Amador ledger., 1902-03-14
NEW PROCESS FOR REFRAc-
TORY ORES.
An Immense Step Forward if Practi-
cable.

cable.
N. W. Mahaffey of Stockton has
been in jackson for the past week, for
the purpose of demonstrating the prac-
ticability of the West process for the
extraction of gold from refractory ores.
The claim for this method is that re-
bellious ores too poor to pay for ship
ment to smelter, may be treated by
this process on the ground at cost of
SO or 81 per ton, with an extraction of
gold and silver of over 80 per cent.
1t will be readily seen that if this claim
can be substantiated by actual working
test, it will prove an incalculable boom
to the mining industry of almost every
gold producing country. The ores of
the mother lode are principally of a
free milling character. But in the
mining belt to the east. especially in
the Pioneer district and around West
Point, gold ores are met with in abund-
ance which cannot be successfully
treated by the ordinary mill process.
The cost of shipment to smelters and
the charges for treatment would under
present conditions absolutely shut out
all ores carrying less than $50 per ton.
Now if such ores can be treated on the
ground at an expense little if anything
in excess of the free milling ores of the
main belt, many mines now idle would
start into activity, and become profit
able to their owners.
The inventor of the process is Colo
rado. man., but Stockton parties are
said to have secured the right for Cali
fornia. A smelter of this pattern has
been erected in Tuolumne county, and
is about ready to start up. w. G.
Phipps, of the Stockton Metallurgical
Works, will take charge of this smelter.
He is in Jackson now for the purpose of
assisting in the tests of the process here.
THE METHOD EXPLAINED.
The process may be briefly explained
as follows: The ore is first crushed to
an impalpable powder by the dry
method. About an equal weight of
clay is added, mixed with some chemi-
cal. the cost of which is about 80 cents
per ton of ore. The secret of the in
vention lies in the nature of this chemi-
cal. After roasting for two hours
only, all the refractory materials which
would prevent free amalgamation are
either driven off by heat or absorbed
in the clay. and from 80 to 95 per cent
of the assay value saved. The econ
omy consisting in the reduction of
labor and fuel in the treatment as COM
pared with the chlorine process with
That method requires
roasting for "a hours, whereas the new
method will admit of II treatments
within the same time, or six times the
quantity of gold bearing material
operated upon. While for the main
belt the process is adapted for sui
phurets only, as we have stated before,
the refractory ores of the eastern belts
can be treated, provided however, they
are rich enough to warrant the reduc-
tion charges of SIS per ton, which must
be admitted is pretty steep tariff,
almost as prohibitive as shipment to
smelters outside the county.
On Wednesday afternoon Messrs.
Phipps and Mahatfey conducted d series
of tests at the leila assay Office, which
was kindly placed at their service by
Mr.. Detert for these experiments. A
number of gentlemen were present, in
cluding George Gates, Mr.. Hoover of
Amador City, Mr.. Meikljohn of Sutter
Creek, J. A. Greenwood, DR.. P. B.
Aiken and others. Five or six tests
were made On different ores; silver ore
from the claim of DR.. Aiken at West
Point, also sulphurets and tailings
from the Zeila, also ores from the
neigh borhood of Pine Grove, submit
ted by 7. G. Barrett. None of the
samples were roasted for more than an
hour. Gold and silver were liberated,
but whether the percentage claimed
was secured could not be ascertained
from the necessarily imperfect nature
of the tests.
The only smelter of this kind in the
state is the one just erected at Sonora.
1t is not yet in operation, but will be
in few days. Those interested talk
of putting up small furnace in jack
son, and show the applicability of the
method for sulphuret ores. If sue
cess it would dispense with chlorination
works, as the sulphurets after being
roasted can be dumped into the mill,
and the gold caught on the plates Or in
the batteries.
The Mckinley Memorial Exercises.