The weekly union record., 1866-01-20

M 0OLO CEfAhATUR.-lD CQlcagO
Tribune, Of Dec. 5th, gives q report of q
committee Of gentlemen, interested 10 mining
for the precious metals. upon the workings
OF q new invention called the "Gold Separator, u
in which melted lead is used instead of quick
silver. The committee say, in their report,
that it can scarcely be doubted that the intro
duction of this machine Twill prove an era in
the history of gold mining. By its use. the
tsilings of other machines, which have been
piled up as so much valueless sand, can be
made to yield better return than the freshly
crushed quartz BY the quicksilver process.
The benefits of an increased production of gold
will be national, as we'll as individual. and we
can afford to rejoice over an invention which
promises to enrich the nation as we'll as the
ingenious inventor" We quote from the
report as follows:
within two years past, some attention has
been paid by inventors to the properties of lead
as on amslgamator. 1t was known that melted
lead would form complete alloy with gold,
and, moreover, that it would dissolve those
foreign substances which so often prevent
quicksilver from Incorporating the gold But
lead is not at atmospheric Temperatures a fluid
metal, and can only be made so BY over 600
degrees OF heat, and. when so melted, RAPIDLY
combines with and extracts from the gold the
crude material with which it may come in
contact. Chicago has taken the lead iu the
invention of lead amalgamato-s. About two
voo af
the first machines of this kind. Since that
time, machine has been invented and patented
by John Is: Atwater, of Chicago, for the same
purpose. Several other machines of this kind
have also been patented. The machine lately
invented and patented by another citizen
OF Chicago, Willard NJ. Fuller, whose practical
workings we have witnessed, to-day, promises
to fulfill the requirements of the quartz miner,
so far as its mechanical construction is con-
cerned. In this machine. the lead comes in
contact only with the gold bearing quartz itself,
which is simply forced through it by the crea
tion of a vacuum. 1t depends on the fact that
pulverized quartz is as imperyious to air as
water, and that it is lighter than the melted
lead. The machine Of Fuller occupies less
room than an ordinary tanning mill. The lead
is contained in an iron vessel, and is kept in
Auidity by a coal fire underneath. The quartz
is then forced through the lead by the pressure
of the atmosphere, and passes off into receiver
made for the purpose, leaving all the gold, as it
is claimed in the lead . In an air.tight vessel.
partially filled with melted lead, which is kept
in fluid state by a fire in a furnace underneath
the vessel, is inserted q cast iron cylinder, sur
mounted BY hopper open at the bottom, and
extending into the lead to within a short dis
taDce Of the bottom of the vessel. This cylinder
serves as a receiver, into which the quartz is
placed. The exterior air tight vessel above
the lead is connected with an airtight pump.
When the air is exhausted above the lead, the
pressure Of the atmosphere on the column
of quartz in the cylinder forces it down to the
bottom of the cylinder, escaping from which, it
rises through the melted lead By virtue of its
own specific gravity, being less than the lead
whence, when i accumulates to certain hight,
it passes off through a pipe to "tailings'
receiver, every grain of it having gone through
column of fluid lead several inches deep. The
lead can be drawn off at any time. and the gold
separated from it by the usual process"