The object of this investigation was to determine the adaptibility sic to concentration on a Wilfley table of a certain tailing carrying silver, lead, and zinc. The material was from the tailing dump of the Red Elephant Mine, operated by the Danaher Mining and Milling Company, of Hailey, Idaho, who are now considering treating this material if it can be done economically --page 2

Dunn, Theodore Saunders

McBride, Roy Nicoll

English

Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T): Scholars' Mine

Scholars' Mine Bachelors Theses Student Theses and Dissertations 1914 An investigation in concentrating a certain tailing on Wilfley tables Theodore Saunders Dunn Roy Nicoll McBride Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/bachelors_theses  Part of the Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons Department: Recommended Citation Dunn, Theodore Saunders and McBride, Roy Nicoll, "An investigation in concentrating a certain tailing on Wilfley tables" (1914). Bachelors Theses. 150. https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/bachelors_theses/150 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars' Mine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Bachelors Theses by an authorized administrator of Scholars' Mine. This work is protected by U. S. Copyright Law. Unauthorized use including reproduction for redistribution requires the permission of the copyright holder. For more information, please contact scholarsmine@mst.edu. T331 AN INVESTIGATION IN'CONCENTRATING A.CERTAIN TAILING ON WILFLI:Y TABLES. BY THEODORE SAUNDERS DUNN AND ROY NICOLL McBRIDE. A THESIS ~. .- . .... .. . .... .. ...... submitted to the facu!~¥ or.';the:.·:·.·::,.::"~: SCH~L OF MINES AND· METALLURGY OF i-tiE. "U"Nf:v.ERSITY OF .. M-ISg(~trRI in partial fulfillment of the work' ~e·qi;.i::;~ci".:*:;;:~··,:·L~~~' -,-Degrees Of ·MASTER OF SCIENCE and ···SACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN GENERAL SCIENCE Rolla, . Mo. 1914. /~~~ Approved by ••••••••••••••••••••••••••• Aoting Professor of Metallurgy and Ore Dressing. (1 ) ';'CONTENTS-Object of the Investi~ation. Pap:e 2 • . Material to be treated., Page 2. Assay of the. material. Page 3. Screen analysis. Page 3. Preliminary tests. Page .4. 'Method used. Pap:e 4. Results of Unclassified feed. Page 5. Results of. classification. Page 6. Results of, concentration tests on: classified feed. Spigot No. 1 • Page 6. Spigot No. ?. Page 1. Spigot No. 3. Page 8. Spigot'No. 4. Page 8. SP.ip:ot No. 5. Page 9. Spip.:ot No. 6. Page 9. Conclusions drawn. Page 10. (2) AN INVESTIGATION IN CONCENTRATING A CERTAIN TAILING ON WILFLEY TABLES. The object of this investigation was to determ-ine the adaptibility tc concentration on a Wilfley table of a certain tailing carrying silver~ lead, and zinc. The material was from the tailing dump of the Red Elephant Mi~e , cperated by the Danaher Mining and Milling Company, of Hailey,'Idaho, who are now ccnsidering treating this material if it can be done economically. The material shipped to us for thisinvesti~a­ticn is evidently, to a great extent, a jig tailing product, as over 67' ~ of it was found to"be.larger than 12 mesh, grading from very fine material to pieces 1 inoh in diameter. The v,aluable content ccnsists of zinc,'lead, and silver. The two former ooouring as the sulphides,. sphalerite and ~alena, the silver bein~ associated with the ~alena. The gangue. material is quartz, .and ircn,. chiefly as pyrite, slthough there is a little siderite found. <:3) The material was. 'carefully sampled and assayed with the following results; Silver 6.45 oz. per ton. Zinc 3.35 % Lead 1.5{) 1. Iron 6.50 % Silica A screen analysis was then made and the pro-ducts of each screen assayed. The results are given in the fo'llow ing table. Mesh !hru On 6 6 12 12 24 24 35 35 48 48 65 65 8<' '80 100 1 Ot1 1 50 15n 200 200 Wgt. at 37.81 29.58 14.90 6.53 2.96 1 ~ 87 O.8? 1.?3 1 • 27 0.83 2.2n A~ 7.()8 5.44 5.08 5.32 5~40 5.40 5.9? 