The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1878-07-25

n
sections OF North tarolIna al, 4uua.
merable gold VEINS, 81 good size, Ja4
excellent yield, but which .ue =o lock
ed up in ,ulphuret-, and quartz psrl,e9.
that the precious metal l. nuu-oumo-
at-able by the ordinary me;hod, OF ez
traction, v hIic the expenses ot ship
ping | lac ores To New \ ok. ~ Swansea.
r. gland, deterS our clJlZ ms from al
tempting to utilize them. IL happens,
therefore, that many "a poor farmer.
scratching the backs of red clay ridge,
for "A bare subsistence OF bacon and
corn bread from year u year, has
under his feet rich deposit, OF yellow
gold that " Would make hnl ludepcn-
dent If some reasonably cheap method
of extracting the sulphurcts could bc
invented. Many times We have seen
announcements that such methods
have been discovered. Eut the fol
lowing from the \. Y. sun l. the
most promising up to date
BILLIONS Or DOLLARS, II Il SAID. Can
BE SAVED BY \ NEw rRoo Is>o.
Experiments w re tried at - Gocrck
street yesterday III reducl < gold ore.
The saving applies to golG and silver
ores not hitherto capable OF beng
worked by reverDeatOry furnaces. the
method III use III the great mining re-
gions OF the West The ore. att-r it is
crushed to powder, - roasted
in reverberatory furnace, to drive
off the sulphur With which the gold II
connected, and from which 1t i witt
the greatest difficulty separated. t.
liberate sulphur from gold ore - the
problem which the miner, the chem
ISt, and the uSsayer have endeaNorcd to
solve since -, and the nearest ap
proach to the solution has been the
reverberatory furnace. Tire propric-
tors of these furnaces in Colorado. Ma
vada, and Arizo a have charged the
miner $50 ton to smelt III, ores. be
cause the cost OF the reduction amount
ed to at least from $23 To so a ton.
The natural result Is that all sulphu
retted ores that do not ASSAY $50 To the
ton are left untouched. W men 1t was
remembered that there is Just about
ten times as much Sulphurctted OF
lean ore as of fat ore III the gOlC. 1t l9
seen that, when "a process can he OBJ
tanned by which it Will pa, to handle
the hitherto unremunerdtlNc ores. than
billions OF dollar can be saved. Such
a process. 1t Is asst rted, has been InNen
ted and "a ton of ore which formerly
would not be looked at Will pay I'll,
miner $40. and also the omciting Aork-
so. leaving so tor the cost OF reduC
ing by the old process being $50.
For experimenting furnace ha-
been built at % Goerck street by the
Brewster Reduction Company, and an
experienced asoayer from Colorado.
Adolph BehrS. superntends the works.
The roasting oven l. nearly circular.
twelve feet III diameter, and has the
advantage OF working nearly automat-
Ically. IN the ordinary revcrberdtorN
roasting furnaces there are two or
three and even tive terraCcd hearths.
making the machine fifty feet long
Tho labor in the old furnaces Is done
by hand. consisting mostly Of rabbling
the powdered ore Inces>antly, an eX-
penditure Of great labor and time
The production Is small, and the com
pletenesS OF the roasting depends Oh
the efforts of the work men. The
Brewo oter furnace has flat circular
hearth. consisting OF an IRON shell.
filled with five inches OF fire cay. Its
circumference underneath II fitted
with teeth and driven by d gear wheel
giving a rotary motion to the hearth.
The hearth moves on a number Ot balls
underneath. ThrOu4h the centre of
this hearth rises the main ar pipe,
through which the air for the conbu,-
ton of the sulphur passes. ] h air
tube extends from the blower outside
through d pipe, and, passing up
through the centre into four hollow
stationary arms. SIX inches IN diane
ter. and crossing at right angles. it
passes into hollow teeth underneath
the arms hat discharge the air INTO
the red-hot ore, revolving against
them on the circular iron plute. The
air passage through the pipes. the
combustion of the sui phur III the ore
is rapid and complete The ore,
which has been introduced like wheat
into hopper. runs ont IN the same
manner. Twenty five ton, Of z id
ores, heavily sulphuretted, from ur
mtnes In North Carolina We're expert
mented with They carried from i :
per cent. OF sulphurets In the crude
ore, and after going through the fur
mace for twenty minutes not d sign u
smell OF sulphur could be detected.
The experiments are satisfactory to
to those having charge of them. and a
furnace Is TO be constructed in Black
hawk Col. An old California miner
who was present SAID that the results
are marvellous. but he desired to see
the experiment tried on d larger scale |
before he can believe in its success.