IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESSES OF EXTRACTING AND REFINING COPPER, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alessandro Gallico, of 3, Catherine Court,
Seething Lane, in the City of London, Merchant, for the Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESSES OF EXTRACTING AND REFINING COPPER,
AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME." -A communication from abroad by
:
!
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alessandro Gallico
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Potition, on
the 22nd April 1874.
I, ALESSANDRO GALLICO, of 3, Catherine Court, Seething Lane, in
the City of London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESSES OF EXTRACTING AND REFINING
COPPER, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," (being a communication to me
from abroad by Michelangelo Stella, of Turin, in the Kingdom of Italy,)

page_text: economy of fuel and an improved quality of metal. For this purpose
afterwards
the ore is ground and watered with salt water, then roasted,
watered again with salt water, then exposed in suitable basins or
receptacles in which the material is lixiviated with salt water and sul-
phuric acid. By these processes copper ore can be worked in basins or
receptacles of various capacities.
The extraction of the metal for a basin of a thousand cubic mètres
(French measure) in capacity may be carried on for three months by
the aid of repeated lixiviations, thereby obtaining three-fifths of the
quantity of copper in the first month, and the remaining two-fifths
thereof in the following two months.
The copper is precipitated by its solution in the condition of a thick
liquid, and it does not adhere to iron as in the precipitation of copper
sulphates, but remains at the bottom of the basin or receptacle in
very fine molecules. This precipitated material after being washed,
compressed, and dried, is laid down in melting furnaces. This is
the only melting process, and yields a highly purified quality of
copper.
For the first process the copper pyrities is roasted to extract the
sulphur and sulphuric acid, the latter being required in considerable
proportions for use in the subsequent processes. This roasting is to be
regulated so that the mineral is never converted into scoria, and never
loses all its sulphur.
For the second process the mineral when drawn from the furnace
and cooled, is ground and sifted and spread out in sheds where it is
saturated with sea water. When a considerable quantity of material is
thus heaped, it is roasted in reverberatory furnaces, which are the
same as usual except that they are constructed in three stories
communicating with one another and with flat bottoms like baking
ovens.
For the third process the material when ground and roasted is laid on
a filter in the filter basin and lixiviated with sea water, being stirred
and left to clarify in a second compartment of the basin; this operation
being repeated as required.
For the fourth process the solution thus clarified passes into another
basin for precipitation, in which basin has been placed a quantity of

page_text: scrap iron. The solution is stirred so as to mix it with the iron, which
is then washed by means of strong jet pumps, and the copper is drawn
out into the precipitating basin. The copper in the form of a thick
liquid is drawn from the precipitating basin, then washed with pure
water, and afterwards treated with salt water and muriatic acid in
order to extract from it the small quantity of iron; then it is again
washed and separated from the water, and drawn from the basin and
pressed, and when dried is ready for the foundry.
The several basins or receptacles above referred to are arranged so
that the floor or bottom of each succeeding basin is at a lower level
than that of the preceding basin, and the floors are sloped so as to
facilitate the passing from one basin to the next in succession.
:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alessandro Gallico in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 22nd October 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALESSANDRO
GALLICO, of 3, Catherine Court, Seething Lane, in the City of London,
Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty-second day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alessandro Gallico, Her
special licence that I, the said Alessandro Gallico, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alessandro
Gallico, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESSES OF EXTRACTING AND REFINING COPPER,
AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," being a communication to me from
abroad by Michelangelo Stella, of Turin, in the Kingdom of Italy,
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alessandro

page_text: cramico, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Alessandro Gallico, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawings here-
unto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is
to say):
This Invention of "Improvements in the Processes of Extracting
and Refining Copper, and in Apparatus for the same," has for its object
the extraction of copper from the ore and the refining of the metal in
such a manner as to produce economy of fuel and an improved quality
of metal. For this purpose the ore is ground and watered with salt
water, then roasted, afterwards watered again with salt water, then
exposed in suitable basins or receptacles, in which the material is
lixiviated with salt water and sulphuric acid. By these processes copper
ore can be worked in basins or receptacles of various capacities.
The extraction of the metal for a basin of a thousand cubic mètres
(French measure) in capacity may be carried on for three months by
the aid of repeated lixiviations, thereby obtaining three-fifths of the
quantity of copper in the first month, and the remaining two-fifths
thereof in the following two months.
The copper is precipitated by its solution in the condition of a
thick liquid, and it does not adhere to iron as in the precipitation of
copper sulphates, but remains at the bottom of the basin or receptacle
in very fine molecules. This precipitated material after being washed,
compressed, and dried, is laid down in melting furnaces. This is
the only melting process, and yields a highly purified quality of
copper.
For the first process the copper pyrites is roasted to extract the
sulphur and sulphuric acid, the latter being required in considerable
proportions for use in the subsequent processes. This roasting is to

