IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESSING ORES REQUIRING WASHING
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, ALEXANDER
JAMIESON and JOHN FREDERICK LUNDHOLM, of Tothill Street, Westminster,.
Manufacturing Chemists, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Tenth day of October, in the ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Alexander Jamieson and John Frederick Lundholm, our exors, adññiors, and
assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority, that
we, the said Alexander Jamieson and John Frederick Lundholm, our exors,
admors, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Alexander Jamieson and
John Frederick Lundholm, our exors, adññors, 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, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN DRESSING ORES REQUIRING
WASHING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that we, the
said Alexander Jamieson and John Frederick Lundholm, shall cause a par-
ticular description of the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be inrolled in Her. said Majesty's High Court

page_text: 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, we, the said
Alexander Jamieson and John Frederick Lundholm, do hereby declare that
our Improvements in Dressing Ores requiring Washing consist in such com-
binations of machinery and apparatus as are best suited to the crushing,
grinding, and washing of ores in their various states as hereafter described, by
which a saving of time and labor is effected in the preparation of such ores
for sale; and since by the present imperfect methods of preparation or
dressing a great quantity of the finest and richest ore is allowed to pass to
waste, a considerable advantage will accrue from the use of this apparatus,
which does not permit any product of value to pass away.
Our Invention consists of an apparatus composed of cisterns or troughs,
through which we cause a stream of water to flow, subject to such regulation as
the quantity or quality of the ores may require; and we place in those cisterns
horizontal axles fitted with arms or spikes, or spatulas, or projections of various
forms in the manner of rakes, which we cause to revolve by means of suitable
machinery, using as our prime mover steam, water, wind, animal or manual or
other power, for the purpose of producing a certain agitation of the water
contained in the cisterns, by which the ore under treatment, participating in the
motion thus produced, is caused to distribute itself, and, by the continuous flow
of the water from cistern to cistern, to be deposited in the various cisterns' of
the apparatus, according to the relative fineness of the particles, the refuse
that may be mechanically combined with the ore being discharged into a
reservoir or pit, from which the water is allowed to run to waste.
As a preli-
minary part of the operation, the ore which is received from the ribbles at the
mouth of the nine, is broken by stampers into pieces of convenient size for
being crushed between iron cylinders in order to reduce it to a fit state for a
final crushing and triturating under vertical runners, such as are commonly
used for similar purposes. This latter process, by which the mass is brought
into a state of granular uniformity, is important to the perfect adaptation of
our washing apparatus as to dressing and raising the quality of the ore. This
operation also combines the preparation of the ore for the washing apparatus,
by mixing it with water, which is allowed to flow on to the bed of the runners,
and to saturate the ore to such an extent that it may be discharged through a
feeding trough or head in the state of slime; and in this state it is carried by the
flow of the water into the first cistern of the series. In cases where the ore
is already in the state of dust the first crushing is dispensed with, and it may

page_text: be passed at once under the runners; and the subsequent part of the operation
may proceed as already mentioned.
Having thus stated the general character of our Invention, we now proceed
to describe the Drawings, shewing an arrangement combining our means and
appliances for washing and dressing ores, not confining ourselves to the precise
forms or proportions thereof. The crushing rolls which we adopt for the
generality of ores are plain chilled iron cylinders, and for more obdurate ores
one or more additional pairs of serrated cylinders to break up the masses
previous to their passing between the plain roll. The ore, when broken up by
the stampers, is put into the hopper a, by which the crushing cylinders bare
fed, and after being crushed is received into a sieve c for the purpose of
separating that portion which has not been sufficiently crushed, and returning
it again to the hopper a. This may be effected either by the continued motion
of a cylindrical or other wire sieve, which discharges all the finer parts on to
an endless web d passing over two or more rollers e, e, and moved by a con-
nection with the axis of the cylinders so as to deliver the ore upon the bed of
the runners. The coarser parts of the ore which do not pass through the
sieve fall into a series of buckets f, f, of a wheel g, and are delivered upon an
inclined place h, which reconveys them into the hopper for feeding the rollers
to be recrushed. In some cases it may be necessary to accelerate the
descent of the ore into the hopper by a mechanical joggling of the inclined
plane; a stream of water will sometimes be found necessary to prevent the
rolls from becoming too hot. The stream of water, when used, also facilitates
the descent of the ore in its passage from the rolls to the runners; and we
generally prefer to use a stream of water for such purposes. The runners i
may be of iron or granite, cased or shod with iron rims. Should a greater
quantity of water be required in this operation than has previously passed
through the rolls, it may be introduced with the ore at its delivery on
to the bed of the runners, its escape therefrom being prevented by a raised
rim k, and its discharge, together with the ore, in the state of slime being
regulated by a ledge, over which the surplus finds its way down an
inclined plane m into the washing apparatus. The saturated mass in the
runner bed is kept in constant motion, and continually distributed under the
runners until sufficiently triturated by sweepers n of the usual construction.
When more than one pair of runners are required, it will be necessary so to
arrange their relative position, with respect to the washing apparatus, that the
several discharging boards may concur in one feeding head. It is a matter of
importance that the slime. be delivered as uniformily as possible into the first
or leading cistern of the washing apparatus, and this object may be effected by

