US1370357A - Flotation of minerals - Google Patents

Description

UNITED STATES PATENT omen.

CLEMENT L. PEBKINSAND RALPH E. SAYR'E, or PITTSBURGH, rENNsYIlvANIA,

- ASSIGNOBS r METALS nEcov nY COMPANY, or NEw YORK, N. ,Y., 4 00320-3 RATION 0F MAINE.

FLOTA'lION or MINERALS.

No Drawing.

. To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, CLEMENT L. PER- .KINS and RALPH E. SAYRE, citizens of the United States, residing at Pittsburgh, Allegheny county, State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Flotation of Minerals; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

.This invention relates to the concentration of minerals, such as sulfid ores and the like, by flotation.

The invention is based upon the discovery that the flotation operation can, in many cases, be improved by the addition to the ore or mineral pulp of terpin hydrate. Ter pin hydrate appears to have little if any selective action in bringing about the flotation of the mineral, but it has marked frothing qualities and provides an appropriate ore pulp which requires no added selective amount of froth with an ore pulp contain ing asuitable selective or collecting a ent but lacking in frothing qualities, or wit an agent but is lacking in frothing qualities. The terpin hydrate may thus be used to advantage with flotation agents which have marked selective or collecting properties but whicharedevoid of, or deficient in, frothing qualities.

The terpin hydrate can be incorporated withthe ore or mineral pulp in any suitable manner'which will insure its uniform incorporation and dissemination throughout the ulp. It may thus beincorporated b a oi'e is ground, or it can be added after the grinding operation and during-or prior to the flotation operation. The flotation opera tion can be carried out in' any suitable apparatus, such as an ordinary Gallows cell, or 1n apparatus where the air is incorporatedin the-ore pulp by mechanical agitation.

It is of advantage in many cases, as withcertain copper ores, to add to the ore pul a small amount of alkali, which may be su ficient in amount to give. to the ore pulp" a distinct alkaline reaction. When alkalis are used, it .is desirable to give them an appreciable time of contact with the orelp'ulpfbefore subjecting the latter to flotati'on. The

Specification of Ietters Patent.

'- of the ore pulpg.

ding to the grinding mill, in which the alkalis can thus be added with advantage in the grinding mill so that they will be present during the grinding operation. The alkali may be caustic alkali such as sodium hydrate, or an alkaline salt, such' assodiumv Patented Mar. 1,.'1 921. Application filed July 13, 1920. Serial No. 395,995.-

one-fifth of a pound per ton' of ore (that is,

calculated on the wei ht of the ore and not larger amounts may, however, be use as we l as even smaller amounts in some cases.

The invention will be further illustrated Example 1: 500 parts by weight of Utah I Copper Qompanys ore was ground in a pebble mill w 1th 250- parts of water, lime equivalent to four pounds per ton of dry ore, and thiocarbamlid equivalent to onefifth ound per ton. The ground pulp was trans erredtoa Callow rougher cell, diluted and floated after the addition of about 150 partaof water'to which had been added terpin hydrate. equivalent to one-tenth, pound per ton of dry ore.- A satisfactory froth was produced at once. Aeration of the pulp was continued until the concentration of the obtained. I

Example 2: The treatment was similar to that of Example 1, except that diazoaminobenzene equivalent to one-fifth poundper ton of dry ore was used in place of thethiocarbanilidii With an ore of in the above example, it is of importance to provide a selective or collecting agent to supplement the action of the terpin hydrate, 'which. appears to be essentially that of a fz-('1tl1ing"agent'with but little selective or collecting properties. \Vhere, however, the ore pulp contains an appropriate selective or collective agent, or inherently requires g the addition of no such agent but is deficient in frothing qualities, the addition of terpin hydrate, ina manner similar to that above described,"imparts the desired irothing qualities, and provides bubbles in suiiicient d of ,Suilicirnt. pcrsistoncy to, overflow into the launder oflthe'flotation quantity an the character referred to machine thereby mechanically facilitating the removal of the mineral concentrate.

It Will be evident that, where selective or collecting agents are required, (lifierent agents may be used having the desired selective or collecting or mineral modifying properties. Certain of these agents, such as thiocarbanilid and diazoaminobenzene, have Very marked selective or collecting or mi11- eral-modifyingproperties, but are substan tially devoid of frothing qualities. The use of terpin hydrate, according to the present invention, is therefore of particular Value in connection with the use of flotation agents of this character. The present invention can, however, be carried out with the use of other flotation agents, which may have both collecting and frothing qualities, but which are deficient in frothing qualities, and the requisite frothing properties can be impartof the terpin hydrate, in

ed by the addition a manner similar to that above described.

lVe claim:

1. The method of effecting the concentration of minerals by flotation, which' com prises adding to the mineral pulp a small amount of terpin hydrate, and subjecting the resulting mixtureto a flotation operation; substantially as described.

amas? 2. The method of eflecting the concentration of minerals by flotation, which comprises adding to the mineral pulp a small amount of a selective or collecting or mineral-modifying agent, deficient in frothing qualities, together with a small amount of terpin hydrate, and subjecting the resulting mixture to a flotation operation; substantially described.

3. The method of effecting the concentration of copper sulfid ores by flotation, which comprises adding to the mineral pulp a small amount of an alkali and a. small amount of terpin hydrate, and subjecting the resulting mixture to a flotation operation; substantially as described.

4. The method of eiiecting the concentration of copper sullid ores by flotation, which comprises adding to the mineral pulp a small amount of an alkali, a small amount of a flotation agent deficient in frothing properties, and a small amount of terpin hydrate, and subjecting the resulting mixture to a flotation operation; substantially as described.

In testimony whereof We itifiX our signatures.

CLEMENT L. PERKINS. RALPH E. SAYRE;