Hosokura Lead and Zinc Mines, which is one of the most important lead and zinc producing mines in Japan, has been taken its ownership by the Kyoritsu Mining Company three years ago.
As there are a numger of veins, some of them being so big as 2 miles in length with the breadth of 5 to 30 feet, the company has intended to develop the mines, and to improve the gravity concentration will substituting with flotation process, and also to extend the electrolytic zinc plants.
In 1928, the company has started the proposed undertakings. first commencing with the opening of a new shaft, called Kanten Shaft, to sink it down below the levels thereto worked. Newly, air compressors of Rand and Ingersoll make have been introduced to have more effective results in working the mines. Two of 500 H. P. Diesel engines of Sulzer make were installed in order to supply enough power in case of want of hydro electric power in mid summer or in severe winter. At the same time, several improvements were made in many parts in the mills and metallurgical plants.
When the company intended to proceed on to put up a new flotation plants ousting the gravity concentration, there came an unexpected depression in the prices of zinc and lead, which were so low as quite unknown in the past historical records. Such coonditions made the company to postpone all the further undertakings in the mines as well as in the metallurgical plants.
But many experiments made in Hosokura as well as in a testing mill in Salt Lake City, U. S. A. showed that the differential flotation process is well suited for the ores of Hosokura, the extraction percentage of both lead and zinc concentrates being higher than 80%. As such excellent recoveries of both metals were obtained by flotation, much superseding the present gravity concentration, the company has for a temporary purpose put up a small flotation plant to treat the tailing coming from the present concentration mill, instead of supplanting the entire mill of the present existence. This tailing is of still containing 8% of zinc, and 90% of it is of very fine pulp below 200 mesh. For this tailing, flotation process has been applied to recover the zinc in it. From such refuses, hither thrown away into the dump, more than ¥20, 000 has been recovered in one year as net profit, after paying off all expenses incurred upon the metal produced.
All about the erectioin and the working details in this flotation plant, are fully described in this essay in Japanese, hereby submitted.
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