Alexander Stanley Elmore

Alexander Stanley Elmore was a British technologist, known for his joint development with his brother, Francis Edward Elmore, of flotation processes. These processes are crucial in metallurgy for separating valuable ore, such as copper, from worthless material.

The brothers were involved in the electrolytic refining of copper. Francis invented the "bulk oil process," patented in 1898, which was the first commercially used flotation method. This process involved grinding ore, suspending it in water, and adding oil. The oil would adhere to the mineral particles, carrying them to the surface as it floated. Later, they developed the "Elmore vacuum process," which used less oil and became widely adopted for concentrating low-grade ores in the 20th century.1