The Elk Mountain pilot., 1917-11-29
Css dish and Riohardson have Process
for Separating Rare Metal From
Ores of State.

Below we reprint an article from
the Denver Times regarding an in
dustry recently established and really
based on famous Gunnison county
property. Last winter Senator Heth-
erington put in few idle moments
when he was not scrapping in the
senate, in interesting his friend, Sem
ator Candlish, in the property in Pit
kin The senator later investigated
the property and was so favorably
impressed that he never quit work
until he had installed mill in Den
yer to work the ore from this and
similar properties. Senator Candlish
and C. w. Savery went up to Pitkin
Sunday to arrange for steady ship
ments of ore. Below we print the
Times story:
Molybdenum, relatively rare
metal the value of which has been
greatly enhanced because of its in
creased use in steel manufacture,
particularly in the field of munition
making, is to be separated from Col
orado ores in new plant just estab-
lished in Denver by William j. Cand-
lish, state senator and mine operator
from Leadville, and j. f. Richardson,
his associate.
The plant will employ new pro-
cess, the secrets of which are known
only to the founders of the establish
mont. The process was discovered by
Messrs Candlish and Richardson, and
is n Development of the flotation
method new so extensively used in
Colorado, Metallurgists of high
startl;rg who have witnessed demon
straticns of the remarkable perform
ahccs of the process in turning out
an absolutely clean concentrate Of
mol ldcnite with surprisingly SIM
pie and inexpensive operation, declare
that it amounts to nothing less than
a revolution in the treatment of mol
ybdc c-ous ore-. 1t is stride in
metallurgy, they say. that is bound
to attract worldwide attention.
In less than sixty days, Messrs,
Cand'is h and Richardson have per-
fected the process, designed and pur-
chased tho necessary equipment and
brought installation to a state of
completion that will permit the be-
ginning of steady operation by the
middle of next week, barring unfor-
seen delays. Already sixty-five tons
of the ore to be treated, shipped here
from mine near Pitkin, Colo, are in
the bins at the plant. A carload on
the siding at the mill will be fol-
lowed by others in regular succession.
Thirty tons day is calculated as the
initial output. This will be increased
as developments warrent. Six men
are at present employed
The process was demonstrated with
a miniature Ruth flotation unit in the
laboratory department of the plant
YESTERDAY Into a two-chambered
compartment, in which water at a
certain level is subjected to CEN
trifugal motion at great velocity by
means of rotating suction plunger,
the finely powdered ore-a yellowish-
gray pulp-is put. A thoroughly aer-
ated mixture is produced, to which
is added a few drops of what the
discoverers call "fotatin compound
Immediately the bluish-black molyb-
denite rises to the surface in u
frothy scum, which upon being skim
med off is found to be almost pure
molybdenite. The Ruth flotation de-
vice is the invention of Joseph P.
Ruth, Jr., of Denver.
At present prices molybdenite is
worth s44 per twenty-pound unit OF
a 30 per cent concentrate. A finer
concentrate will command consid-
erably higher market. Heretofore a
better than 80 per cent product was
exceptional, it is said