Improvements in the Treatment of Gold-bearing Quartz and other Minerals for Facilitating their Reduction to Powder.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Oct., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 5th July, 1890-Accepted; 6th Sept., 1890
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Treatment of Gold-bearing Quartz and other
Minerals for Facilitating their Reduction to Powder.
We, WILLIAM CHeetham Taylok, of 4 Tokenhouse Yard, in the City of London,
Mine Owner, and THOMAS NESHAM KIRKHAM, of 71 Palace Chambers, Westminster,
Civil Engineer, do bereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
-
This invention has for its object to facilitate the reduction to powder of hard
minerals or ores such as gold bearing quartz and it consists in first calcining such
minerals and then, while in a highly heated condition, plunging them into water.
By this means the minerals are so changed in their mechanical condition as to
become more or less perfectly friable, so that they can be at once passed through
crushing rollers in order to be reduced to powder, and do not require to be first
crushed in a stone breaker for this purpose, as is at present necessary.
The calcining of the ores or minerals can be effected in an ordinary reverberatory
furnace having lateral apertures and having a tank containing water on one side
thereof, so that when the ores have been heated to the requisite degree the doors
are opened and the minerals are pushed from the furnace bed directly into the water
tank; or the calcining can be effected in a cupola furnace, from the bottom of which
the minerals are discharged into a water tank.
Dated this 10th day of October 1889
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Treatment of Gold-bearing Quartz and other
Minerals for Facilitating their Reduction to Powder.
We, WILLIAM CHEETHAM TAYLOR,, of 4 Tokenhouse Yard, in the City of London,
Mine Owner, and THOMAS NESHAM KIRKHAM, of 71 Palace Chambers, Westminster,
Civil Engineer, 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 has for its object to facilitate the reduction to powder of hard
minerals or ores such as gold bearing quartz and it consists in first calcining such
minerals and then, while in a highly heated condition, plunging them into water.
By this means the minerals are so changed in their mechanical condition as to.
become more or less perfectly friable, so that they can be at once passed through
crushing rollers in order to be reduced to powder, and do not require to be first
crushed in a stone breaker for this purpose as is at present necessary.
The calcining of the ores or minerals can be effected in an ordinary reverberating
furnace having lateral apertures and having a tank containing water on one side
thereof, so that when the ores have been heated to the requisite degree the doors are
opened and the minerals are pushed from the furnace bed directly into the water
tank or the calcining can be effected in a cupola furnace, from the bottom of which
the minerals are discharged into a water tank.
Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawings is a transverse section of a furnace, which
may be a regenerative gas furnace on the bed A of which is laid the hard mineral to
be treated. When it is sufficiently heated, it is drawn through the lateral opening B
and down a slope C into water in a tank D.
Fig. 2 is a part vertical section of a cupola furnace in which the heating of the
mineral can be effected. In many cases fused metal becomes separated which can be

page_text: collected in a pot E fixed under the hearth of the cupola. The heated mineral can
be raked out through a lateral opening F into water, or instead of employing water
to chill it, steam may be blown through pipes G through the highly heated mineral
while it is still in the cupola.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what we
claim is :-
The herein described method of facilitating the reduction of hard minerals to
powder by highly heating them and plunging them in water.
Dated this 1st day of July 1890.
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicants.