Show chloride volatilization tests mining aig men and metallurgists of the country are watching the large scale tests being made at the university of utah of the chloride volatilization process which has been receiving the attention of the U S bureau of mines and the metallurgical research department at the university the process has been tested in the laboratories on a small scale and is now being tried in a furnace of semi commercial size this process is primarily for the treatment of low grade and complex oxidized ores large tonnages ton nages of which exist in utah experiments on certain of these ores indicate that comparatively large recoveries of the lead silver and copper values can be made by this volatilization process under proper conditions in order to determine the amenability of different ores to the treatment a small rotary furnace and of laboratory size have been installed in the laboratory where the preliminary tests have been carried on recently another building has been equipped with a rotary kiln furnace semi commercial in size where large scale tests are tried to determine whether the results obtained in the small laboratory furnace can be duplicated on in a large scale application of the process this chloride volatilization process con fists ats of crushing the ore to the desired finess less and mixing with agents tile the mixture is then put into the rotary kiln furnace where tile the of the metal values and the volatilization of the metals is effected the metal chlorides are recovered covered by the use of cottrell tor rs and then treated to obtain the values ln in a metallic state operative cooperative co work is ng done with a mining company which is planning panning the erection of an up to dato date volatilization plant looking into oil shale problem although work is being concentrated on this process other problems are being worked out at the university laboratories among which is the possibility of utilizing the large deposits of oil shale in the state mr al J gavin who has charge of this phase of the work is now in washington D C consulting with the chief petroleum technologist of the bureau regarding the future work of the local department the department of metallurgical research was established at the university by legislative enactment in 1913 in 1914 a cooperative agreement was concluded with the U S bureau of mines and a building with adequate laboratories class rooms and offices was erected on the university campus for the use of both departments funds raised for research work through the efforts of dr john A soe president of the university of utah dr joseph F merrill dean of the state school of mines mr thomas varley metallurgist in charge of the bureau dr R H bradford and professor R S lewis professors in the school of mines and engineering a large suni sum has been raised for investigations of problems confronting the mining industry microscopic laboratory is popular at the university a microscopic laboratory is maintained that is used not only by the state but by all of the government stations in the west as well the laboratory is used mainly for investigation of problems in ore dressing mineral samples and ores are examined and prospectors and residents of tile the state are advised of the presence or absence of values in the samples submitted for examination the microscope affords a most useful means of determining features which otherwise would remain unknown its use in this respect has become more general as methods of preparation of ores and minerals for microscopic study are developed investigations conducted in the microscopic laboratory are mainly in connection with live problems of ore dressing and mill practice five fellowships a year offered five fellowships are offered each year they are for and run for twelve months the holders of these are required to register for courses in the university leading to a masters degree the men work under the direction of bureau of mines metallurgists and chemists and professors of mining and metallurgy of the university of utah the department of metallurgical research and the bureau of mines have published the following bulletins no S patents relating to oil flotation processes no 9 report of the department of metallurgical research 1914 1915 1916 no 10 mine sampling and the commercial value of ores no 11 descriptive bulletin of the department part ment of metallurgical research no nd 12 mineral industry in utah bulletin no 12 was prepared by professor R S lewis who has recently been asked by the government to supervise some investigations in alaska these bulletins are distributed without charge tile the work done at the university is in charge of thomas varley chief metallurgist at the U S bureau of mines and dr joseph F merrill dean of the state school of mines and engineering |