US1448928A

US1448928A - Method of concentrating ores

Info

Publication number: US1448928A
Application number: US226834A
Authority: US
Inventors: Luckenbach Royer
Original assignee: LUCKENBACH PROCESSES Inc
Current assignee: LUCKENBACH PROCESSES Inc
Priority date: 1918-04-05
Filing date: 1918-04-05
Publication date: 1923-03-20
Anticipated expiration: 1940-03-20

Description

Mar. 2@, H923, -1,448,92&

R. LUCKENBACH METHOD OF CONGENTRATING OR Filed Apr. 5, 191a miineose-s v Jhvevzzar l atenteel ar. 2%, 119230 lR-OYEE LUCKENBACH, OE BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNIOR T0 LUGEENEELCHI PROCESSES, INQ, OF-SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A COEPORATIQN 6F NEVADA.

METHOD OF CONCENTEATING GEES.

Application filed April 5,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Rom LUoKnNnAcH, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented a certain newand useful Method of Concentrating Ores, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the concentration of ore in which the valuable mineral constituents are separated from the 'valueless earthy or rocky content or gangue' with which they are naturally associated. Inthe practice of the invention advantage is taken of the known preferential affinity of certain substances for certain minerals which will attract, or be attracted by, such substances while at the same time the silicious gangue will not be so attracted but will be repelled. The invention is particularly directed to what may be termed the contact method of ore concentration in which the ore, in finely divided state, is mixed with water to form a pulp which is then brought into contact with a surface to which the mineral content of the ore will adhere. I

The invention comprises the employment of a selective agent having a great affinity for certain minerals and which will not attract or be attracted by gangue. The invention also comprises the method or process of utilizing such a selective agent.

The objects and advantages of the invention will be appreciated from a reading of the following specification and claims. 7

The invention is ap licable'to the treatment of metals in the fi'ee or virgin state as well as certain chemical combinations there off. By the process of the invention metallic minerals and their sulphides may be so a-. rated from the earthy gangue with which they are associated, and likewise certain nonmetallic minerals, such for example as sulphur and graphite, may be concentrated.

In addition to separating the valuable content of ores having a flinty or rocky gangue, the process may be carried out in connection with free metals found in placer or surface mining.

The invention may be carried out with all ores and their chemical compounds which are subject to concentration by the oil flotation methods at present in use, as well as with other mineral substances which will 1318. Serial 1%. 223,834.

not be acted on by the materials employed in the oil fiotationprocesses.

F or the purposes of carrying out the invention the selective material or agent comprises an unctuous material of animal, vegetable or mineral origin, a resinous material of which caoutchouc, copal, rosin, shellac, asphaltum, Burgundy pitch and North Carolina pitch are examples, or a combination of such unctuous and resinous materials.

The resin is rendered suitable for use in the invention by dissolving it in a suitable solvent, having water repellant characteristics. The oilyor greasy substance when of a heavy, thickw nature is preferably thinned to 'a proper consistency'by the addition of a thin oil.

Specifically the preferred selective agent comprises petroleum rease and rubber. The. rubber, preferably Tara rubber, is. prepared by dissolving it in a hydrocarbon solvent such as near-turpentine or other suitable solvent. Near-turpentine is a petroleum distillate from which the fat or grease has been removed. Tt is a clear, limpid liquid having the appearance of gasolene, benzene, or naphtha, and the odor of kerosene and is employed because of its cheapness, but many other rubber solvents may be employed, such, for example, as carbon disulphide. Thepetroleum grease which is naturally a thick, heavy substance is thinned by the rubber solvent, or any other suitable material,

to such an extent that it is capable of use in the process.

Petroleum grease and rubber when thus treated and combined produce a mixture having a consistency of approximately that of syrup. They may be combined in substantially equal proportions which will produce this liquor of the desired syrupy nature. The proportions of grease and rubber may vary considerably as depends upon the quality or kind of ore acted upon, and for various other reasons.

In the accompanying drawings, in which like parts in all of the figures are designated by similar characters of reference, are illustrated several means by which the process may be carried out, and inwhich I Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view of a belt vanner arrangement.

Fig. 2 is amodification showing a cylinder for carrying the pulp.

Fig. 3 shows the use of a and Fig. 4 illustrates an inclined chute.

