Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-05-08
REDUCING REFRACTURY oaFs.
a System Of Treatment which Yields Largely
and Threatens to Revolution the Working
Of Rebe.l .lious Ores.
IF. ON the Sacramento Zee, May 3

IF. ON the Sacramento Zee. May3I
It. IS a we'll known fact that this
State abounds in mines, the ore
from which could not he worked
heretofore on account of the rehel-
ious matter they contained. 1t is
well known also that these ores
contained large percentage of
gold aud silver, but withstand
ing experiments without number
have been tried from time to time,
with u view TO separating gold and
.ilver from the base metal, all
Efforts in that direction have prov
I'd failures. At last, however, sys-
tenn has bepu discovered and pat
enied by John A. Robertson, of
Oakland, vii ch Is known as the
Ei, ctric ircc-ss, which threatens
to evulutiou re The entire business
IN the successful treatirg of ores
which were h ;totorp regarded as
worthless. Exper mtuls on a small
ActI, vi" ,pi.d- with the procc' 9
s",n- tin. ap", aud ~ r,.-n !; W. r.
80 rl"dS iht with II II -l,u t
time exlr'-tv+ wos H., for the test
ing % TIE t.ri'eiti' n largp
~c9lp. y W. breu tr,a.ftd il Sanan-
. pi,, ~ ihirt i.~t . -t,e IS
/ ~, gt ,.tk'~ p ite,y, AM, cir
" nc h"- hrpH - ~,icre~sfu as
=" a. - he
4trs u Of
u. .r n !" th bueiiit.s
-. nj
a- i, ego Il wo OF
~ II ,.tr 10
trE
,.iar u-
l. aRhIy
rihg-
n' ,,aggre
. ui""u
Il {. lie -i,iac-
ti.'ifirn, Ca
ia must
" 80 q ~ g't p
e. ai,l TURNER T.
49, e,ne III - water
sulliirn. rn,el t. The r, utiired
ira v >t - make thick
-.-ti -. ctu lie held in
solut un ~ili lie same, IS then
used, adding thereto about one-half
,,ound of cS amid. Of otassum, and
,ne hail lcuud IF sui hate If cor
pr, forming s"lulion of salt and
cyanide pota sum in the above
described manner. The ton or
other desired quantity of ore Is
slowly heated to red heat, and af
terward plunged, while redhot, into
the afor, said solution, the ore be-
ing broken up to about the same
size that is broken for milling. BY
bringing the ore in contact with
the solution ii becomes entirely dc :
sulphurized.
The entire operation of desul-
phurizirg and disintegrstiDg the
gnLrtz aud su'phurets is almost in
Simultaneous. -
Iron pyrites and sulphurets gem
orally are reduced to q very fine
flour or almost impalpable powder,
aud the quartz is disintegratel,
thai it may be readily picked iu
pieces with the hands, and requires
SO little rubbing that it may be
readily prepared for amalgamating
In an ordinary amalgalnating-pan.
The action of the cyanide oi
potassium, In connection with the
sulphate of copper, cleans, bright
ems, and Immediately prepares the
precious metals for analgamation
with the quicksilver, no matter
how fine and impalpable the same
may be.
The solution composed of the
above ingredients, and the manner
of treating the ore previous to its
being brought in contact with the
came, render the operation of ex-
tracttDg the precious metals from
the ore very simple and effectual
and accomplish 1t in q very short
time.
The works adjoining Clark's Pot.
terry have a capacity OF one ton pei
hour, the cost of chemicals will Dol
exceed ST per ton and two cords O.
wood will run the furnace twenty
four hours.
Such Ia the excitement whicl
this new discovery has created tha
Of late numbers OF mining mel
from San Francisco, Los Angeles
| Shasta, Ell Dorado, Placer and 9th
er counties have visited this city
and thoroughly inspected tn.
workings Of the new process and III
wonderful results for themselves.
| Among the samples were 10
from what Is known as the Gols
Deposit OF El Dorado county, sevei
miles from PlacervilIe, from which
] nothing could heretofore be OBJ