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By George Hulst

PRIOR to 1914, there was little demand for antimony in this country; its use was limited almost entirely to the manufacture of type and bearing metals. Practically no antimony ore was mined here, the market being supplied principally from China, and the alloy was produced by a direct mixing of lead and antimony. The great world war, with its demand for shrapnel in hitherto undreamed of quantities, precipitated a great boom in the price of antimony. Nominally quoted at 6 c. to 7 c. in 1914, the price increased by leaps and bounds to 45 c. in March, 1916. Under the stimulus of high prices many shall mines were opened, for it became profitable to work ores containing as low as 20 percent. antimony. High-grade sulfide ores (stibnite), containing 55 per cent. to 60 per cent. antimony, were received from Bolivia, China, and Alaska. Low-grade sulfide ores, running from 20 per cent. to 45 per cent., were produced in Nevada, California, Idaho, Utah, and Mexico; much of this ore was fairly rich in silver. The principal oxide ores came from Mexico and Oregon. The following analyses are representative of various types of antimony ore: Se Pn Cu Ao Au SIC), Fe S CAO ZN As Oxide Ore 25.09 46.02 0.95 0.40 10.98 0.30 0.22 Sulfide ore 5.5.20. 15.12 1.05 19.87 ? 0.40 0.25 Sulfide Ore 37.16 11.30 0.10 34.0 7.60 0.50 17.05 7.40 0.36 0.10 Sulfide Ore 41.55 15.00 0.20 76.0 0.04 5.60 0.25 18.17 0.85 0.25 0.10 The International Lead Refining Co. fortunately was equipped to handle these ores through residue and blast furnaces. The charge consisted of a variety of sulfide ores containing Sb 20 to 60 per cent. and Si02 6 to 45 per cent., oxide ores containing Sb 20 to 40 per cent. and SiO2 10 to 45 per cent. Secondary materials, such as battery plates, battery mud, lead oxide, paint, etc., together with refinery skims, softener skims, and other refinery byproducts, were treated along with the antimony ore to furnish the lead required. All silver-bearing antimony ores were treated in the residue furnace, the sulfur, iron, and copper forming matte that carried part of the silver, the balance going into lead bullion. The

Jan 9, 1919

By R. E. Hummel, J. W. Koger

SINCE the first report about a diffusionless transformation of bcc p1 brass to tetragonal p" in 1936 by Kaminski and Kurdjumov,' a series of papers have been published about this transformation, mainly dealing with the temperature range of the martensitic-start temperature (M,) and with the crystallographic structures of the parent and product phases .s In the

Jan 1, 1969

By Leo H. Duriez, James V. Neuman

THE Bayard property of the united States Smelting Refining and Mining Company is in south central Grant County in southwestern New Mexico about fifteen miles east of Silver City and one mile west of Santa Rita. The present holdings cover a belt roughly one mile wide by ten miles long, lying west of, and adjacent to, the holdings of the American Smelting and Refining Co., Kennecott Copper Corp., Empire Zinc Co., and Peru Mining Co. The area extends from the village of Bayard on the south to a point three miles northeast of Fierro. The property is a part of the well-known Central mining district which has been New Mexico's leading copper-zinc producer for many years. The property is segregated into three sections, the Bullfrog, Hanover Bessemer, and the Shingle Canyon sections. Of these, the Bullfrog section covers the area between the towns of Bayard and Hanover and includes the Bullfrog No. 1, Bullfrog No. 2, Slate, Hobo,

Jan 1, 1948

For the year ending February, 1920 PRESIDENT HORACE V. WINCHELL MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. PAST PRESIDENTS PHILIP N. MOORE ST. Louis,. Mo. SIDNEY J. JENNINGS NEW YORK, N. Y. FIRST VICE-PRESIDENT A. R. LEDOUX NEW YORK, N. Y. TREASURER GEORGE D. BARRON NEW YORK, N. Y. SECRETARY BRADLEY STOUGHTON NEW YORK, N. Y.

