University of California Berkeley Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Western Mining in the Twentieth Century Series Frank F. Apian MINERAL EDUCATION GENERALIST, PROFESSOR OF METALLURGY AND MINERAL PROCESSING, 1951-1998 With Introductions by Dr. Barbara Arnold and Dr. Douglas Fuerstenau Interviews Conducted by Eleanor Swent in 1998 Cnnvrieht CO 9003 hv The Rfioents nf the TTnivprsitv nf r.alifnmia Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of northern California, the West, and the nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. ************************************ All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Frank F. Apian, dated July 20, 1998. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Bancroft Library, Mail Code 6000, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Frank F. Apian, "Mineral Education Generalist, Professor of Metallurgy and Mineral Processing, 1951-1998," an oral history conducted in 1998 by Eleanor Swent, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2003. Copy no. TABLE OF CONTENTS-Frank F. Apian PREFACE i INTRODUCTION by Barbara J. Arnold xii INTRODUCTION by Douglas W. Fuerstenau xiii INTERVIEW HISTORY xvi BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION xvii I CHILDHOOD AND EDUCATION IN SOUTH DAKOTA, 1923 TO 1948 1 A Pioneer South Dakota Family 1 Depression, Drought, Grasshoppers, and Self-Reliance 2 South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, 1941-1942, 1946-1948 4 Return to College as a War Veteran in 1946 5 School of Mines Leaders in Research and Publication 7 Summer Jobs at Homestake: "Walking Feed" at the Stamp Mill 12 Learning at the Counter-Current-Decantation Pilot Plant 14 "Junior Year with Uncle Sam," 1942 to 1946; Combat in Europe 18 H MONTANA SCHOOL OF MINES, 1948 TO 1950 25 Research on Separation of Galena from Sphalerite 25 A Summer Job at Day Mines as a Surveyor, 1949 27 Butte, a Dynamic Town; Good Live Music 29 m WORKING AT CLIMAX MOLYBDENUM COMPANY, 1 950-5 1,1953 34 Working as a Laborer on the "Moly Hill" 34 An Unusual Plant to Recover Trace Minerals 37 Water-Plant Foreman: Good Experience for Later Teaching 42 Return to Climax in 1953 to Work on Tin Recovery 48 IV TEACHING AND GRADUATE STUDIES, 1 95 1 TO 1 957 59 Assistant Professor of Mineral Engineering, University of Washington, 1951-1953 59 Learning About Coal Preparation and Processing 61 Graduate Student at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1953-1957 65 Earning the Sc.D., Learning the Procedure of Research 73 V KENNECOTT COPPER CORPORATION, 1957, UNION CARBIDE CORPORATION, 1957 TO 1967 78 Research Laboratory in Salt Lake City Serving Five Divisions 78 Research Engineer, Electrometallurgical Company, Foreign Mining Division 82 The Sterling Forest Laboratory at Tuxedo, New York 86 Research on Chrome 88 Research on Manganese 89 Adventures in Guyana 92 Research on Columbium/Niobium 98 Research on Tin and Appropriate Technology in Thailand 1 02 A Different Smelter with Two Reverberatories and an Electric Furnace 1 06 Designing a Dry Plant for Final Concentration 108 Linde Division of Union Carbide and Zeolites 109 Successful Exploration for Natural Zeolites 110 Developing a Superconducting Magnet 111 Learning as a Furnace Tapper During a Strike 113 Group Manager for Mineral Engineering Research and Development: Identifying Problems 115 VI PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY, 1 967 TO 1 998 119 Heading a Department, Broadening Research 119 Recruiting a Faculty from Around the World 123 Environmental Pollution Control a New Concern 126 Teaching Elements of Mineral Processing, 1968 to 1998 128 Stressing Problem Discipline 1 29 Teaching Flotation in a Unique Hands-on Laboratory 131 Developing Self-Reliant Graduate Students 133 Visiting Mining Operations and Attending Conferences to Keep Current 135 VH RESEARCH PROJECTS 137 Coal Flotation to Separate Out Pyrite 137 Other Coal Research: Quantification of Hydrophobicity; Oxidization 140 Zeolites: Beneficiation and Ion Exchange Properties 141 Developing a Method to Increase Recovery of Oil from Shale 143 Finding Ways to Neutralize Acid Mine Drainage 144 Identifying and Removing the Minerals in Blackwater 145 Improving Methods of Gravity Concentration of Ores and Heavy Media Separation 146 