7.08 9.48 14.04 19.n8 Zn 3./6 ~.50 3.25 3.5() 3.55 3.30 3.3() 3.?4 3.50 3.22 2.26 Assay. Pb ().75 1 • 1 0 2.25 2.50 2.60 3.n5 2.8n 3.25 3.1'0 3.25 3.50 SiO 67.50 66.30 65.90 64.30 66.80 62.30 68.40 66.00 61 .3.0 66.30 ·66.80 (4) The first test in concentration was made on the material finer than 24 mesh and gave fair results. The' coarse material was then crushed thruugh 24 mesh and: concentrated but with very poor results. Crushing to 3G mesh gave no better results and examinaticn of the crushed material under a micro-scope showed that the crushing was net fine enough to release the: contained values. Small amounts of the material were then taken and: crushed to varicus sizes to determine, if possible the size at which the maximum amount of valuable material was freed fer ccncentraticn. The results shewed that, while fine crushing released the values, crushing finer than 40 mesh: caused the silver and lead to slime ~c badly that it was impossible to recover them en a Wilfley table. It was:acccrdingly decided to crush throu~h 40 mesh and try the effect of treating. classified and unclassified feed on the table. One hundred pounds of the material was crushed through 40 mesh and concentrated. The 'run resulted in 3.34 po~nds of: concentrate, practically a 30 to ., concentration. The amount of valuable.material reccvered in the: cencentrate was very small and the percenta~e of recovery was too low to be eC0ncmical as is shown in the table on the following page. C5 ) Unclassified feed to Wilflev Table. Feed.- 100 pounds throu~h 40 mesh. Concentrate.- 3.34 pcunds. Feed. Concentrate. Middlings. Tailing. Slime. Assavs. Ag (pz) 6.45 S.08 2.14 6.04 Percentage of total values concentrates was as follows; S il ver 28.00 % Zinc 52.60 % Lead 31.70 % Zn <%) 3.35 23.50 2.17 1.55 1 .14 recovered in Pb (%) 1.50 6~32 ().91 0.72 2.17 the (6) An equal amcunt cf the material was then, ciushed thrcugh 40 mesh and classified in a six spigot. hydrau-ic: classifier the resulting products being'as fellows: S-pigot. Weight Assay of Prcduct. of Product. Ag (oz) Zn ( ~) Pb (% ) No. 14# 5.70 6.10 1.30 , No. 2 20# 6~40 5.20 1 .49 No. 3 10# 5.?5 4.10 1.24 No. 4 8# 5.50 3.20 1 • 03 No. 5 12# 5.60 2.10 1 • , 7 No. 6 16# ' 6.00 1.25 1.29 Overflow 20# 9.27 1 • 00 2.39 These products were ;then concentrated with the following results~ Spigot No., 1 • Ag (oz) Zn (<«) Pb (~) Feed. 5.70 6.10 1 .30 Concentrate. 22.60 33.30 6.17 Middling. 5.20 2.00 0.73 Tailing. 0.725 '.325 0.39 (V) Percel3.tage of total values recovered in the concentrate was as followe~ Silver 56.70 at, Zil3.c 78.10 ~ '.Lead 67.80 % Spigot No.2. Ag (oz) ,Zn (%) Pb <%> Feed. 6.40 5.20 1.49 Concentrate. 21.20 20.00 4.3-9 Middling. 5.60 1.40 O~84 Tailil3.g. 2.08 1'.54 0.54 Percentage of total value recovere-d in the col3.oentrate; Silver 6'6'.25 ( Zinc 77.00 ~ Lead 49.30 % (8) Spigot No. 3. Ag ( ~z). Z:n «() Pb <%) Feed. 5.25 4.10 1.24 Concentrate. 18.80 18.00 2.80 Middling. 9.08 4.00 0.75 Tail ing. 0.21 2, •. 16 0.33 Percentage of "total value recovered in the :conoentrate: Silver 55.70 % Zinc 65.95 % Lead 30.30 % Spigot No. 4. Ag (pz) Zn «() Pb <%) Feed. 5.50 3.20 1.03 Concentrate. 19.36 16.00 4.50 Middli;J;g. 7.10 3.00 O~81 Tailing- 2.09 1 .40 0.32 (9) Percentage of toatal value recovered in the concentrate: Silver 44.0n % Zinc 62.50 % "Lead 60.80. % Sp igot No. 5. Ag (oz) Zn (%) Pb {% ) Feed. 5~6O 2.10 1 • 1 7 Concentrate. 23.40 8.00 4.50 "Middling. 3.0n 1 .00 0.39 Tailing. 1 .40 0.83 0.26 Percentage of total value recovered in the concentrate; S i1 ver 69.70 % " Zinc 63.50 % "Lead 64.2f' tt: Spigot No. 6. Ag (02;) Zn (ct) Pb (~ ) Feed. 6.00 1.25 1.29 ; Concentrate. 22.30 5.00 5.18 "Middling. 3.no 4.()O 1.08 Tailing. 1 • 1 6 3.15 0.35 (1 0) Percentage of total value recovered in the : concentrate: Silver 69.70 % Zinc 75.00 % Lead 75.4.0 % . The results of the investigation as a whole were unsatisfactory, while one cr twc of the runs made on olassified material gave a fair recovery of t~e values: contained, the total amount recovered was very low and the amount lost in the slimes excep-tionally large. These values contained in the slime are a total loss as attempts to recover them on tables and slimers were absolute failures. Also the values recovered in the. concentrate were combined silver, lead, and zinc and, before the product: could be.marketed, it ~uld be necessary for the zinc to be separated from the lead and silver by some.method. After this was done the finished products would. have to'be shipped to a smelter some distance from the mine. The combined: costs of treo.tment, fre ight, and smelter. ,char~es would be ,more than the values recovered would warrant, We therefore draw the, conclusion that this ,material: oannot be profitably treated on Wilfley tables or by other. means of water: concentration, Some other, method, must· be found if it, is ever expe cted to treat,th'is.material at a profit. 

An investigation in concentrating a certain tailing on Wilfley tables

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An investigation in concentrating a certain tailing on Wilfley tables

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