Eureka weekly sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1887-1902, 1897-10-16
ELY's NEW CYANIDE PLANT.
A Description OF the Works ant
Process-The Plant Nearing Com
pletiOn.

pletiOn.
EUREKA, Nevada, Dot. IL, 1897.
EDITOR SENTINEL: By invitation OF
the genial Superintendent Of the mill and
mines of the company who have bonded
the Chsinman mine, in company with q
Judge and a photographer, the writer
visited the new reduction works of the
company at Lane. The works are prob
ably the most complete in their way OF
any in Nevada. To the writer there are
many strange and interesting features
about the works.
The company has diverted the waters
of Murray Greek a short distance above
the town Of Ely and conducted them in
a ditch about q mile and q half in length
to q point opposite the lower end of the
town; from thence the water is taken TO
large iron pipes for a quarter of q mile
further to the power house Of the COM
pany. In this way 9 fall Of one hundred
and eighty feet is secured. The power
house is q very u~npretending little struc.
ture, but it holds q large Pelton water
wheel, . large dynamo that is primarily
intended to generate the power that is to
run the machinery of the company's ex-
tensive works situated three miles away,
and TO do the pumping for the mine and
the hosting of the ore.
The electrical power will be conveyed
on oopper wires from the dynamo tothe re
duction works, where tits to be converted
into compressed air, and the compressed
air Is TO be used for ell Of the above spe-
cifsd purposes.
For convenience Of description, the
plant may be divided into several depart.
ments (; the first may be termed the stor.
age department.. There is . large ore
bin 10 the mine in which ore will be
stored. Az the head Of the hosting
shaft or incline. there 10 q large ore bin,
into which the ore will be dumped As 1t
is hoistsd. To the mill there is another
large ore bin that will discharge through
automatic feeders directly into the bat
terry.
The next department. may sptly be
termed the reducing department. At
the bin at the head Of the hosting shaft,
the ore will be broken into small frag-
ments and conveyed thence TO the ore
bin that discharges in the battery. There
are two sections to the battery, Of five
stamps each, so arranged that one section
may be operated while the other section
may for any reason remain idle. The
stamps weigh eight hundred and fifty
pounds, and the battery will probably
crush Of the soft friable ores of the Chain
man mine forty Of fifty tons every
twenty-four hours.
The next department is the amalga-
mating section. Amalgamation will be
accomplished to . great extent in the
battery !; from the battery the pulp will
pass over the copper plates coated with
quicksilver, and upon these plates the
free gold not saved 10 the battery will in |
the main be caught and amalgamated.
The next department. is the concen-
department this consists of belt
ooncentrstors somewhat resembling the
Frue.
The next department, and the most
interesting. is the lixivating or teaching
From the concentrators, the
pulp passes into immense sgitators, re-
,embling the settlers seen in ordinary
reduction works. but much larger
Ind deeper here the pulp is mixed with
The cyanide solution, and is gently stirred
or about six hours. From the agitators
he pulp and solution is run into i'm
nenss square iron teaching or vacuum
'ans /; the pans have heavy perforated
plates resting upon supports about
Islf way up from the bottom Of the pans;
pom these plates blankets are spread,
nd upon the blankets q thin layer OF
or coarse rock material, and the
ulp from the agitstors rests upon this
repaired false bottom. The gold rsmsin.l