Jan 9, 1919

By J. Pinto, F. Galasso

THE current emphasis in preparing boron fibers by reduction of gaseous boron compounds on a resistively heated metal wire substrate has renewed interest in the borides of those metals which have relatively high melting points and are available as fine wires. A knowledge of the structures and properties of the borides, which are formed when boron diffuses into the metal core during boron deposition, can be of assistance in the understanding of the boron fiber formation process and the fiber properties. Many of these borides are well-known and their properties have been measured. However, when an unidentified boride is found in the core, it may be difficult to establish its composition because of the small amount of material available, the preferred orientation effects on the reflections in its X-ray pattern, and the possible overlap of X-ray reflections if several borides are present in the core. For example. the proper indexing of the X-ray pattern of WB4, which was formed in the tungsten substrate core during boron fiber formation, was accomplished only after small single crystals of this boride were grown and X-ray precession investigations were conducted.' This note presents the results of a study of the phases formed in the core when tungsten, tantalum, and molybdenum metal wires were used as substrates in the boron fiber preparation process with particular emphasis on the identification and characterization of a higher boride of molybdenum analogous to WB,. Boron was deposited on resistively heated stationary 0.0012-in.-diam tantalum, tungsten, and molybdenum wires at 1050°C for various times up to 60 sec using boron trichloride and hydrogen as the reactant gases. After 60 sec of boron deposition the fibers were approximately 0.006 in. in diam. Examination of photomicrographs of fiber cross sections showed that the boron had diffused nearly to the center of the tungsten and molybdenum cores in 15 and 30 sec, respectively, and only halfway to the center of the tantalum core in 60 sec. X-ray diffraction photographs of the fibers indicated that it was also after 15 and 30 sec deposition times that the tungsten and molybdenum metal reflections, respectively, had disappeared from the X-ray patterns of the fibers. The patterns of the boron fibers produced using tantalum wire as a substrate showed that amorphous boron, TaB2, and tantalum metal were present after a few seconds deposition time and remained even after deposition times of 60 sec. Until a deposition time of 15 sec was reached, the tungsten substrate fibers contained amorphous boron,273 6WB, W2B5, and WB4 as well as tungsten metal, while the molybdenum substrate fibers contained amorphous boron, MoBa, Mo2B5, and molybdenum metal for deposition times up to 30 sec. Just before the molybdenum metal pattern disappeared, a pattern similar to that of WB, appeared, suggesting that a phase, MOB,, isomorphous with WB,, was present in the fiber. This same pattern was obtained from the product formed by heating a mixture of molybdenum metal and excess boron powder in a boron nitride crucible at 1960°C in an argon atmosphere. As was the case with the WBn pattern, this pattern could best be indexed on the basis of a hexagonal unit cell rather than the tetragonal unit cell Chrktien and Helgorsky reported for ~0~4,~ see Table I. The unit cell parameters for MoB4 were calculated to be a, = 5.214A, co = 6.358A. Assuming the space group P63/mmc and positions5 2M01 in 2b and 2MoII in 2c found for tungsten in WB~,' a logical structure for MOB, was determined using geometrical considerations to place the boron

Jan 1, 1969

By Walter Miller

PETROLEUM refining, like other industries in the United States in 1940, focused much attention on its duties and opportunities in the field of national defense. In counter-distinction to the situation during the World War; the industry is well constituted as LO existing equipment, processes, and capacity together with planned additions to handle any demands that may be made upon it by the defense program needs. Evident throughout was the growing sense of ability to manipulate oil molecules for the production of materials not hitherto considered as being available commercially from petroleum The development and application of catalytically-induced reactions on a broad front is one of the distinguishing characteristics of refining progress during the year.

Jan 1, 1941

By Morris J. Elsing

FOR MANY YEARS lead and zinc have had the so-called protection of a tariff and it is the purpose of the following brief discussion to show what' such protection actually accomplishes with a view to forecasting the possible results of the present copper tariff. In analyzing the subject, tabulations of the United States production, consumption, imports and exports, including ore and concentrates and all of the metallic products, of both lead and zinc have been made for each year since 1900. Of these data, the relationship of the imports and exports and the relative foreign and domestic prices are shown in Table 1. The conclusions drawn from these figures are listed below. 1. The United States is an exporter of zinc. 2. The United States is an importer of lead. 3. The average price of zinc at St. Louis for the last 32 years has been no higher than on the London market even though zinc and zinc ore have "enjoyed" a protective (?) tariff of varying amounts per pound for 22 years of this period. 4. The average price of lead on the New York market for 32 years has been 1.2c. per pound higher than on the London market, the tariff varying from 0.75 to 1.5c. per pound of lead in ore, and 1 to 2c. or more on manufactured lead.