page_text: be regulated so that the mineral is never converted into scoria, and
never loses all its sulphur.
For the second process the mineral when drawn from the furnace
and cooled, is ground and sifted and spread out in sheds, when it is
saturated with sea water. When a considerable quantity of material
is thus heaped it is roasted in reverberatory furnaces, which are the
same as usual except that they are constructed in three stories
communicating with one another, and with flat bottoms like baking
ovens.
For the third process the material when ground and roasted is laid
on a filter in the filter basin and lixiviated with sea water, being stirred
and left to clarify in a second compartment of the basin; this operation
being repeated as required.
For the fourth process the solution thus clarified passes into another
basin for precipitation, in which basin has been placed a quantity of
serap iron. The solution is stirred so as to mix it with the iron, which
is then washed by means of strong jet pumps, and the copper is drawn
out into the precipitating basin. The copper in the form of a thick
liquid is drawn from the precipitating basin, then washed with pure
water, and afterwards treated with salt water and muriatic acid in order
to extract from it the small quantity of iron; then it is again washed
and separated from the water and drawn from the basin and pressed,
and when dried is ready for the foundry.
The several basins or receptacles above referred to are arranged so
that the floor or bottom of cach succeeding basin is at a lower level
than that of the preceding basin, and the floors are sloped so as to
facilitate the passing from one basin to the next in succession.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed
to describe more particularly in what manner the same is to be per-
formed by the aid of the accompanying Drawings, in which are repre-
sented the furnaces for roasting, and also the lixiviating basins above
referred to.

page_text: roasting; Fig. 4 is a front elevation of the same.
Fig. 5 is a plan or horizontal view of the furnaces.
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section of the lixiviating and filtering basins
or apparatus; Fig. 7 is a plan or horizontal view of the same.
Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section of the precipitating and depositing
basins or apparatus; and Fig. 9 is a plan or horizontal view of the
same.
In these several Figures the same letters of reference indicate corre-
sponding parts.
The furnace represented in Fig. 1 is like other reverberatory furnaces,
except that it contains three stories, A, B, C, as shewn, which are flat-
bottomed like baking ovens; and there are central apertures D for the
communication of one with the other as required.
The first operation consists in the treatment of the copper pyrites by
roasting it in furnaces for the extraction of sulphur and sulphuric acid.
This roasting is to be performed in such a manner that the mineral
shall not be converted into scoria, and not be caused to part with all its
sulphur.
After the mineral is drawn from the furnace and cooled as required, it
is ground and sifted in a fine sieve. The mineral passed through this
sieve is then heaped and ranged under sheds, where it is treated withi
sea water, in successive layers. When a considerable quantity is thus
heaped, for example one hundred cubic metres (French measure), the
roasting in the reverberatory furnace is commenced. The said process
of watering is to be conducted so that the watered mass may not be
fluid, and that all the liquid may be absorbed, and it is to be frequently
stirred until it be found that after pressing some of the watered mineral
in the hands and then laying it down, it has become of such consistency
that its particles do not divide.
In the process of roasting the furnace is heated by throwing pyrites
broken into small pieces on to the floor of the lower story A, when the
sulphur immediately takes fire. When the furnace is thus heated and
the apertures of communication D are closed, the material treated with
sea water, as above stated, is laid on the stories B and C in suitable

page_text: heaps. The heat from the fire is regulated so as to act slowly, and
when the mineral in the lower story A has its sulphur dark-cherry
coloured the attendant works and mixes it. The material in the second
and third storics B and C is worked as well as that in the first story,
although the former has not become red coloured. These operations are
continued until it is found that on extracting a sample from the first
story A and allowing it to become cold it is dry, blood-coloured, and
when examined shows no sign of unroasted pyrites. The first
operation is continued for three or four hours, according to the size of
the furnace.
When the attendant or operator secs that the mineral has gone
through the necessary roasting, he opens the aperture D of the first
floor A and allows the mineral to fall through into the receptacle E
below it. This aperture is then shut and the mineral of the second
floor B is allowed to fall on to the first floor A, and that on the third
floor C on to the second floor B, while the third floor C is charged with
fresh, material as at first. At this point the roasting operation is
diminished (say from four hours to two).
When the reservoir E underneath the furnace is full, it is unloaded
by the attendant. If the mineral contained therein is still very heated
and gives off a fine dust, injurious to workmen, that portion which
comes to the mouth of the reservoir is treated with salt water discharged
from pumps in the form of a kind of rain. The material is then carried
away and heaped under a shed. The treatment with sea water and the
manipulation of the material is continued in order to produce that
degree of wetness above indicated for preparing it for roasting. These
operations are continued in succession until a sufficient quantity of
material has been obtained to fill up the first compartment of the
lixiviating basin, assuming the basin to have a capacity of a thousand
cubic mètres (French measure), equivalent in weight to about five
thousand tons of copper ore.
I now proceed to describe the operations in the lixiviating basins.
In Fig. 6 the portion from F to G represents a longitudinal section of
the reservoir of lixiviation water placed under a shed; H is the water
prepared as above described. From G to I is shewn a longitudinal
section of the lixiviation basin divided into two compartments by a wall
at K. The part from G to K forms the first compartment thereof, and