The mixture of petroleum grease and rubher is placed, in the form of a thin coating, u on the surface of a continuously moving be t l, for example..- The ore pulp composed of ore and water is directed to the coated surfacefrom a hopper 2 whereupon the mineral Constituents of the ore will adrevolving table,

-here tothe coating and the Water and gangue will not adhere to the surface but will be discharged from the belt when the latter changes its direction of travel into a trough of launder 3. The coating will adhere to the belt and the mineral matter will be retained in contact .with the coating against dislodgment by centrifugal force or by agitation. The coating with the adhering mineral will be removed from the belt inany desired manner, as by means of a scraper 4 and directed into a receptacle 5. The surface of the belt is re-coated automatically as from a reservoir '8 or otherwise and the operations are repeated whereby the process is continuous.

tive agent the separation may be-effected in be applied to a press or centrifugal machine.

If the recovery of the selective agent is not a consideration, it,-'the agent,-may be removed from the concentrates by a suitable solvent of the agent or b burning.

Instead of a moving bel i the coating'may rotating or roclring table-7, to the surface of a cylinder 8, or to an inclined chute 9 along which the pulp may be caused to flow.

When the rotating-table 7 is employed the gangue and water may be expelled by centrifugal force. The surface of the table may be scraped and dressed as in the method shown in l, or the table may be'coated and scraped by hand.

In the method illustrated in Fig. t the chute '9 is coated by hand, the water and gangue will travel along the surface by gravity, the values will adhere to the surface and the chute may be scraped at the end of the run.

The contact method of ore concentration employing the selective agent herein disclosed possesses many advantages over the oil flotation methods now in use. It perthe process of this invention it is not necessary to float the mineral and the ore need not be ground. to a degree of fineness e:'-'

seeding 30 mesh. This will reduce the expense of grinding and the present process will permit of a much greater recovery of mineral in the same length of time than is possible by the flotation methods.

The contact method is also more economical than the flotation system for the reason that it requires less power, is automatic, and continuous.

In the flotation process the oil may be used but once as it cannot be recovered, whereas in the process of the present invention the selective agent may be recovered and re used.

It is to be understood that the selective agent ,comprising petroleum grease and liquid rubber above described is the preferred selective agent but it is not the intention to limit the invention to the use of such an agent.

Liquid rubber alone may be employed as the mineral selective agent and. will give excellent results. Petroleum grease alone may be used. When so employed the grease .must be cut to a syrupy consistency, preferably by the use of a thin liquid hydro-carbonsolvent. The addition of liquid rubber to petroleum grease increases the mineral selective qualities of the latter in proportion to the-amount of rubber used.

Any of the suitable resins or oils alone may be used as the mineral selective agent for the purposes of this invention, it being understood, that the resins will be previously dissolved in a suitable solvent, for use in the form of a coating for the belt or other surface of the apparatus, to which the ore pulp is to. be directed. Qert'ain of the oils which may be used as a mineral selective agent must be modified to produce a coating which will be of a slippery, slimy, or sliclr character rather than of a gluey or tacky nature. For example, if asphaltum were to be used it would be so tacky or gluey that it would retain both the mineral and the gangue upon the belt instead of separating the IUlIIGIal from the gangue, but when asphaltum is combined with a fatty acid it losses its character of tachiness an becomes of a sufliciently smooth or slick character to serveas a gangue repellant while retaining its mineral selective qualities.

For the purpose of more eiiicient action as a mineral selector therefore, it is prefer able to combine a resinous and an oleaginous substance, as the combination of the two substances tends to increase the selectiveness for miner-eh oi hoth. The addition. the resin especially rubber; muses the oily substance to adhere to the belt and tends to remove the tendency of the oils (which tendency is greater in some oils than in others to iiont oii the belt or other contact surface in the enter oi" the ore pulp, or to scour 01? by the gzingue. Rubber also provides a protective, water-proof coating for the belt and protects it from injury.

The liquid rnhher inipartsto the oil or grease an added quality of cohesion and of resistance to water, thus preventing the oil from dissipating.

Having thus described my invention, what claim is 1. The method of concentrzrtingore, which comprises mixing the ore with Water to form a. pulp directing the pulp to a surface comprising petroleum grease and rubher to which the mineral content will mi.

here and separating the mineral from the material.

The method. of concentrating oreqvhich comprises mixing the ore with water to form pulp, directing the pulp to a surface comprising petroleum grease and liquid. rubber to which the mineral content will adhere, and separating the mineral from the material.

3. The method f con :entrating ore, which comprises mixing the ore with Water to form a pulp, directingthe pulp to a surface comprising petroleum grease and rubber dissolved in a hydro-carbon to which the mineral content will adhere, and separating the rnineral'from the material.

This specification signed and witnessed this thirtieth (lay f March, 1918.

EQYER LUCKENBACH.

Witnesses:

A. E. RENTON, M, I. VVARIL