Jan 1, 1932

By W. D. Keller

THE high-alumina clays of Missouri are interesting for several reasons. They are the only sedimentary deposits in North America of first grade (over 70 pct A1,0,) diaspore and boehmite sufficiently large to be mined commercially. Mineralogically, they are composed of diaspore and boehmite in intimate coexistence, but gibbsite, the common hydrated alumina mineral in bauxite and laterite, is absent, or is exceedingly scanty if present.* Therefore, the Missouri high-alumina clays do not represent typical laterization. The physical chemistry leading to their mineral genesis, and the geolbgical setting for their formation, present important problems for scientific study. The origin of the Missouri high-alumina clays has been discussed in earlier reports by Allen1 (1935) and McQueen 8, 9 (1929, 1943). These investigations were made under difficult conditions, however, because no diaspore deposit had been opened where a Paleozoic (Pennsylvanian) rock cover lay undisturbed over the high-alumina clay. The relationship of the clay to only the underlying rocks could actually be observed. Lacking the guidance of critical postdepositional geologic evidence, undue and erroneous emphasis was placed on the postdepositional leaching of the deposits in the theories on the origin of diaspore and boehmite from clay (hydrous aluminosilicates) . With new geologic evidence at hand, a clearer picture can be made for the origin of the Missouri high-alumina deposits. In this paper the geology of a diaspore deposit whose original Paleozoic cover had not been eroded will be described and interpreted genetically. The close relationship of boehmite and diaspore (also with kaolinite and a chloritic mineral), will be established. A theory of origin for the high-alumina clays, consistent with the new data, will be postulated.

Jan 1, 1952

By Charles E. Wait

HAVING had some experience in the use of gasoline-gas in a laboratory, I have been induced by frequent inquiry to present a few hints concerning it, which I hope may be of some value to those who are out of the reach of coal-gas, and who contemplate using this gas. While I will not delay to describe the method by which this gas is made, it may not be out of place to note that, unless frequent charges are put into the carburetter, the gas is variable in richness. This may be partially avoided, it is said, by repeatedly pumping from one cell in the carburetter to another. If a machine is in constant use for many months without re charging, the gas becomes rather poor for illuminating purposes ; but in this condition it may be burned in a Bunsen burner with advan tage. Could the gas be used always in this condition, no difficulty would be experienced, and it would be quite satisfactory for general laboratory purposes. Considerable annoyance, however, is experi enced whenever the machine is filled with gasoline. The Bunsen and other burners then produce a flame too smoky to be used with com fort, and, in fact, with most of them, a full supply of air; turned on at the base of the burner, will not suffice to completely burn off all the carbon. Finding it necessary to adopt some method by which I could get a flame free from unconsumed carbon, I adopted a plan which has in every way proved satisfactory. In addition to the pipe conveying the gas to the table, and ar ranged with a stopcock, there is brought to the table, within a fern inches of the gas-pipe, another pipe, conveying air direct from the pump. This pipe is also arranged with a stop-cock. The air- and gas-pipes are now connected with one pipe by a T joint; and to this last pipe is attached, by rubber tubing, the Bunsen or other burner. I have successfully used this simple system in connection with both small and large Bunsen burners, a burner with three tubes, arid a Fletcher burner; and recently I have added a new still to our equipment, and have been tising with it a Fletcher special high power burner No. 6, to which this system has been applied. With

Jan 1, 1886

By John V. Beall, William F. Haddon

A long the mighty Andean Cordillera, there is splendor beyond imagination-in the natural beauty of the mountains and in daring engineering and lavish investment in the mines. This is the story of the great copper mines of Chile and Peru. Each mine has a special quality which has tested the physical and spiritual resources of the founder. In the early days of the older mines, the mining engineer of song and story was more the rule than the exception. He was physically tough, ingenious and a leader of men. In the current political and social environment of Chile and Peru, the foreign contract mining engineer is still needed; but he must be a different type of man. To John J. Selters at Cerro's Rio Blanco, the principal ingredient is still "toughness," but it is "toughness of mind" that is needed. "He probably should be a teacher." The copper mines are not new. They were, almost without exception, worked by Indians (La Exotica might prove the rule), and later by the intrepid Spaniards. Modern mining began after the turn of the century. In Chile, the first of the big ones was the Braden Copper Co. founded on the El Teniente deposit. This development was followed by Chile Exploration Co. at Chuquicamata and Andes Copper at Potrerillos. These properties have been developed over the years by vast expenditures of money and a monumental amount of labor. None was free of technical problems-metallurgy at Chuqui, marginal grade of the old mine at Andes, avalanches and the great fire at El Teniente. The evolution which has brought the established mines of Chile, and the new ones coming on stream, to their present state of development is in reality the work of wonders of input-money, engineering and responsible management in an atmosphere of political stability. Without any one of these, the result would have been failure.