page_text: is called the filter basin. In this basin the copper ore is laid down after
being ground and roasted. L is the lixiviation water which is of an
emerald green colour, owing to its action on the roasted copper ore; M is
a layer of roasted copper ore; N is a filter made of small crossed boards
covered with a layer of pebbles. The part from K to I forms the second
compartment of the basin, and is called the decanting basin. This basin
is intended to clarify the coppery solution passed through the filter and
produced by the action of the lixiviating waters on the roasted copper
ore in the filter basin. At O is shown the coppery solution in process of
clarification.
In Fig. 8 the portion from I to P represents a longitudinal section of
the precipitation basin in which the coppery solution is precipitated
through a quantity of scraps of iron; and from P to Q is shown a longi-
tudinal section of the deposition basin. R is the coppery solution in
process of precipitation; S is discolored water; and T is coppery
mud.
The operation of the lixiviating process is as follows:-When the ore
has been ground and roasted it is laid on the filter in the filter basin in
order to be lixiviated. The lixiviating water H is poured from the
reservoir and caused to act on the mineral laid on the filter. After an
operation of about forty-eight hours the water is seen to become emerald
green, being all the time stirred and kept turbid with the deposit of the
mineral while a quantity of the solution passes through the filter. In
the last twelve hours it is left to clarify, and the solution is then
decanted into the second compartment K to I. During the process of
clarification in this compartment fresh water is applied to the mineral as
before, in this manner the operation is continued for a space of threo
months. In the first month about three-fifths of the quantity of
copper will be obtained, and the remaining two-fifths in the other two
months.
The operation of the decanting process is as follows:-When the
solution in the decanting basin has become clarified, as required, it is
caused to pass through suitable apertures into the precipitation basin I,
P, in which has been placed a quantity of scrap iron. When the
operator sces that the solution is discolored, he directs the workman to
stir the liquid quickly in order that the metallic or coppery mud or
deposit may be well mixed with it, and after this mixing it is caused to
pass into the deposition basin P, Q. On the bottom of the precipitation

page_text: basin, and on the surface of the iron, there is still a quantity of metallic
mud or deposit which is heavy and not carried out by the stream. The
iron and the said bottom of the basin are washed by means of strong
jet pumps, and copper is thereby drawn out into the deposition basin.
After these operations the apertures leading to the deposition basin are
closed, and fresh coppery solution is caused to enter the precipitation
basin in order to be precipitated.
The operations of drawing out, washing, and pressing the coppery
mud or deposit are as follows:-When there is a sufficient quantity of
coppery mud or deposit in the deposition basin, it is extracted after the
water has been drawn off slowly. The mud or deposit so extracted is
put into wooden basins in the form of a triangular prism, which is laid
horizontally in the direction of its length. It has one of its faces open,
and the angle opposite to this face is downwards, in which angle arc
small holes which with pebbles form a permanent filter, and into this
basin the coppery mud or deposit flows. It is first watered with pure
water, and next with salt water and muriatic acid to get out the small
quantity of oxide of iron left by the mother water, and a third time
with pure water; and when the mud or deposit is no longer fluid it is
extracted and submitted to pressure. It is then dried in the open air
and carried to magazines ready for use in the foundry.
With reference to the treatment of carbonates of copper, being
without sulphur, it is necessary to grind them and mix them with a
third of their weight of unroasted copper pyrites, in order that they
may be acted upon as required by the sulphur of the pyrites.
Before carbonates are introduced into the reverberatory furnaces they
should be submitted to the process of watering before described.
Arsenite of copper must be well roasted, but in a slow fire, in order
that it may part with the greater part of its arsenic, and it is then to be
treated like carbonates.
Copper ores which contain other metals besides copper may be also
treated in the manner above described, the other metals being separated
from the copper.
The sea water employed in the process described may when necessary.
be treated so as to increase the proportion of chloride of sodium con-
tained in it. This may be effected by submitting to the action of the
sun, on suitable platforms, sand which is watered with sea water. This

page_text: sand is dried, watered again, and when well saturated put into suitable
filters and afterwards lixiviated with a fresh supply of sea water and
filtered, and then conveyed through conduits to the reservoirs.
The mother waters are intended to be used in fresh and repeated
lixiviations, and when these waters are impregnated with sulphates of
iron and sulphates of soda, these salts will become deposited either in
the conduits or the reservoirs. These salts should be gathered and
utilized by being exposed to a strong heat and converted into iron,
which may be employed in the process of precipitation; and a fresh
supply of lixiviation water is added to the mother water to make up for
daily waste.
The tools and utensils employed are made of wood and not of iron,
and in other cases they will be made of copper instead of iron.
All the basins are intended to be covered with stone slabs, by pre-
ference of flinty slate stone.
The floors of the sheds should be also paved with slates, especially the
parts leading by conduits to the reservoirs for liquid.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I hereby declare that what I
claim as of the Invention communicated to me from abroad, as afore-
said, is the processes described for extracting copper from the ore and
refining the metal when extracted by treating the ground material with
salt or sea water in the manner described, then roasting it, lixiviating it
in basins, and obtaining from the solutions precipitates of metal, which
are pressed and dried, all as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alessandro Gallico, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
four
Witness,
WILLIAM SPENCE,
8, Quality Court,
Chancery Lane,
A. GALLICO. (L.S.)