Research on Flotation of Copper Ores 147 Other Research in Flotation of Minerals 1 50 Funding of Mineral Processing Research 1 52 Australia s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization 155 Family Life 158 Vm PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATION ACTTVnTES AND AWARDS 1 6 1 The Engineering Foundation 1 6 1 The National Academy of Engineering 1 64 American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers 1 68 Other Society Memberships 1 68 Professional Awards Won 169 Avocations: Mining History, Photography, Narrow-Gauge Railroads, Music 171 Family Support Through Bouts of Cancer 1 76 Mild Student Protests at Perm State 1 83 Mentors, Paying Forward; Apian Scholarship for American Indians 1 84 TAPE GUIDE 187 APPENDIX A. "Lifelong Teacher & Researcher in the Mineral Industry," by Carla Sahr, South Dakota Hall ofFame, Volume XXIV, Fall 1 998. 188 B. Resume, Frank F. Apian 190 C. Publications, Frank F. Apian 191 D. "Coal Dictate Coal Flotation F. Properties Strategies, Gaudin Lecture 1992," by F. Apian Mining Engineering, January 1993. 204 INDEX 218 PREFACE The oral history series on Western Mining in the Twentieth Century documents the lives of leaders in mining, metallurgy, geology, education in the earth and materials sciences, mining law, and the pertinent government bodies. The field includes metal, non-metal, and industrial minerals. In its tenth year the series numbers thirty-five volumes completed and others in process. Mining has changed greatly in this century: in the technology and technical education; in the organization of corporations; in the perception of the national strategic importance of minerals; in the labor movement; and in consideration of health and environmental effects of mining. The idea of an oral history series to document these developments in twentieth century mining had been on the drawing board of the Regional Oral History Office for more than twenty years. The project finally got underway on January 25, 1986, when Mrs. Willa Baum, Mr. and Mrs. Philip Bradley, Professor and Mrs. Douglas Fuerstenau, Mr. and Mrs. Clifford Heimbucher, Mrs. Donald McLaughlin, and Mr. and Mrs. Langan Swent met at the Swent home to plan the project, and Professor Fuerstenau agreed to serve as Principal Investigator. An advisory committee was selected which included representatives from the materials science and mineral engineering faculty and a professor of history of science at the University of California at Berkeley; a professor emeritus of history from the California Institute of Technology; and executives of mining companies. Langan Swent delighted in referring to himself as "technical advisor" to the series. He abetted the project from the beginning, directly with his wise counsel and store of information, and indirectly by his patience as the oral histories took more and more of his wife s time and attention. He completed the review of his own oral history transcript when he was in the hospital just before his death in 1992. As some of the original advisors have died, others have been added to help in selecting interviewees, suggesting research topics, and securing funds. The project was presented to the San Francisco section of the American Institute of Mining, "Old-timers Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) on Night," March 10, 1986, when Philip Read Bradley, Jr., was the speaker. This section and the Southern California section of AIME provided initial funding and organizational sponsorship. The Northern and Southern California sections of the Woman s Auxiliary to the AIME (WAAIME), the California Mining Association, and the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America (MMSA) were early supporters. Later the National Mining Association became a sponsor. The project was significantly advanced by a generous bequest received in November 1997 upon the death of J. Ward Downey, UC Berkeley alumnus and early member of the mining series advisory committee. His own oral history was completed in 1992. Other individual and corporate donors are listed in the volumes. Sponsors to date include nineteen corporations, four foundations, and 113 individuals. The project is ongoing, and funds continue to be sought. The first five interviewees were all born in 1904 or earlier.