page_text: the formation of a feeding head p extending the whole breadth, or nearly so, of
the cistern, and into which a revolving rake may be placed for the
purpose of
keeping the combined mass of ore and water in a state of constant agitation,
until it is discharged over the ledge or guage board into the leading cistern of
the series of which the apparatus is composed. The adjustment of this guage
board may serve as a regulation to the flow of the feed. Generally the washing
apparatus may consist of five cisterns q, q, q, in which mechanical agitation is
used, and two or more additional reservoirs r, r, in which whatever passes
from the last cistern separates itself from the water by simple subsidence.
In the first or leading cistern, which we make of a rectangular form, iuto
which the slime is discharged from the feeding head, we place two or more
of the before-mentioned revolving horizontal rakes s, s, (depending on the
magnitude of the apparatus,) to which motion is communicated by a chain and
pullies from a driving axis or shaft, or any other well-known suitable contri-
vance, provision being made for engaging and disengaging the mechanism
when desired for the purpose of examination, or of suspending the agitating
process by any of the usual means, such as clutch boxes, dead and live pullies,
&c. It is also desirable that each axle or rake be furnished with a compound
pulley, corresponding with a similar pulley on a driving axis or shaft, so that
the velocity of the revolving rakes may be varied at pleasure to suit the varied
quality of the ore under treatment. One end of each of the revolving rakes
may be made to pass through a stuffing-box in the sides of the cistern, to the
extremity of which the pulley or wheel which receives the driving motion
may be attached; but we prefer to place the whole of the mechanism within
the cistern, as it avoids the necessity of a stuffing-box, and the consequent
trouble of keeping it water-tight. In the latter case, the extremities of the
revolving axles may terminate in pivots resting upon metal bushes or bearings
secured to the inner surfaces of the sides of the cistern. The circumferential
velocity of the revolving rakes will depend in a great measure upon the character
of the ore to be treated; but a velocity of from three hundred to.seven hundred
feet per minute will be found to suit the varied condition of the ores which require
washing. Thus the lighter ores will require less agitation, and consequently a
less velocity, while the heavier ores, by reason of the superior specific gravity
of the particles, require a greater degree of agitation, and consequently a greater
velocity of the agitating apparatus. The velocity is also governed by the size
or magnitude of the particles; the larger particles possessing greater weight in
proportion to their surface require a greater degree of agitation to hold them
in suspension in the water, and consequently a greater velocity of the agitating
apparatus. As the relative motion of the particles depend upon the resistance

page_text: offered by their specific gravity, it is obvious that the perfect operation of this
process will depend greatly upon the granular uniformity of the ores as delivered
from the grinding and crushing machinery. The discharging end of the cistern
is made lower than the feeding head in order to discharge the surplus water in
which the lighter particles of the ore and other matters are held in suspension,
and this gentle stream thus becomes the moving hydraulic power, by which the
various matters are carried throughout the series of cisterns. The bottoms of
the cisterns are so constructed as to admit of their being easily removed with
their contents of ore after it has been washed, and may consist of a moveable
box or waggont mounted on wheels for the purpose of being more easily
shifted on a railway; the connection with the cistern being made by means of
a packed joint formed of hemp, gasket, canvas, or other elastic substance
insoluble in water, and may be secured by the upward pressure of a wedge
from a bed V acting upon its under surface, which wedge-formed bed may be.
sustained upon a corresponding framing, and is forced into contact with the
bottom of the waggon by means of a screw and nut w, the former attached to
the fixed frame, and the latter to the wedge-formed bed, the screw being moved
by a lever inserted in the head of the screw. There are many other mechanical
contrivances by which this object of removing the ores may be effected, but we
adopt this as one possessing facilities for the rapid discharge and consequent work-
ing of the apparatus. The form and mechanism of the other cisterns are similar
to the first, the only difference being that the number of the revolving axles_and
rakes should be diminished in the third and fourth cisterns, and in the fifth a
plain cylindrical axle may be substituted for the rake, in order to produce the
minimum degree of agitation of the water; or motion may be communicated to
the agitators or rakes by driving spindles, which are worked by a common driving
shaft and bevel gear. Convenient outlets must be provided for the discharge
or drawing off of the water from the cisterns previous to the removal of the ore,
and a similar provision must be made for draining off the water from the ore in
the moveable waggons.
As it is of considerable importance that the greatest
quantity of work should be obtained from the power employed, and as it is also
unavoidable that after the operation of washing the ore has been perfected that
time should be given for its subsidence, a double set of washing cisterns may be
employed, which may be so connected together that one set of grinding and
crushing apparatus, and one set of subsidence reservoirs for the refuse, may be
sufficient, by which arrangement the grinding and crushing apparatus may be kept
continually at work; the mechanism of the second or duplicate set of cisterns
to be of the same kind as that already described, in which case it will be
necessary to attach to the head of the leading cistern a sloping feed board, to

