AbstractsEarth & Environmental Science

"In the work with minerals, there has been many mechanical means devised whereby the ores could be separated from the gangue and other material. Among those means which are used to-day, especially in the laboratory tests upon minerals, to quickly determine the value of an ore, heavy liquids have become quite popular. This means of mechanical separation is merely to place finely ground ore containing particles of varying density into a liquid of heavier density than the greater portion of the mineral, which will allow the heavier portions to sink and the lighter to float, which is usually gangue. This process is known as the sink-and-float method of separation. The purpose of this work was to increase, if possible, the specific gravity of some of the heavy liquids already in use, and prepare other compounds which may be soluble, or to devise some new method of preparing such a compound for this purpose, so that a greater concentration of ores could be made" – Introduction, p. 2.