The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1890-07-05

idizes. 1t "sickens," as the mine
puts it, and "fours," forming int,
kind of scum on the surface whicl
interposes between the "quick
mercury and the gold with whicl
it ought to be in contact, and whicl
also keeps taking off and running
to waste with the water. In thi
way not only is there a great wast
Of gold, but there is loss Of mer
curry, too, which is not the leas
part of the miners trouble, seeins
that it is a most expensive metal
On these two difficulties, in many
cases depends the question whether
a good mining enterprise does OF
does not pay. 1t is clear, then, tha,
to dispose Of them forever would
mean something like a happy revo
luton in the conditions Of the in.
dustry. And that, no less, is Mr.
Molloy's ambition. What he claims
for his invention is shortly this
that it keeps the mercury absolutely
quick" and insures the absolute
contact with it Of every particle
of gold. The point at which Mr..
Molloy steps in is after the crush
ing of the ore. His invention is a
substitute, not for the stamps" but
for the "plates." AS, however, for
his purpose, the finer the ore is
crushed the better, he prefers a
crushing apparatus consisting Of
two great gre q I rollers playing in circu-
lar box, with the douoie action OF
a carriage wheel when the carriage
is both moving and turning round.
That, however, is nothing to do
with his invention, which / will
now describe.
Reduced to It's simplest elements,
the machine is an iron disk spin
ming in shallow iron saucerful of
mercury, on the surface of which
the disk floats. In the middle of
the disk is hopper, through which
the flow Of water and crushed ore
descends upon the mercury. There
the centrifugal force due to the ro-
tation Of the disk drives it from the
center to the rim, pressing it down
upon the surface Of the mercury all
the time, and insuring that every
particle of gold shall be absorbed.
The residue is driven to the edge of
the saucer, and there, freed from
the pressure of the disk, it contin-
ually wells up, overfiows, and runs
away as "tailings.' All you have
got to do then, is to crush as fine as
possible to begin with.
The bugbear of ''float gold" loses
its terrors. However light the par
ticles my be, they are spread, and
squeezed, and scrubbed, and radi-
ated over the surface Of the mercury
between it and the revolving disk
which floats upon it. So much for
difficulty No. /. AS for No. 2, Mr..
Molloy appeals to the powers of
chemistry and electricity to rescue
him from that. He cannot prevent
the hostile elements in refractory"
ore from coming in contact with
his mercury, nor can he deprive
them of their ''sickening" influence.
But he can prevent the mercury
from oxidizing under that influence
by keeping it constantly charged
with a supply of nascent hydrogen
which has absolute power to cure,
to counteract, and to prevent its
Nothing easier. In per-
contact with the mercury
he places solution of certain salts. |
This solution is connected with the
positive pole of battery, the neg
ative pole of which is connected
with the mercury.
Under the influence of the elec-
ric current the solution is being
constantly decomposed, sending
constant supply of oxygen into the
'lr and constant supply of hydro
zen into the mercury. This being
I'll bubble with nascent hydrogen
lever gets chance Of "sickening,"
'ut is always kept "quick' and fit
or work. This electrical process
Nr. Molloy manages in the center
If his gyrating disk, the solution
icing contained in a sort of little
bonite moat within the hopper.
)ne horse power suf1ices to drive
10Th the machine and the dynamos
for the electrical process,
nd it can put through ten tons in
day. The salts required are "dirt
heap" and the mercury practically
asts forever, and the whole appa-
atus weighs only five hundred
geight.-Scientific American.