IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING COPPER FROM COPPER SLAG
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BELL, of Saint Austell, in the County of Cornwall, Hotel Keeper, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirteenth day of July, in the third year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Bell, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Thomas Bell, my exors, admors, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said Thomas Bell, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term
of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING COPPER FROM COPPER SLAG;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Thomas
Bell, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and
by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Bell, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-

page_text: In smelting copper ores it is well known that there is produced a large
quantity of matter called slag, which is thrown away as refuse. And it is
further well known that such slag contains copper in small quantities. Now,
the object of my Invention is a mode of obtaining the copper from such slag.
And in order to give the best information in my power, I will proceed to
describe the process as pursued by me, and the furnace employed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1 represents a section of the furnace and parts connected therewith
suitably arranged for carrying out my Invention; Figure 2 is a plan of
Figure 1 partly in section; and Figure 3 is a front view of the furnace. In
each of these Figures the same letters indicate similar parts. a, a, is the
furnace, the lower part of which is filled with small cinder well rammed; this
furnace is suitably arranged for being blast in a similar manner to what is
practised in iron and some other furnaces. The back and sides of the furnace
is lined with fire brick, and the front of the furnace is faced with a plate of
cast iron. b is an opening through which the fluid mass flows when in a
melted state; c is a cast-iron trough in front of the opening b, and this trough
is filled with cinder, and it will be seen that at one end of the trough is an
opening d into a smaller chamber or trough e, by which any copper and other
matters which may descend therewith fall into the recess or chamber e at the
side of the furnace; h is a tank to receive water, there being a supply pipe i
and an overflow pipe j; by this means there is to be a continuous flow of water
into and from the tank.
Having described the furnace and apparatus connected therewith, I will
proceed to explain the manner of working, and in doing so I will suppose the
furnace to be at work and in blast, and I continue to supply slag into the
furnace, then a layer of coke, then slag, and so on, as fast as there is room in
the furnace to receive them. And I would remark that I have not generally
found it requisite to have the lumps of slag broken, but have taken them in
the state they are generally found on the slag heap. And it should be stated
that the quantity of coke used is about half a ton and upwards to ten tons of
slag, some slags requiring somewhat more coke than others; and I have found
it beneficial to throw in some lime and peat in small quantities into the
furnace, as they, acting as a flux, render the slag more fluid, but the use of
lime and peat need not be resorted to, excepting where the slag does not run
fluid, and the quantity of lime I have employed is about half a bushel of lime
and about twenty pounds of peat to one ton of slag. The melted slag flows
out in the front of the furnace and into the trough c, and precipitates the

page_text: copper which accumulates in the recess or chamber e, from whence it is
removed from time to time, and the product or lump thus obtained will
generally be found to contain thirty to sixty per cent. of copper. The melted
slag flows over the trough into the water, and by so doing falls into very fine
dust or ashes, which being submitted to the dressing process with sieves and
water, the ashes being light, the metallic particles are separated with the
utmost case, and the residuum or ashes will be found almost if not quite
copperless; and this process will be found both cheap and simple.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention, I would have it under-
stood that although I have been thus particular in describing the furnace and
apparatus connected therewith, and which I believe will be found the best
arrangement for carrying out my Invention, I do not confine myself thereto so
long as the arrangement of furnace be suitably arranged for carrying out my
Invention, as herein described; and I would remark that I am aware that
various attempts have been made to separate the copper from the slag by
means of the ordinary smelting process in reverberatory furnaces; and,
further, the slags have been crushed or pulverized by pressure and by
stamping into fine particles or powder, and then submitted to the dressing
process with sieves and water, but such processes have been found too costly;
I do not, therefore, claim the separating of copper from slag generally ; but
what I claim is, the mode herein described of obtaining copper from copper
slag.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Bell, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Third day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty.
Inrolled the Eleventh day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty.