The Placer herald., 1857-04-11
Probable Revolution in the Process of Ex-
tracing Gold from Quartz.

Benjamin Uardinge has published long
article in the New York Tribune, in which
he explains process discovered by him for
dissolving large quantities of quartz, and then
using the liquid stone in moulding marble.
granite, artificial prophyry, jasper, and al
most all precious stones, promising an entire
change in building material, statuary etc.
In addition to this he asserts that he can
turn twenty-five tons Of solid quarts into so
luton in one day by his process, when all
the gold contained in the rock preciptates
and is saved creating an entire revolution in
the present system of crushing quarts, and
extracting the precious metal by the assist
ance Of the amalgum. The Importance of
the discovery to California, induces us to
give an extended description Of the moduS
opeyandi by which the astonishing result is
obtained.
The process of dissolving the rock is thus
described:
81 first build a cacning kiln, holding
about twenty five tons of Quartz, with the
fire only in each side at the front. The floor,
CRATE and trap bridge are upon declipity at
an angle of 80 degrees, to facilitate its tomb
ling into the cold tank, fed by pipe Of cold
water The quartz, thus rendered friable
and somewhat porous, is tumbled again into
scoop platform of like descent into the
'Poste- NIP of circular construction, embrac-
ING all the facilities of crushing and sitting in
a very rapid manner, with less than four
horse power to turn the shaft, which raises
from dozen to twenty iron pestles, with
case-hardened steel facing) each peste hav-
ing a small pulley for a succession of inclined
planes in a steel rim to traverse upon. The
shaft carries also around with it a shoveler
in form somewhat similar to a ploughshare,
close to the stamping floor, the latter being
of solid timber, covered with succession Of
iron bars bent in and against each other.
The shaft also carries metallic sieve with
its knocker. From this mill the pulverized
quartz finds its way by IA continuous descent
into the digester or boiler, being first satur-
ated on its passage thence with small guam
tity Of the cheapest solvents rendered caustic
by lime. In regions remote from civiliza-
ton, where there are no facilities for trans
porting the liquor of flint, the solvents are
desiccated and used over again. Thus. by
the powerful chemical action and the happy
result of an advantage taken by highly heat
ed steam being brought to bear upon susccD-
tile quartz, in addition to the latent heat,
and dry heat as well as humid heat, the pro-
cess is completed. The solution is perfect,
with quartz greatly in excess. There is not
a particle of quartz to be found in sediment,
while the gold precipitates and get it all;
use no amalgam. When each batch shall
have been perfectly issolved-which re-
quires about an hour-it is then drawn off
in large receiving tank, made Of rough
plank and covered with my porcelain mortar,
and made very smooth inside, calculated to
hold all the working of two days; when tank
No. 2 is also filled with boiling liquor of
quartz, (gold and all;) when this is full from
other two days working No. 8 is filled in
like manner-which just finishes the week.
On the following Monday, all the gold in No.
l has precipitated; hence the supernatant
liquor of flint is thrown off into the common
general reservoir. A small car traverses
under the bottom of Nos. l, 2 and tanks.
The gold is taken out, with little water,
through a faucet in the bottom, and carried
to the drying-room in pans of three feet,
made Of Across TIM
In addition to the importance Of this dis
covery in separating precious metals from
rock the gentleman has moulded from the
molten stone, most beautifully coored build
ing slabs, with which he intends to erect
houses. These stones, he says, surpass any
thing in beauty the eye ever saw, and are
pressed in the shape Of bricks, and nortared
together with a fluid of the same material Of
the stone, so cohesive that they will never
disintegrate. His astonishing assertions are
fully corroborated by many eminent scien-
tifc gentlemen, who agree that the discovery
is the most useful and wonderful of the age.
WHAT NEXT?-ALlEGED CURE OF HYDRO
PHoBIA.-M. Guerin Meneville lately brought