Arizona republican., 1902-03-23


 A new method of treating gold ores is about to be tried in the vicinity of Colorado City When
 A NEW GOLD particles of free gold
 PROCESS. are embedded i T quartz, II is sufficient
 to grind the latter to powder and car
 " the powder in a stream of water
 over plates covered with mercury. The latter seizes the precious metal, while i the refuse flows onward and escapes.
 If there is chemical union with other ! substances, however. a different line of procedure becomes necessary. An attempt is made to alien2te the gold 1 from it's first association by affecting
 new chemical combinations. and then 1 bringing about 9 complete divorce. ! In the "chlorination" process, for in stance, pulverized ore is shaken up with
 chloride of lime, sulphuric acid and
 water. and a solution of chloride of i gold is secured. This. being filtered off. ' is treated with pure sulphur and sul- phur compounds. and is thus changed
 into sulphide, which is deposited in
 powder, pressed into cake, and finally heated in . furnace with nitre
 and borax. The "oy2ni!e" process makes use of cyanide of potassium in q somewhat similar way. A solution of cyanide of gold is produced, and the
 metal is precipitated by compelling the | +, Gsr,a great virtue of these methods is that some of the chemicals employed can be
 used over and over again, and hence ] the cost of the trea t;nent is low. Both the chlorination and cyanide processes
 make it possible to work at a profit
 nunera tive.
 ! The new method about to be tried near Colorado City resembles both of these. but makes use of another chem ical element. bromine. It has long been i known that this substance has q pow 1 erful affinity for gold, and hence would 1 coax that metal away from almost any ether alliance. Indeed, it is probably ] the best solvent that chemistry can i supply. Still. since there was apparent i ly no way to recover the bromine for ! subsequent use, after orce treating ore ! with it, of course it was not an eco ! nomical agent. Now, it is asserted. a 1 method of saving the bromine has been 1 found. Henry Cassel, who has had i much experience with the cyanide pro- |
 This process has already been tried in l Australia, under the auspices of Lon 1 capitalists, and gratifying results are reported. Mr. CasseTs American rights ! are controlled by the Telluride Reduc- 1 ton company, which is putting up the 1 plant at Colarado City. The latter venture, therefore. is not altogether an [ experiment. It is believed that ores yielding only $6 a ton can be worked i by the new system at profit.
 According to the Colorado Springs ! Telegraph the bromine process re-
 sembles the chlorination and cyanide l processes in the preliminary stages. 1 The ore must be ground and roasted
 before being treated chemically. No
 details of the method are supplied, l however.
 The new works at Colorado City will
 probably be ready for operations within the next few weeks. It was hoped
 that the sampler would be in service
 about the middle of March, and the
 first lot of 100 tons worked some time d,,rip,~ ti,a %olI,v-;ocr -,,,,,--, A17.aa ,jx-
 the plant is being enlarged beyond it's
 original dimensions, and is expected
 soon to have a capacity of 600 tons i daily. The technical and financial re
 suits of the enterprise will be watched
 with eagerness by metallurgists and
 owners of gold mines all over the
 United States.