Jan 11, 1969

By G. W. Josephson

VIRTUALLY every year inventors find one or more startling new uses for one of the varied products of the nonmetallic mineral industries. For example, in November a major step toward positive control of rainfall was made when an experimenter converted a cloud to snow by dropping a few pounds of solid carbon dioxide into it. Other examples of ingenuity in the development of markets and production methods are noted in the following pages. For most of the industrial mineral products one of the outstanding features of 1946 has been the high level of production. There are exceptions, such as quartz crystal and lithium, whose production capacity during the war outgrew current peacetime needs, but they are few. Some technical men point out that this prosperity is not an unmixed blessing to technologic progress, because so much effort must go into day-to-day production problems that relatively little opportunity is left for the pursuit of new developments.

Jan 1, 1947

By John T., Ryan

THE subject assigned me, "Safety in Mining," is a very broad one and only the high spots can be covered in this short paper. As this is a meeting of the Coal Division, these remarks will be directed largely to coal mine safety, although the principles of safety and effective accident prevention methods are relatively the same in every branch of mining or industrial work. The coal mining industry should take pride in the part it has played in the development of the accident prevention movement, and there is ample proof for the statement that the first real organized accident prevention, work, both abroad and in this country, was con- ducted in the coal mining industry.

Jan 1, 1930

By F. P. Haver, M. M. Wong

When a mixture of chalcopyrite concentrate and lime is heated in air, the following reaction takes place: 2CuFeS2 + 4Ca (OH)2 + 8 ½ 02 ; 2Cu0 + Fe203 + 4CaS04 + 4H20. Ca (OH)2 is the only common reagent that will adequately control SO2 evolution in roasting. Other additives tried, including CaO, CaCO3, Na2CO3, NaOH, MgO, Mg (OH)2, and MgCO3, were not effective. All reacted with sulfur, but not to the extent that will be required to meet the new control regulations for sulfur oxide emissions. For example: when the concentrate was heated with the theoretical amount of limestone (CaCO3), about 55% of the sulfur was retained in the calcine; whereas use of the stoichiometric amount of Ca (OH), converted approximately 99% of the sulfur to CaSO1. In most of the experiments, Ca(OH)2 was formed by adding CaO to concentrates containing enough water to simulate filter cake from flotation circuit. This eliminated the need for drying the concentrate and utilized the heat of hydration of CaO.

Jan 6, 1972

By Jo. E. Sheridan

The Dawson coal-mines are owned aid operated by the Stag Canon Fuel Co., of which Dr. James Douglas is President and E. L. Carpenter general manager. The property is situated in Colfax county, N. M., and the openings now in operation are in townships 28 and 29 N R. 20 E., and township 28 N E. 21 E., shown in Fig. I. The mines are part of the southern end of the Raton coal-field, which extends north into Colorado and embraces many coal-camps of the Trinidad section. II. Geology. Geologically, the coal-measures, commonly known as the Laramie series of the Cretaceous system, have x thickness of about 800 ft. in the vicinity of Damson. The coal makes an excellent coke, and, according to some authorities, its coking properties are due to the action of intruded sheets and sills of igneous rock, the sheets occasionally thickening into masses resembling laccoliths, at such places making nearer approach to the coal and sometimes producing small areas of natural coke. There are but few dikes throughout the entire southern portion of the field and little or no faulting along the dikes. In some parts of this great coal-field the intrusive sheets are far removed in the green shales below the coal-measures, and are so much altered as to be difficult of identification. There is but little disturbance of the strata throughout the Raton coal-field in as far as it extends into New Mexico. There are two workable seams in the coal-measures, and two or three smaller coal-seams, ranging from 1 to 2.5 ft. in thick-

