Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1878-07-10

He Is for Revolution fn the Node
Of DIETING h Metals Out Of the
Ores.

OF GettinS the MetulS out oil the
Ores.
SECRET CANYON, New, June %, 1873.
EDITOR SENTINEL: In this age of ours
investigation and research are abroad.
science is what embraces the whole range
Of material things, their properties, the
changes they are capable Of undergoing,
and the laws Of their changes are being
thoroughly investigated. Science is so
rapidly reconstructing the past that the
theory of special creation is being ADAM
doned, and the theory Of evolution takes
its place. II is a philosophy OF the origi-
nation of things; to the ~geologist it is a
doctrine that explains the history of our
planet; to the ii is a theory for
the origin of stellar and planetary systems.
TIL development Of science Gas Tyndall
has well said is as necessary md ire
sistible as the motion Of the tides or the
flowing Of the Gulf Stream. The culture
Of man, through the study Of truth. is the
work Of science in the future. One hun
dred years ago Sir William Herschel dis
covered incorporating nebula in certain
regions Of the heavens; very little was
thought Of that great discovery at that
time. Follow out, however, the train of
thought that this discovery suggests and
it will be found that the discovery has had
an influence by. no means insignificant
As Draper has well said in his conflict be-
tween religion and science, the nebula n.y.
pothesis rests primarily on this discovery,
and the recognition OF the truth of that n.y.
pothesis compels us to extend our views of
the dominion Of law, and to recognize its
agency in the creation as we'll as in the
conservation of the innumerable orbs that
throng the universe. The primary con-
dition Of matter is in a state of nebulosity;
science demonstrates that the metals we dig
from the earth we're once in a nebulcus state.
The metal atom discovered by prismatic
or spectrum analysis away in space, in q
ncbulous state, is the primal condition Of
all metals. The original ocean, when de-
posted from a watery yapory atmosphere
that surrounded the Garth to a depth OF
thousands of miles, was a seething, boil
ing ocean, dissolving the forming granite
as it leaves the base of the red hot noun
tains holding the metals as well as those
minerals in solution that have contributed
to the formation Of the stratiied rocks.
No fact in science is more firmly estab-
lished than that the primary seas held in
solution a larger quantity Of the precious
4iOtdto thAn TIC R1CoClt bCao Il
No demonstration Of science bears upon its
face a clearer reduction than that
metals cam not from a sea Of fire
below, bnt from o sea Of water
above. The sediments Of the primary seas
became stratiied rocks, mixed with metal
atoms. BY atmospherieal and other inlu-
ences, these rocks were disintegrated
chemical, assisted by other agencies too
numerous to mention, to gather the atoms
Of metals from these layers of rocks and
form them into lodes or veins. The mar
wells of crystalline, electrical and mechan-
ical forces here come into play, assisted by
metalliferous and other solutions, from
which the various ore combinations could
be preeipitated into the lodes or veins. In
the reduction of metals from their ores by
heat, there is an immense waste by ~volatili-
cation; the metals are again driven into a
gaseous state, and the expense Of furnace
process will increase in the future as char
coal supplies get scarcer. The machinery
Of the quartz mill, for the pulverization OF
ores, is too ponderous, too complicated,
and too expensive for small m~ine-owners
to handle. A cheap chemical process, by
disintegration, is what we require. An
article appeared in the SENTINEL Of the
18th ult, taken from the Mining and
Scientific Press, under the caption of ssThe
Eureka PROCESS. IL is q desulphurlZing |
and amalgamating process, the ore being
first roasted and then disintegrated by i'm
mersion in a solution the nature of which
the inventor keeps secret, even from those
working the ores. Mr.. Blanding, the OPP |
orator, says it works well small lots Of ore
from 5 to 3S pounds. The writer of this
article has for some years, off and on, |
made this subject a study, and expert
mented much on the reduction Of gold and
silver-bearing quartz rock. 1t matters not
how dense or hard, he now can reduce so
pounds Of gold and silver-bearing ore in
about one hour. The ore is first roasted
and then disintegrated by immersion in q
very cheap solution, the cost being a mere
bagatelle. l have ascertained by expert
ment the kind Of solution that will disin-
tegrate quartz, gangue or ore. 1t may be
the same as Halleck's Eureka process; but,
if successful on a large scale, it will revo-
ntionize the present modes of reducing
metals from their ores. The chemicals
that are sufficient to reduce from so to 100
pounds of rock, can be carried in a mans
vest pocket.
I subscribe myself, respectfully,
john M. FOLEY.