Potash Refining
The Sylvinite ores mined in conventional mines contain Sylvite (20 to 30% K2O), Halite, sometimes Carnallite and 1 to 5% insol. Liberation, in some cases, is substantial at 1 cm (3/8 inch), and virtually complete in all cases at 14 mesh. The separation processes include dissolution of the Carnallite, and removal of the insols, followed […]
Garnet Abrasives
The mention of Garnet as a Gem is one of the very common misunderstandings about this mineral. The Garnet as a semiprecious stone does not belong in the story of Garnet, the industrial tool, and yet it shares with the diamond the double, virtue of being a thing of beauty and utility. Prior to about […]
Centrifugal Casting of Refractory Concretes
As part of its program to conserve the Nation’s natural resources by developing improved performance materials, the Bureau of Mines, U.S. Department of the Interior, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Energy, has conducted an investigation of materials of construction able to withstand the high temperature and hostile environments encountered in coal gasification units. […]
Potash Laboratory Flotation Tests
Large tonnages of high-grade sylvinite ores, containing low concentrations of water insolubles, have been processed in the Permian basin region near Carlsbad, N. Mex., during the past 40 years. The high-grade ores are rapidly being depleted, leaving large reserves of lower grade ore. This lower grade ore contains 1 to 8 percent water-insoluble slimes. These […]
Acid Activated Clay Adsorption Properties
Acid Treatment of Bentonite: Under the influence of a mineral acid the exchangeable alkaline earth ions of bentonite are substituted by hydrogen ions. Moreover, depending on the acid concentration, temperature, pressure and reaction time, a more or less pronounced leaching process takes place. Thereby Al-, Fe- and Mg-ions are extracted from the octahedron layers. This results […]
Fire Clay
With the rapid development of Canadian industries calling for the use of fire-brick for the lining of furnaces or cement-kilns, for constructing brick-kilns or coke-ovens, for lead-furnaces, etc., the question has often arisen whether the provinces within the Dominion have not the necessary raw materials for the manufacture of such refractory wares. The materials came […]
How to Make Salt by Solar Evaporation
Salt Making Processes The production of salt in the United States divides itself at the outset into two distinct classes: The mining of rock salt and its purification and separation into marketable sizes, and the production of salt by evaporation from brines, bitterns, and other solutions. The processes employed at the present time in the […]