Jan 1, 1910

By A. F. Frederickson

A MINERAL can best be defined as a phase,' where the term "phase" is described as a homogeneous,* physically distinct, and mechanically sep- arable portion of a system. If one phase develops from another, certain nuclei must first be available.2.394 The manner in which new material is added to these nuclei, and the subsequent structural and other characteristics of the phase, is often markedly influenced by factors other than its temperature, pressure, and gross compositional environment. Rates of growth, presence of impurities, the availability or lack of oxygen, the pH of the system, and percentage of completion of the often determine which modification will develop. Many transitional phases develop when a relatively insoluble precipitate is formed from solution. Different modifications are formed, depending on the speed and percentage of reacting solution added. Some of these "forms" are stable and do not "age" or transform into the so-called stable modifications. These modifications are difficult to treat in terms of equilibrium diagrams for the simple reason that these minerals do not represent an equilibrium situation described by only two (temperature and composition) or three terms (when pressure is considered). Many crystals exist as stable or meta- stable phases in nature in environments much different from those indicated by certain equilibrium diagrams. Cristobalite octahedra grow on zeolite needles in vugs, diaspore develops from a medium that does not appear to have been subjected to high pressures and temperatures, authigenic feld-

Jan 1, 1952

By Albert D. Brokaw

THE accompanying chart was devised to provide a rapid and simple method of correcting for temperature and compressibility (deviation from Boyle's law) of gas under relatively high pressures and temperatures, such as are encountered in many deep reservoirs. The chart was prepared by interpolating for the desired values in the experimental data of Burke and Keyes1 and Kvalnes and Gaddy2 on the compressibility of methane, after adjusting their results from 0°C. to 60°F. and combining the correction factors for compressibility and temperature into a single multiplier, which, applied to the product of pressure and reservoir volume, gives at once the volume at one atmosphere (14.7 lb. per sq. in. abs.) and 60°F. The relationship 0f this multiplier to the compressibility factor Z, as used in most discussions, is simply: [Multiplier = 460° + 60°ZT –] where Z is the compressibility factor and T the absolute temperature (Rankine). Fahrenheit temperatures are shown on the vertical axis and pressures in pounds per square inch absolute on the horizontal axis. Correction factors or multipliers at intervals of 0.05 from 0.55 to 1.40 have been plotted on the chart and are calculated t0 give volume of gas at one atmosphere pressure (14.7 lb.) and 60°F. The operation is as follows: The reservoir volume, times the number of atmospheres pressure, times the multiplier, gives the volume of gas measured at one atmosphere (14.7 lb. per sq. in.) and 60°F. For example, a reservoir is estimated to have a volume of 10,000,000 cu. ft., bottom-hole pressure is 2940 lb. per sq. in. and temperature is 184°F To make the correction for methane, follow the 184° line horizontally to the 2940-lb. pressure line. The intersection lies between the 0.85 and 0.90 correction lines, and by interpolation we may estimate the multiplier at 0.863. The computation is simply: [ ] Using the chart for methane prepared by Prof. G. G. Brown3 and his associates, the multiplier is found to be 0.867. Details 0f computation are as follows: Correction factor to apply to PV to correct for deviation from Boyle's law and adjust to measurement basis of 60°F.: [ ]

Jan 1, 1941

February 18th, 1873. THE Institute assembled in the Hall of the Boston Natural History Society on Tuesday evening. Dr. T. Sterry Hunt, of the Boston Institute of Technology, after a brief address of welcome to the Institute, read an introductory paper on the Geognostical History of the Metals. President Raymond responded to the welcome of Dr. Hunt. The following names were then presented to the Institute, with the recommendation of the Council, for election Adams, J. M., - Silver City, Idaho. Daggett, Ellsworth, - Salt Lake City, Utah. Geist, Alfred W., - Boston, Mass. Hays, Dr. S. Dana, - Boston, Mass. Heinrich, Oswald J., - Midlothian, Va. Johnson, J., - Braidwood, Ill. Leckie, Robert G., - Actonvale, Canada. Lyman, Edward, - Troy, N. Y. Maltby, William, - Braidwood, Ill. Nichols, Lyman, Jr., - Boston, Mass. Ordway, Prof. J. M., - Boston, Mass. Rand, Theodore D., - Philadelphia, Pa. Richards, Prof. Robert H., - Boston, Mass. Rockwell, Prof. Alfred P., - Boston, Mass. Roepper, Charles W., - Bethlehem, Pa. Schulz, A. von, - Central City, Colorado. Singer, William F., - Pittsburgh, Pa. Spillsbury, E. G., - New York. Wells, Calvin, - Pittsburgh, Pa. The session concluded with the reading and discussion of a paper, by Henry Engelmann, On the Mines and Ores of the Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. The second session was held on Wednesday morning, when the following papers were presented; On the Midlothian Coal Mines, by Oswald J. Heinrich. On the Probable Existence of Microscopic Diamonds in California, by Prof. Benjamin Silliman.

