Improvements in or relating to the Treatment of Tin or Antimony Ores, and the Separation of the Gold and Silver contained therein.
Year: 1896

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION:
Improvements in or relating to the Treatment of Tin or Antimony
Ores, and the Separation of the Gold and Silver contained
therein.
I, CARL FRIEDRICH CLAUS, Junior of 94 Grove Park Terrace, Chiswick in the
County of Middlesex, Electro-metallurgist, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to improvements in the treatment of tin or antimony ores
and its object is the separation of gold and silver from other metals without the loss
particularly of tin and antimony for which hitherto no process has existed.
In carrying out my invention the ore is first smelted and then immersed in a suitable
solution or electrolyte.
I prefer to use as an electrolyte a bath composed principally of a solution of
sulphide or sodium of specific gravity 1065 and heated to approximately 90° Cent.
The crude metal resulting from the smelting is immersed and employed as the anode
in the bath referred to which is provided with a cathode of any suitable metal or
conductor of electricity.
I then pass an electric current of approximately 10 amperes per square foot of
cathode surface through the bath by which the tin is dissolved from the anode and
deposited upon the cathode in the form of metallic tin 'and may be recovered therefrom
in any convenient manner.
Gold, silver, lead, copper, zinc, iron, antimony etc., remain insoluble in the anode-mud,
some as sulphides and some in the metallic form.
For the separation of the antimony the anode-mud or the ore is smelted with
sulphate of sodium and carbon, sulphur being added if required, and. the slag resulting
from this smelting, containing the antimony in a, soluble state, is dissolved in water
and the antimony either deposited from the solution by ineans of the electric
current or precipitated as sulphide with a suitable acid and further treated by known
methods.
The insoluble residue or matte containing the gold and silver may then be
treated by any of the well known methods for the recovery of these metals, for instance
smelted with an addition of lead, provided that lead is not already present in sufficient
quantity, and the bullion so obtained cupelled.
I may in some instances if preferred employ as the electrolyte a solution of the
hydrate of sodium or potassium, or both.
Instead of smelting the ore and using the alloy or mixture of metals so obtained,
as the anode in the electrolytic bath, I may, in certain cases where it is considered
more convenient, prepare a sulpho stannate of sodium solution either by fusing the
ore or mixture containing tin with a proper proportion of sulphur and soda or
sulphate of soda, and carbon and lixiviating the mass, or by boiling the ore or other
material containing tin with a solution of polysulphide of sodium, and after converting
either part or the whole of the sodium sulphide in the solution into sulphide of
aumonium preferably by adding sulphate of ammonium, deposit the tin by means of
the electric current, using as the anode preferably lead.

page_text: Other metals contained in the anode-mud such as copper, bismuth, zinc etc. may be
recovered by known processes.
Dated this 20th day of June 1896.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Treatment of Tin or Antimony
Ores, and the Separation of the Gold and Silver contained.
therein.
I, CARL FRIEDRICH CLAUS, Junior, of 94 Grove Park Terrace, Chiswick in the
County of Middlesex, Electrometallurgist do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention relates to improvements in the treatment of tin or antimony ores
and its object is the separation of gold and silver from other metals without the loss
particularly of tin and antimony for which hitherto no process has existed.
In carrying out my invention the ore is first sinelted and then immersed in a suitable
solution or electrolyte.
I prefer to use as an electrolyte a bath composed principally of a solution of
sulphide of sodium of specific gravity 1065 and heated to approximately 90° Cent.
The crude metal resulting from the smelting is immersed and employed as the anode
in the bath referred to which is provided with a cathode of any suitable metal or
conductor of electricity.
•
I then pass an electric current of approximately 10 amperes per square foot of
cathode surface through the bath by which the tin is dissolved from the anode and
deposited upon the cathode in the form of metallic tin and may be recovered therefrom
in any convenient manner.
Gold, silver, lead, copper, zinc, iron, antimony etc., remain insoluble in the anode-mud,
some as sulphides and some in the metallic form.
For the separation of the antimony the anode-mud or the ore is smelted with
sulphate of sodium and carbon sulphur being added if required, and the slag resulting
from this smelting, containing the antimony in a soluble state, is dissolved in water
and the antimony either deposited from the solution by means of the electric current
or precipitated as sulphide with a suitable acid and further treated by known
methods.
The insoluble residue or matte containing the gold and silver may then be treated
by any of the well known methods for the recovery of these metals, for instance
smelted with an addition of lead, provided that lead is not already present in sufficient
quantity, and the bullion so obtained cupelled.
I may in some instances if preferred employ as the electrolyte a solution of the
hydrate of sodium or potassium, or both.
Instead of smelting the ore and using the alloy or mixture of metals so obtained,
as the anode in the electrolytic bath, I may, in certain cases where it is considered
more convenient, prepare a sulpho stannate of sodium solution either by fusing the
ore or mixture containing tin with a proper proportion of sulphur and soda or sulphate
of soda, and carbon and lixiviating the mass, or by boiling the ore or other material
containing tin with a solution of polysulphide of sodium, and after converting either
part or the whole of the sodium sulphide in the solution into sulphide of ammonium
preferably by adding sulphate of ammonium or other suitable salt of ammonia,
deposit the tin by means of the electric current, using as the anode preferably
lead.

page_text: Other metals contained in the anode-mud such as copper, bismuth, zinc etc. may be
recovered by known processes.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven--
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what L.
claim is
1. The process of treating tin and antimony ores for the separation of the gold and
silver contained therein with the recovery of the tin and antimony consisting in
first smelting the ore and immersing the resulting crude metal in an electrolyte, such.
as sulphide of sodium, and then passing a current of electricity through the mass to
deposit the tin substantially as described.
2. In tin or antimony ores subjected to the process described in Claim 1 the
subsequent treatment of the anode mud or ore for the recovery of the antimony
leaving an insoluble residue or matte containing the gold and silver substantially as
described.
3. In the treatment of ores by the process described above employing as an.
electrolyte a sulpho-stannate of ammonium solution prepared by fusing the ore with a
polysulphide of sodium and lixiviating or boiling the ore with a solution of polysulphide-
of sodium and adding a suitable salt of ammonia, then applying an electric current:
and depositing the tin substantially as described.
Dated this 20th day of March 1897.
C. F. CLAUS, JNR.
Boult & Wade,
Agents for the Applicant...