Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-11-06
An Improved Method of Treating Ores.

An Improved Method of Treating Ores.
 The New York Times publishes long
 description of a new process of treating
 ores, which it is claimed will reduce the
 basest ores and save the maximum of
 the precious metals. It is done without
 water and 20 cheap that if successful it
 will make possible the working o' thous-
 ands of tons of low grade ore which are
 practically salueless Then they have to
 be treated by the present expensive pro
 cess. The discoverer of this new process
 is Mr. Walter Hamilton. an assayer and
 chemist of New York cIty, and con-
 pany has been organized and works are
 now being erected at the foot of Fif-
 teenth street. on North River.
 The building is subs.antial one, be-
 ing 50 feet by l7j feet, with plant Of
 machinery that IS perfect and complete
 Tn every minute particular. for the treat
 ment of rebellious gold and silver ores. | The works can handle ard thoroughly | treat about 100 tons day at a cost not
 to exceed Sl per ton, possibly somewhat | leR. The ore is first dumped into an ! improved combination cusher, which | will receive and crush tD the size of a | coffee bean pieces of ore Is by , inches, | from whence 1t passes into a second | crusher, or pulverizer, directly beneath | the first, where 1t Is pulveriZe1 to the 1 hneness of an S0-mesh siess. From the. . | 1t IS carried by an automatic cOnVeyer to | the roasting or desulphurinng furnace,
 where 1t is lifted by a series of automatic | buckets to the hopper of tie desulphur-
 izer, from which by means of a spiral feed the crushed ore Is fed into a rotary | desulphuriZing cy finder, with the utmost | certainty and regularity, far more so than if fed by hand. Connecting with
 the hopper and spiral feed are four con-
 meeting dust chambers peculiarly con- | structed for the purpose of catching any
 of the ore winch might escape up through the stack by the strong blast from the furnace. The cylinder furnace is lined
 with fire-brick, with projecting shelves
 on the inside, which carries the ore up as ! the furnace rotates, thus Keeping It con | stantly in motion and passing through | the flames. The furnace is five feet in l diameter. fifty-twO feet long, and weighs 2UO tons. IL Is SO nicely balanced and set that one man can easily rotate IL by hand. The ore, If sulpnurets or arseni- cal, on entering the des llphurizing cylinder are charged by vO tune of gas being injected by Roots blower, which eliminates the gaseous and nOxiOus va-
 DOTS, and IS carried out through the chimney stack Tn the outer air, thus al-
 lowing the ores to be delivered at the
 end of the cylinder completely and per fectly desulphurized. The heat can be
 regulated at will by the use of dampers which are inserted in the draft of the stacks. From the roasting cy finder 5he ore Is conveyed by an automatic eleya- tor into the vacuum furnace and passed through a bath of molten lead. The ore Is here held submerged Ill this bath, the construction of the machine being such as to completely distribute it auto matically, so that every particle of the | gold or silver comes in contact with the | lead. This piece of machinery Is a mar- ! vel of wonder in the action of the labor l devOlvlng upon 1t and its ingenious con structiOn.
 The ore by suction IS taken through ! 0 tons of molten lead, whereby each and l every particle of the precious metals | comes in contact with the molren lead 1 automatically. The lead in running | into the pipe creates a suction that con | yeys the ore with 1t and dropping ! through cast-iron pipe mingles freely . with the gold and silver The lead and | ore rise Tn the pot; but that the extrac- ton may be complete and final and the . alloy not permitted to adhere to the gold . and silver, number of alternating rified . plates are attached tO the sand pipe and . inner surface of the pot.
 The top of this pot Is partially covered with lid SO constructed that the ore Is . directed to the sides of the pot, whence 1 1t passes into a receiver below, and k . conveyed to the dump, the lead in the . .pot being taken and emptie1 by a pat ! ent chain bucket elevator into the upper ! chamber. This bucket IS SO constructed | by tripping device that 1t empties and 1 rights itself again automatically. The lead, 1t will be seen, IS therefore kept ID continual circulation until 1t Is fully charged with the precious metals sufli- cient for the cupelling process. The . lead will absorb about one-fifth of its ]. own weight in gold or silver. 4 great saving is made in the labor, as the ores ! are never fiuxed, nor is it handled once from the time 1t enters the crusher until it appears on the dump pile.
 The trial machine that was first built had a capacity of six tons day, and was used on all the ores Of the Com stock lode, and ores from all sections of the country were fully tested, demon strating the success of Mir. HamiltOn's process. There are now en route and on hand awaiting the starting up of the works, hundreds of carloads Of ores from every mining district in the cOun- try, ready for reduction. The economy l of running the entire works Is one of the l great features of its success. It takes | but tritie more fuel than is used in | running an ordinary steam engine. Mr. ] Hamilton asserts that the works can be | run for less than S10O day, which, on | the basis of treating 100 tons per diem, ! the present capaaity of the works would | make the cost of treatment lt KS than Sl | per ton. If this can be fully demon ! strated when the reduction company k | regularly under way, of which not the | slightest doubt exists in the minds of | the gentlemen who have SD freely em- | parked their money In the enterprise, ! the profits that the country at large and | especially those of the intermediate min ing districts will derive from 1t, may be counted by the millions ot dollars, and | will add new life to the industry of min ing for the precious metals on a scale never before dreamed of, even by the | most enthusiastic supporter and believer in the future of this greatest Of our na l tional industries. A prominent Com stock operator has offered Sl,GO,OOO for the right of one county alone in Nevada, the offer being promptly and absolutely l rejected. Over 5OO orders have been re- ceived for this machine, subject tO the | success of the present works when com pleted.
 Mr. Antony Guyard, M. F., a promi- nent French graduate of the institution of Paris, and employed by the United | States as Metallurgist for the Geological ! Survey, gives the following testimony | concerning this process: For some | years past the idea of amalgamating gold | and silver ores by means of metallic l lead has been floating in the air This | is almost universally the precurSOry stage of great inventions. The germs Os the invention float about until they en- ter the brain of some man capable of | fertilizing them. This MT. Walter Ham, | ilton, an assayer and metallurgist of l New York, has done for the amalgama- | tion by lead Everybody is more or less | acquainted with the process or processes 1 of amalgamatiOn by quicksilver. The | gold and silver ores, reduced to q pulp, | are subjected tO chemical treatment | whose object IS to pass gold and silver |