Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-02-03
English Chemist Inter-
ested in a New Presses.
To Extract Gold from Sea
Water in England.
Recalls "Rev." Jernegan's Efforts Wv
idly to Mind-PossIbly No Fake.

London. Feb. New York residents
Will doubtless recall assertions that
We're made several years ago of the dis
from sea water and the derision with
Whlch the idea was laughed out OF
court London folk now have an OPP
p"rtunlty TO invest their money in such
an Undertaking. for which it is everred
that an unlimited supply of the pre-
cloGs metal can be obtained from sea
water at a cost of $50 for every 500 ex-
tracted.
SIR William Ramsay. whose scientific
reputation is of the highest. has been
retained by a syndicate which is called
the Industrial and Engineering Trust
N-i'miteO, and the shareholders of
Which include Lord Brassey, Lord
TWeedale. tie Honorable Alban Gibbs.
several manufacturers and Albert San
dcman, former governor of the Bank Of
England. The syndicate has the mod
est capital of $4,000 i'm s. shares.
The inventor Of the process BY which
it is hoped 10 make a corner in the
worlds gold is H. j. Smell.
Sir William Ramsay has made exper-
rort that there is no doubt Smell has
proved that gold can profitably be OBJ
tanned from sea water on a large scale.
and the amount of the gold obtained is
so large that whether the cost of the
treatment is $40 a ton or even the out
side figure of $40 a ton. which il could
'tot exceed. it would not make very
much difference"
II. d. Littlefiel1. an assistant of Sir
Wnlian. goes further than his chief.
and III a report to the shareholders. is
quoted as saying: las far as | can
see. il only remains for you to say how
much gold YOU want a day and it can
be produced. | would not advise you
To put down enormous works in one
place, because | think it might get out
Of hand. and think it may be best for
you to split the works up into units.
The cost will not exceed ten per cent
On gold extracted. including interest on
capital. management, etc.
"On the basis of prat teal tests we
made. supposing you are dealing with
eight acres every "a hours. or. say, 200
days year. you would produce $720.-
600 gold. If you treated 20 acres this
would produce $1,SOO.O0O Surprising You
deal with 400 acres. it would result in
little more than $3o, 900. 900 per annum.
These are enormous figures and |
noticed one or two of you smiled when
l mentioned you could have as much
gold as you wanted. 1t IS quite prac-
teal. You cannot help having with
400 acres $35G0O.000 worth of gold
per annum. 1t is only a question Of
putting down 50 many sets of works to
increase your output up to what you
want"
According to the Daily Express the
works to which Mr.. Littlefield referred are
those which the syndicate has recently
acquired on the south coast of England.
They include two reservoirs one of y
acres and the other of eight acres in area,
with dams and sluices complete. Ada
cent to these works are about 400 or 800
acres of land that used to form part of
the local harbor. The land mas been re-
claimed and all that it necessary is to
level and clear il and put sluces in the
when it would be ready for
the manufacture Of gold.
Two engineers connected with the syn
dicate have been travelling around the
coasts Of England and Ireland trying to
obtain suitable sites for an extension Of
the works. They came TO the conclusion
that unit of about 1000 acres would be
best to start with and they have found
three suitable sites il the south of Ire
land. These three sites vary from 1000
to 100 acres. and each acre when ftted
for working is estimated to be capable
of producing 4 net profit of about 100000
a year.
1t is asserted that Mr.. Smell has in
vented several processes all of which
have been failures for one reason or an
other. but that his latest. on which Sir
W lillian Ramsay reported, is successful.