Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1920-10-22
Bubble Force
Makes Billions

Of copper production, and therefore of
the electrical industry, Is very largely
dependent on the same forces that are
at work in the soap bubble"
Professor TaSgart declared that the
demand Tor specialists In ore dressing
with expert knowledge of the design
and operation of the bewilderng array
Of machinery now employed has be-
come SO insistent that school currcula
must be altered to offer the necessary
preparatory courses.
"Ore dressing is an indispensable
link between mining and metallurgy in
present-day practice in the extraction
Of metals from the EARTH" said Pro
fessor Taggart 1T consists In nom
chemical concentration of the valuable
part Of an ore into a bulk much
smaller than that Of the original ore,
and at the same time rejection as
waste Of the worthless portion.
Until about fifteen years ago most
mills were small as compared with
present-day standards and the ores
were relatively high grade. The ore
treatment problem was simple one,
and as result the technical as we'll
as the executive direction of the ore
dressing plant could be and was Incl
dental to the direction with which the
concentration was built.
"The services of a specialist in con-
centratiOn were considered unneces-
ho <P hn
large, low-grade, disseminated copper
deposits. the importance of ore dress
ing took sudden jump. These depos-
Its contain only from twenty to forty
pounds of copper per ton of ore. The
ore bodies as originally discovered con-
tanned from 100000 to 100000
tons each Of such ore. For economical
working of such deposits elaborate
concentrating plants, capable of ham
ding from 5000 to 10000 tons Of ore
per day were necessary.
skIiiful Work for Profit.
These plants required the most
skillful direction possible II a profit
was to be made from their operation,
and demand for specialists in con-
centration Immediately arose. Within
the last seven years the successful ap-
plication Of processes Of froth fiotation
to the treatment Of these low-grade
ores has resulted In the saving of four
to six pounds more copper per ton than
was formerly possible.
THE advent Of flotation called for a
mill man Of much broader scientific
education than the old concentration
processes required. A Rotation mill
man needs working knowledge Of
the newest branch Of physical chemis-
try, viz, colloid chemistry, and should
also have some acquaintance with or
ganlc chemistry. Coincident with the
advent Of flotation In milling there has
been a revolution IN the methods Of
grinding ores preparatory to concen-
tration. In the old concentration
processes It was impossible to treat
very finely ground ore economically.
Hence all grinding was done with
the end in view Of producing as little
slime as possible. Flotation, however,
works best on finely pulverized ore.
Hence 1t was necessary. on the intro
duction Of flotation, to devise methods
of grinding different from those at that
time In use, such methods being aimed
at producing slime. This resulted in
the Introduction Of grinding machinery
OF an entirely different type. In con-
nection with the new grinding and TO-
tation machinery there was necessarily