The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1915-01-28
AOTAT|ON PROCESS
GREAT POSSIBILITIES
GREAT SUCCESS MARKS REVoL
uTIoNARY DEVELOPMENT
IN ORE RECOVERY.

Sensational as have been the claims
advanced for the new flotation process
as applied to the milling of porphyry
conner ores, 1t would seem that the
whole story has not yet been told. If
engineers claims as to the recoveries
made possible by the new process are
substantiated, the copper milling in
dustrv Is at the threshold of one Of the
most revolutionary developments in
mining history, says the News Bureau.
The heavy loss of metal in tailings
or waste product has long been a
nightmare to the mill manager A loss
of 10 pounds Of copper per ton of ore
represented real waste-on a 13-cent
market-of $3.50. 1t is not strange
that the best metallurgical brains in
the country should be graphing with
the problem of cutting down this ex-
traodinary loss. Success has appar-
emily crowned their efforts in abund-
ant measure.
One of our mining field correspond
ents has given this flotation process
very careful investigation and while no
official 20. K" attaches to his findings.
his report on the process just at hand
will be read with much interest. His
statement follows:
Results at lacking Copper Properties,
while the new flotation process
worked out by the Jackling metalur-
gical engineering staff has been intro
duced in the porphyry copper plant and
the Butte & Superior mill on a small
scale. 1t has been guarded with the
greatest secrecy. Some of the results
have leaked out, and in mining circles
it appears to have produced as great
an affect as the first discoveries Of re-
ducing the low grade copper on big
commercial basis
1.-THE new process Is said to have
demonstrated that Utah Copper, Chino
Ray and Nevada Consolidated can re-
cover 6 to Z pounds more copper to
the ton than under the old process.
The recoveries will amount to from 25
10 28 pounds of copper to the ton, and
Utah Copper, when operating both its
mills at capacity, will be able to show
a cost as low as ga cents pound,
according to the estimate made by the
metallurgical engineer in charge.
Big Saving in By-Products.
"The recovery of the byproducts.
silver and gold, will be almost doubled.
It is said that at Nevada Consolidated
where one of the new machines is be-
ing used, the gold recoverfes have
been raised from 81 to better than 81
a ton. The recovery of all values is so
complete that assay of tailings in some
instances show only 1900 to 25-lO0
of y per cent copper contents. Thus it
will be seen that better than 95 per
cent of the ore contents is being eX-
tracted.
"At the Butte &, Superior, where one
unit has been operating the manage
ment reports an increase in the earn
ings of $4,000 month. Utah Copper
Is said to have shown an Increase OF
$4,000 In one month with one OF the
new units. and Nevada Consolidated
with one INIT operating, raised the re-
covery Of the entire plant from 6S per
cent to about II per cent. AS CON-
pared to as much as 16 pounds of cop
per per ton in the tailings, it is said
that at present the taillngs show only
about 2h pounds of copper
Some of these machines are in OPP
Grafton at each one of the JacklinF
mill plants. The engineer in charge
of this installation says that all OF the
mills will be completely equipped with
the new process during the year and
that mining companies who havcl earn
ed of the success of the new m1chnef
ere giving orders faster than they can
be turned out
mana nnTACL