The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1879-06-05
June 5, 1879
puE SOLVED.
,-e.actory Ores Worked by the
COLONIZATION Process.
CONCORD, n. c., May p

rrg;cai WOlhS VI ~
- are located in this county, about
800 miles from Concord. The works
,rare in full operation. One visit is
.ronoh to convince tie most skeptlcal
III tbat ch~lorination, as applied by
,roores to the sulphureted ores of
h Carolina. is one of the greatest
,-araents of the age. For many
,rs untold wealth has renamed I'M
''cbed bv man tor want OF some
pIao,;cal appliance to extract the gold
aDm the sulphureted ores, which IN
.,naral are 50 refractory III character as
L,Gie the skill of every individual
bo. undertaken to extract the
NHo a;tber by working the ores while
raw state, or desulphurlzing them
II ." any, Of the various methods and
"! mo- the same by amalgamatlon.
ifthauGb amalgamation with mercury
tho most ancient and general process
f,r collecting gold from p%ulverized
anriferous ores, yet only in rare lnstan-
49, has a~malganation ever collected
from the decomposed ores, on the FIRST
working. more than fifty per cent. OF
nm e.say of the same ores, showing a
lac from various causes OF one hall OF
tho GOLD actually contained in the ores.
. Greater loss has always been sustain
81 from the sulphureted ores, the gold
IN such ores being more finely dissent
roted through the mass, and the sui
.z,I - h 1rpc apFJnp- on
The mercury not only prevented the
contamination to a very great extent,
Int the mercury itself would become
ca Toured or divided into such fine
oIohules, as to pass off into the water,
carving gold with it. From the dis
covery Of gold in California III l649,
fbe attention Of numbers OF indiyidu-
ais has been turned towards the pull
vpgizing and desulphurizing Of the
sulnhuret ores to be found in such vast
Quantities in the auTiferous ore belt OF
North Carolina. Those individuals
directed their energy and ability from
1852 to 1856 on various mechanical
appliances for pulverizing the a%uriter-
Gus ores to an impalpable powder, and
collecting the gold by amalgamation.
The most noted machines at that time
or period were the Berdan machine,
Cochran's crusher and Bullock's crush
er. Each and all in their turn passed
ont Of notice, not having accomplished
the desired end. The next idea which
suggested itself was that Of desulphur-
izing the %sulphureted auriferous ores
with the use of superheated steam, and
collecting the gold by amalgamation.
The greatest difficulty encountered by
any Of the numerous processes has
been in The amalgamation. All ma
chinery invented up to the present
time fer amalgamation has proved
itself to tie detective in one or more
points sufficient to prove beyond a
doubt that amalgamatioL is not suffi-
GENTLY effective to collect all the gold
contained in the ores, or even with the
best appliances 10 collect more than
from sixty to seventy-fve per cent. of
III assay.
The process Of c~hlorination has long
been known, but Its successful applica-
ton on a large scale has proved Il fail
uTP, until DR.. Meares, in his laboratory
IN Philadelphia, was fully convinced
from actual experiment that it could be /
made effective on a large scale, and
every obstacle heretofore encountered
IN extracting all the gold from the ores
could he overcome by his treatment of
THE same 10y chloriuation, and the vast
wealth Of the world. contained in the
aunterous sulphureted ores, could, by
asH-aii additional expense over the or
oihaiy cost Of treating the raw ores. be
brought into use. With this convic-
uon upon his mind, and d d~etermina-
ZION 10 develop the facts and convince
r'alsth 81 the feasibility of working
'He ores on q large scale, and extract
i'G all the gold contained in the ores,
ana That at a very nominal cost. he, in
'Ng year 1874, undertook to find a To-
eal'y on which to erect works. This
t14ulfeo some time and caution. To
1A0' INST a locality which could, if
-5gfssafy, furnish a large quantity of
3I'PHuiet ores per day; second, where
s tao0r was cheap, and, third, where
-"5l was also cheap. After consider
- I'eht III examining dlHeTent
~~'e5ie>, he determined to locate in
4" l"0arrus county, on what is known
- '9e Golden Valley belt. Here he
a.. Igund the sulphuret ores in great
@LaHGance-supposed to be inexausti-
n n-l3' OF iron and copper, very rich
e''', by has process of chlorination;
- refractory in character that by
:, oiuihary process of CHILEAN mills or
,:ps Dafely sufficient gold could be
~."i1ea from the ores to meet the cur
AMI 'Apenees OF carrying on the mines,
~' one 10y the works became sus-
Fxtto, and the untold mineral wealth
'0iul Carolina was allowed to re-
ea embedded in the bowels of the
sa'Ill, awaiting some discovery that
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