Jan 1, 1873

Meeting, Apr. 25, 1913.-President Rand recommended the appointment of the Nominating Committee (see p. i), and a Committee on the Use of Electricity in Mines (see p. xliv), which committees were duly approved and appointed. President Rand recommended the establishment of. a Committee on Mining Methods, and requested authority for the President to appoint the members of this Committee, both of which recommendations were approved. The name of the Committee on Economic Geology was, at its own request, changed to the Committee on Mining Geology. The request of the Iron and Steel Committee, that a meeting of the Institute, under the auspices of this Committee, be held in the latter part of October, the place of meeting to be decided later, was granted.

Jan 5, 1913

By Brahm Prakash, R. Schuhmann

Chemical conditions for flotation and nonflotation of quartz with oleic acid as collector and barium, calcium, aluminum, iron, and tin as activators were studied using a simple vacuum-flotation technique in glass-stoppered graduates. The detailed study of barium activation led to an interpretation based on ideal Langmuirian chemi-sorption. FLOTATION of quartz is of practical importance as something to be avoided in soap-floating many types of ores. Clean, unactivated quartz is not floated with fatty acids and soaps, such as oleic acid and sodium oleate, in the quantities normally used for flotation. However, data in the literature indicate that almost any multivalent cation will activate quartz if given an opportunity. Thus, a common problem is to prevent activation of quartz by the various inorganic cations inevitably present in flotation pulps. Wark and his coworkers1 have demonstrated the reversibility of the chemical reactions and adsorptions involved in the activation, depression, and collection of the common sulphide minerals. The procedure in much of their work was to bring a mineral surface to equilibrium with solutions of known pH, collector concentration, and activator concentration, and then to test the floatability of the mineral by contact-angle measurement. From the data, graphs were constructed with pH and reagent concentrations as coordinates. These graphs show fields of flotation and fields of nonflotation, separated by narrow transition regions whose locations are shown by so-called contact curves. From the shapes and locations of the contact curves, which roughly separate fields of flotation from fields of nonflotation, a quantitative understanding of the interaction of the reagents with each other and with the minerals often can be deduced. The study of quartz flotation to be described in this paper follows in broad lines the approach of Wark and coworkers. That is, pH, activator concentration, and collector concentration were varied to find equilibrium conditions of flotation and non- flotation, and the results are presented graphically by means of contact curves. However, instead of testing for floatability by measuring the contact angle on a polished surface, a simple vacuum flotation technique was developed and used. Purified oleic acid was the collector and terpineol the frother. Barium activation was studied in some detail, and exploratory studies were made of activation with calcium, aluminum, ferric iron, and stannic tin. Preparation of Materials Quartz: Large lumps of high-grade vein quartz were crushed dry in a cone crusher and rolls. The —20, +28-mesh portion was screened out and used in the subsequent steps. This material was passed through a high-intensity magnetic separator to discard iron, then leached twice with hot concentrated HCl and washed repeatedly with distilled water. The cleaned sand was then wet ground with porcelain balls in a porcelain pebble mill, deslimed repeatedly by settling and decantation to discard —800-mesh material, and again washed with hot HCl followed by distilled water. The resulting stock of quartz was stored under water. Chemical analysis gave 99.8 pct SiO2. Table I gives the size analysis of the quartz used for flotation tests. Calculations from these data, using shape factors given by Gaudin and Hukki9 indicate a specific surface of about 500 cm2 per g. Blank flotation tests in distilled water, and in water with added frother, showed the prepared quartz to be completely nonfloatable and thus indicated the absence of organic contamination. Oleic Acid: The preparation of oleic acid was based on fractional vacuum distillation of methyl oleate2,3 followed by regeneration of oleic acid, and finally fractional crystallization of oleic acid from acetone solutions at low temperatures." The pure oleic acid was stored in a refrigerator. The iodine number of the oleic acid was found to be 90.0 (theoretical 89.93). Oleic acid was used in the form of a dilute water solution of sodium oleate, after preliminary flotation tests showed no effects of form of addition and order of addition of reagents when an adequate conditioning time (that is, 30 min) was provided. Other Reagents: Sodium hydroxide solutions low in carbonate were prepared by first making 1:1

