AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE REDUCTION OF LEAD ORES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Isaac Cookson, of Newcastle-on-Tyne,
Gentleman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE REDUCTION OF
LEAD ORES."
Sealed the 27th June 1854, and dated the 8th March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Isaac Cookson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th March 1854.
I, WILLIAM ISAAC COOKSON, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, Gentleman, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE REDUC-
TION OF LEAD ORES" to be as follows:-
In carrying out this Invention, I first mix lead ore and metallic iron
together, with a small proportion of alkali or neutral salt and carbonaceous
matter, and subject the same to heat in a furnace, crucible, or other suitable
receptacle. By this means the lead ore is reduced to metallic lead, and the
iron uniting with the liberated sulphur forms sulphuret of iron, which being
exposed to a damp atmosphere will fall into powder. As, however, there is
always some lead left in the sulphuret of iron, I call this substance saturated
sulphuret of iron. To the saturated sulphuret of iron in powder I add sufficient
water to make it into a thick paste, which I work up and mould into small
pieces by machinery or otherwise. These moulded pieces I dry at a moderate
heat, and burn them as pyrites in an ordinary kiln used for the manufacture of
sulphuric acid; or the sulphuret of iron in a powdered state may be burnt or

page_text: roasted in a suitable furnace for a similar purpose. This burning or roasting
operation reduces the sulphuret of iron to an oxide of iron containing some
sulphur, lead, and salts. I next crush the oxide of iron and mix it with ear-
bonaceous matter, and use it in the reduction of a fresh quantity of lead ore
instead of metallic iron, as before described. By conducting the process
ordinary care and caution, an increased yield of lead is obtained, which result
is due to the presence of lead in the oxide of iron. Instead of using iron in
the metallic state in the first instance, burnt pyrites or gossan containing silver
or gold may be profitably employed."
with
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters. Patent, filed
by the said William. Isaac Cookson in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th September 1854.
CJ
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ISAAC COOKSON, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
our Lord
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of March, in the year of
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William' Isaac Cookson, Her special license that I the said
William Isaac Cookson; my executors, administrators, and assigns, or: such
others as I, the said William Isaac Cookson, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE REDUCTION OF LEAD ORES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Isaac Cookson, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed; and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Isaac Cookson, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say)
wed

page_text: My Invention of "An Improvement in the Reduction of Lead Ore" has
for its object the separation of the sulphur from the ore in such a manner that
the desulphurizing agent may be used over and over again, and the sulphur
that has been separated from the ore thereby may be economized and used in
the production of articles of commerce. This object is effected by operating
upon the lead ore in the presence of metallic iron or oxide of iron, which will
thus be made to combine with the sulphur which becomes separated from the
lead ore in the process of reduction.
In carrying out this Invention, lead ore and metallic iron are first mixed
together, and a small quantity of alkali or neutral salt and carbonaceous matter
is added thereto. The mixture is then to be subjected to heat in a furnace or
in a crucible, or other suitable receptacle. By this means the lead ore will be
reduced to a metallic state, and the iron, by uniting with the liberated sulphur,
will form sulphuret of iron, which, when exposed to a damp atmosphere, will
fall into powder.
To this sulphuret of iron in powder I add sufficient water to make it into a
thick paste, which may then be worked up and moulded into small pieces
by machinery or otherwise. These moulded pieces must be dried at a
moderate heat, and then they may be burned as pyrites in an ordinary
kiln used for the manufacture of sulphuric acid; or the sulphuret of iron
in a powdered state may be burnt or roasted in a suitable furnace for a
similar purpose.
sulphuret of iron to an
This burning or roasting operation will reduce the
oxide of iron containing some sulphur, lead, and salts. The oxide of iron is
then to be crushed and mixed with carbonaceous matter, after which it may be
again used as before described in the reduction of a fresh quantity of lead ore
instead of employing fresh metallic iron. By conducting the process with
ordinary care and caution, a greater yield of lead may be obtained than bý
the ordinary reducing process. This result I consider to be due to the
presence of lead in the oxide of iron which has been used for previous
operations. Instead of using iron in the metallic state in the first instance,
burnt iron pyrites or gossan may be profitably employed as the desul-
phurizing agent.
Having described my improvement in reducing lead ores, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I claim, in conclusion, the use and application
of metallic iron, or oxide of iron, or calcined iron pyrites, in the process of
smelting or reducing lead ore, whereby the sulphur contained in the ore, by
being caused to combine with the iron, will be saved, so that it may be used

page_text: in the arts; the iron or oxide of iron being, by the subsequent separation
of the sulphur therefrom, reduced to a state to be again employed in
reducing fresh lead ore.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Isaac Cookson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
WILLIAM I. COOKSON. (L.S.)
Witness,
ALEXANDER KELLY.