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Show Bubbles At Work 1-83 I i ' , t ' i Flotation Cells where minerals are lifted to top by bubbles ItJ and saved for use In industry. 0 Probably no other industry is subject to the varyance of conditions condi-tions as is the mining industry-The industry-The fine line between success and failure of a mine is dependent upon many and varied conditions. Of Pi"1 course there are a few high grade rcfll mines that can produce without . much regard for varying condi- tions, but the yare very, very few M and do not last long if they do. One of the. things which Ihe jj mining industry of today relies so much upon is the science of flota- tion. If the mine can get its prod- uct past the flotation cells successfully, success-fully, it is usually okeh. But the bubbles, which pick up the particles of minerals in the flotation decide T1 the future of many prospects and ; mines. S ' Flotation is a scientitic develop-f develop-f menti which has been applied to the . J low-grade ores of Utah and other ? mining areas. In a sense it is sim- ilar to the milling of wheat, it I separates the wheat from the chaff, J i o j lnMi"' and a"jto"' I or the minerals from the waste or gangue. After the ore has been finely ground, it is sent to the flotation cells, where oil and other reagenls are added. The oils and reagenls form bubbles when subjected to agitation in the flotation cells. The bubbles percolate through the cells and come to I lie top in the form of froth. The mineral particles have an allinity for ihe bubbles or oily froth and as they form on top of the cells are skimmed or allowed to float off the top of Ihe cell. The barren rock or gangue on the other hand iu.s no affinity for the oil froth or bubbles and settles to the bottom of the flotation cell, where it is released and sent to the talings pond. The flotation process is reverse to the laws of gravity. The heavier particles, the metal, float to the top and are saved while the lighter particles sink to the bottom where they are discarded to the tailings ppnd. |