The Idaho recorder. [volume] (Salmon City, Idaho) 1886-1927, 1920-08-13
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 Taggart declared that the
demand for specialists In ore dressing
with expert knowledge Of the design
| and operation of the bewildering array
OF machinery now employed has be-
come so insistent that school curricula
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 bulk much
smaller than that Of the original ore,
and Mt the same time rejection as
waste OF the worthless portion.
until about fifteen years ago most
mills were small as compared with
were relatively high grade. The ore
treatment problem was n simple one.
and as result the technical as well
AZ the executive direction Of the ore
dressing plant could he and was Incl
dental to the direction with which the
concentration was built.
"The services of specialist In con-
centrati0n were considered unneces-
sary. With the development Of the
large. lOw-grade, disseminated copper
deposits. the Importance Of nre dress
Ing took sudden jump. These depos-
lts contain only from twenty to forty
pounds Of copper per. ton Of ore. The
ore bodies ms originally discovered con-
tanned from 2OOO0.OOO to 100000. 600
tons each OF such ore. For economical
working Of such deposits elaborate
concentrating plants. capable of han
ding from 5000 70 10000 tons of ore
per day were necessary.
Skillfui 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 fotation
to the treatment of these low-grade
ores has resulted I'm the saving of four
to six pounds more copper per ton than
was formerly possible.
"The advent Of flotation called for
mill man of much broader scientific
education than the old concentration
processes required. A Aotation mill
man needs n working knowledge OF
the newest branch of physical chemis-
try. viz, colold chemistry. and should
also have some acquaintance with or
ganic chemistry. Coincident with the
advent of tlotation In milling there has
been a revolution In the methods Of
grinding ores preparatory to concen-
tration. In the old concentration
processes II 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 hest on finely pulverized ore.
Hence II was necessary. on the intro
ductlon Of hotation. to devise methods
or grinding different from those Mt 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
tntion machinery there was necessarily