Jan 1, 1951

By Brahm Prakash, R. Schuhmann

Chemical conditions for flotation and nonflotation of quartz with oleic acid as collector and barium, calcium, aluminum, iron, and tin as activators were studied using a simple vacuum-flotation technique in glass-stoppered graduates. The detailed study of barium activation led to an interpretation based on ideal Langmuirian chemi-sorption. FLOTATION of quartz is of practical importance as something to be avoided in soap-floating many types of ores. Clean, unactivated quartz is not floated with fatty acids and soaps, such as oleic acid and sodium oleate, in the quantities normally used for flotation. However, data in the literature indicate that almost any multivalent cation will activate quartz if given an opportunity. Thus, a common problem is to prevent activation of quartz by the various inorganic cations inevitably present in flotation pulps. Wark and his coworkers1 have demonstrated the reversibility of the chemical reactions and adsorptions involved in the activation, depression, and collection of the common sulphide minerals. The procedure in much of their work was to bring a mineral surface to equilibrium with solutions of known pH, collector concentration, and activator concentration, and then to test the floatability of the mineral by contact-angle measurement. From the data, graphs were constructed with pH and reagent concentrations as coordinates. These graphs show fields of flotation and fields of nonflotation, separated by narrow transition regions whose locations are shown by so-called contact curves. From the shapes and locations of the contact curves, which roughly separate fields of flotation from fields of nonflotation, a quantitative understanding of the interaction of the reagents with each other and with the minerals often can be deduced. The study of quartz flotation to be described in this paper follows in broad lines the approach of Wark and coworkers. That is, pH, activator concentration, and collector concentration were varied to find equilibrium conditions of flotation and non- flotation, and the results are presented graphically by means of contact curves. However, instead of testing for floatability by measuring the contact angle on a polished surface, a simple vacuum flotation technique was developed and used. Purified oleic acid was the collector and terpineol the frother. Barium activation was studied in some detail, and exploratory studies were made of activation with calcium, aluminum, ferric iron, and stannic tin. Preparation of Materials Quartz: Large lumps of high-grade vein quartz were crushed dry in a cone crusher and rolls. The —20, +28-mesh portion was screened out and used in the subsequent steps. This material was passed through a high-intensity magnetic separator to discard iron, then leached twice with hot concentrated HCl and washed repeatedly with distilled water. The cleaned sand was then wet ground with porcelain balls in a porcelain pebble mill, deslimed repeatedly by settling and decantation to discard —800-mesh material, and again washed with hot HCl followed by distilled water. The resulting stock of quartz was stored under water. Chemical analysis gave 99.8 pct SiO2. Table I gives the size analysis of the quartz used for flotation tests. Calculations from these data, using shape factors given by Gaudin and Hukki9 indicate a specific surface of about 500 cm2 per g. Blank flotation tests in distilled water, and in water with added frother, showed the prepared quartz to be completely nonfloatable and thus indicated the absence of organic contamination. Oleic Acid: The preparation of oleic acid was based on fractional vacuum distillation of methyl oleate2,3 followed by regeneration of oleic acid, and finally fractional crystallization of oleic acid from acetone solutions at low temperatures." The pure oleic acid was stored in a refrigerator. The iodine number of the oleic acid was found to be 90.0 (theoretical 89.93). Oleic acid was used in the form of a dilute water solution of sodium oleate, after preliminary flotation tests showed no effects of form of addition and order of addition of reagents when an adequate conditioning time (that is, 30 min) was provided. Other Reagents: Sodium hydroxide solutions low in carbonate were prepared by first making 1:1

Jan 1, 1951