page_text: which is fitted a hinged flap or flaps a, a, which serve to direct the stream of slime
and water into either of the leading cisterns. The discharging board from the
last washing cistern of each series conveys all such earthy and other matters
which escape from that cistern into the subsidence trough r, provided for its
reception, and which is of a trapezoidal or such like form, encreasing in width
from the last cistern to its farthest extremity, the object being thereby to
diminish the velocity of the water, and consequently its tendency to hold such
matters in suspension which will cause them to be deposited in the order of
their specific gravity and mass. Such of the lighter particles as are appre-
hended to be of inferior value may escape with the flow of water from this
trough into the reservoir, which is common to both series of washing cisterns,
and finally the stream of water is allowed to run to waste after having depo-
sited in the herein-described receptacles all that remains of any value. In
some cases a trough may be formed with divisions or partitions so as to cause
the water to traverse in the direction of the arrows Figure Z, thereby per-
forming a longer course, and giving the matters more time to deposit them in
spaces between the several partitions, as well as that between the partitions
and the sides of the trough, to increase towards the discharging end. Slight
modifications of the apparatus may be found necessary in adapting it for
various ores, but the general principles apply.to every description of ores,
whatever character or quality they may be. In .making use of this apparatus
for the purpose of washing and dressing ores the process which we propose to
adopt is as follows:-The ore, after it has been sorted to get rid of obvious
refuse, is conveyed to the breaking mill or stampers, from which it is delivered
to the hoppers of the crushing rolls, in pieces of a convenient size, where it is
brought into a granular state, fitted for the immediate and effective action of
the runners under which it is finally crushed and triturated; but previously to
the ore being passed into the hopper of the rolls a stream of water is made to
flow therein, and is conveyed with the ore through the several operations of
grinding, crushing, and triturating, into the feeding head of the washing
apparatus, which must be previously filled with water before the machine is
set to work. The quantity of water which may be allowed to flow through
the cisterns must be regulated by the quality and character of the ore under
treatment, as, in the event of too great a velocity being given to the surface
water of the cisterns, the more valuable part of the ore will be carried away
with the refuse. To prevent this the quantity of water must be so adjusted as
that no portion of the ore be carried over the discharge board of the last
washing cistern. This is a simple matter of observation which the practice in
its use will point out. Those ores which contain a greater. quantity of earthy

page_text: matter will require a larger supply or flow of water than those which have
undergone a previous rough washing, and hence no precise rule can be laid
down. It will be found that the quality of ore deposited in the various
cisterns will vary according to the specific gravity or granular magnitude of
the ore, and hence, in order to ensure the most efficient action of the apparatus
and the most beneficial results therefrom, the previous operations of crushing
and triturating must be well attended to. The ore having been kept in a
state of rapid agitation by means of the mechanism already described until the
cisterns have been sufficiently charged, the feeding of the slime must then
be suspended or transferred to the second series of cisterns (when used), but
the stream of water must be continued until the water in the first and second
cisterns becomes clear; when the agitating mechanism may be thrown out
of gear or action, and the contents of the several cisterns allowed to subside
into the moveable waggons; after which the water may be drawn off and the
waggons withdrawn for the examination or further disposal of the ore. Where
desired, the waggons having been provided as before described with the
suitable apparatus, the contents of the several cisterns may be separated by
the joggling process as before described, and finally delivered to the store.
We also propose to subject washed and dressed ore. to pressure under the
action of an hydraulic or other press in order to express from it the water with
which it may be saturated, and to turn out the ore from this operation in a
nearly dry state, and of a convenient form of block or ingot best suited to the
subsequent operation of smelting. This may be effected by causing the waggon
or moveable bottom of the cistern in which the ore has been deposited to
pass under the press, and there to be subjected to the requisite degree of
pressure, the form of the cake or ingot being given by ribs on the face of the
mullet or press block; and characters by which its quality will be indicated
may be formed upon the same block so as to facilitate the classing of the
various qualities produced from the several cisterns of the washing apparatus.
Or the ore may be put into moulds of the desired form, which being mounted
on wheels or rollers, are passed under the press, to the head of which is
attached blocks or mullets corresponding with the moulds, and, after having
received the desired pressure, is removed from the press on a railway to a
convenient situation for detaching the ingots so formed, which may then be
disposed of as the arrangements of the store may suggest.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, we would have it understood that what we claim is,―
First, the method herein described of dressing ores requiring washing by
the combined effect of successive mechanical agitations in water.
And

page_text: Second, the application of pressure to the purpose of drying washed ore and
elivering it in a convenient form to the smelter.
In witness whereof, we, the said Alexander Jamieson and John Frederick
Lundholm, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Seventh day
of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
forty-six.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of April, in the
year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid Alexander Jamieson and John Frederick
Lundholm came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and
acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein
contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Specifi-
cation aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made
for that purpose.
Enrolled the Ninth day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-six.