beneficiation of iron ore is important to the whole iron and steel industry. The connection between iron-ore beneficiation and the cleaning of coal is so close that I think we can profit by working very close to the coal people. Some Aspects of the Iron-ore Situation W. G. Swart, Babbitt, Minn.—I was very much interested in Mr. Richards&apos;* paper on tonnages and the 20-year life. There is one interesting thing about the ore reserves; that is, the irregular distribution of that tonnage. On the Mesabi Range, for example, the United States Steel Corpn. owns between 70 and 75 per cent. of the reserve tonnage. They ship bctween 40 and 50 per cent. of the annual Lake Superior

Jan 1, 1930

By AIME AIME

THOUGH born in England-on Nov. 23, 1372 William Wraith was brought to this country at the age of ten. Eight years later he entered the University of Illinois, transferring to the Michigan College of Mines where he got his E.M. in 1894. For the next three years he was a mine surveyor for the fuel department of the Santa Fe Railroad. Then he got into the copper-mining industry, which has occupied his attention for the last forty years. First he was engineer, at Butte, for the Boston & Montana company, and then helped to build the Washoe smelter at Anaconda, of which he was assistant superintendent from 1906 to 1913. The Anaconda company then sent him to Salt Lake City as manager of its subsidiary.

Jan 1, 1938

By Arthur F. Taggart

In 1900, Elmore found that if an acidulated pulp was stirred up with an oil which was relatively insoluble in and lighter than water, and the mixture was allowed to stratify, much of the sulfide would be found hanging to the lower surface of the floating body of oil and could be skimmed off or overflowed with it. The action of the flotation agent here is twofold, first to select the sulfide from the gangue—what today is called collection—and second, to buoy the collected sulfide away from the gangue. The action in collecting is illustrated by Fig. 1: which contrasts the behavior of drops of oil brought, under water, to the surfaces of gangue and sulfide particles, respectively. The oil displaces water from the surface of the sulfide; the water displaces oil from the gangue surface. If, instead of considering the solid particles the fixed parts of the system of oil, water and solids. we consider the oil and water fixed and the solids presented to the surface of contact, the condition will be as shown in Fig. 2; the sulfide tends to be drawn into the interface and the gangue to be excluded. The sulfide particles are held in the oil-water surface by the tension of this surface. The buoyant effect is supplied by the oil droplets in bringing the sulfides to the water surface, but not in holding them there. Gas as Buoyant Medium of Flotation In 1906 Sulman. Picard and Ballot discovered a practical and substantially fool-proof method of doing what Everson, in 1886, and Fro-nlcnt. DeBavay Bessel and Elmore had been doing in the intervening years, viz.: using gas in place of oil as the buoyant medium for flotation, but retaining oil as the agent. To all of these inventors "oil," with no qualification as to its kind and no true understanding of its function, was the important thing. Hut they placed on the oil an additional burden viz.: froth-making, and it soon became apparent that not all oils were suitable for the dual purpose. As a matter of fact, it is probable that each of these inventors knew only one suitable oil at the time he wrote his patent, but used the generic term in the patent with the usual idea

Jan 1, 1928

THE book covers principally the assaying of silver and gold and the determination of these values in ores, sweepings, and base metal. It seems to have been written more for the goldsmith and jeweler than for the primary producer of metals. There were approximately sixty different substances needed in the operations described and not over a dozen different types of raw material (ore, matte, crude or alloyed metal) are mentioned. The methods of separation used were essentially simple and reasonably reliable, though the processes were not sufficiently understood to permit the selection of the simplest effective ingredients, and there was a great tendency to employ complicated fluxes, with unnecessary repetition of long-continued heatings indicative of a leisurely pace of life. Practically all the processes described are based on a few chemical facts: the inability of gold to combine with sulphur, while silver and the base metals form easily fusible sulphides; the ready oxidation of base metals; and the ii- solubility of gold in nitric acid. Fluxes serve to make earthy impurities fusible, and to carry oxidizing or sulphurizing ingredients. Many of the processes of assaying had changed little up to the beginning of the present century. Even as late as 1924, when the writer took a University course in fire assaying, the crucibles, cupels, scorifiers, molds, and tongs were identical with those of the sixteenth century, though the wind furnace had a stack on it and the muffle for cupelling was gas-fired.* The fluxes were purer, but of the same essential composition. That this branch- or twig-of metallurgy had not advanced in any funda-

Jan 1, 1949

By R. U. Jackson

Belt conveying is a method of transportation that requires proper servicing and maintenance if completely economical results are to be obtained from the system. With a trucking system, it is common practice to deliver the trucks to a servicing station each day or at the end of each shift. With railroad transportation there is a similar procedure. Sufficient credit is seldom given to this periodic inspection and maintenance procedure, yet it is the key to the successful operation of trucking and rail haulage systems. How about the belt conveyor transportation system? Here is a system that requires no operator for each individual unit. It requires only a main switch and an adequate sequence interlocking system, and the system is so simple to operate that maintenance is considered as only a casual requirement-nothing is done about it until after trouble has developed.

Jan 1, 1956

By Richard E. Lounsbury

Coal mine refuse handling traditionally has been the redheaded stepchild of the industry-a problem to be ignored as much as possible. During the past few years, however, mining companies have become more aware of the potential water pollution problem associated with refuse handling and storage. Planning for refuse disposal involves environmental protection and the economics of refuse handling. For over two years, Monterey Coal Co. has operated a non-polluting refuse disposal system at its No. 1 Mine located in Brushy Mound Township of Macoupin County 6 miles south of Carlinville, Illinois. Drainage goes to Spanish Needle Creek and eventually to the Illinois River. The mine produced 3.5 million tons of clean coal during its first two and one-half years of operation and is designed to produce 3 million tpy of clean coal at capacity.

Jan 6, 1973

By A. B. Hersberger, R. S. Dean

Although it is obvious that in any flotation process we must have a froth, in recent years the development of collecting reagents has caused the possibilities of better frothing agents to be overlooked. Some investigators have even gone so far as to say that the number of satisfactory frothing agents was sufficient. A little consideration will show, however, that the reagents available in the past were far from ideal frothers. The properties of an ideal frother for flotation work may be set down as follows: 1. It must form in low concentrations a copious but not too persistent froth. 2. It must be insensitive to hydrogen-ion concentration of the pulp; that is, it must froth equally well in an acid or alkaline medium. 3. It must be insensitive to salts, even in high concentration. 4. It must be absolutely noncollecting to both sulfides and nonsulfides. 5. Its frothing properties must not be affected by collecting reagents, including soap, the most generally used nonsulfide collector. 6. It must readily emulsify and disperse any insoluble collecting agent that is likely to be used. Clearly the existing frothers do not qualify. Pine oil, for example, is an acceptable frother for many purposes but if used in soap flotation a delicate balance between pine oil and soap must be struck because, as pointed out by Coghill1, these two reagents are incompatible in certain concentrations. The objections to soap itself as a frother are obvious, and the cresols and their substitution products all have some collecting power and very little emulsifying power. The mechanism of frothing in flotation was early explained on the basis of the Harkins-Langmuir theory of oriented molecules.2 These investigators showed that if an organic compound having an unsym-metrical molecule (in which one end of the molecule contained water-

Jan 1, 1939