IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR REDUCTION OF. PLATINUM
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR REDUCTION OF.
PLATINUM." A communication from Jules Henry Debray, of Paris,
Chemist.
Scaled the 1st January 1858, and dated the 13th July 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 18th July 1857.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lanc,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer; do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR REDUCTION
OF PLATINUM," to be as follows:-
Platinum, when alloyed with the different metals found in its ores, possesses
properties which render it preferable for many purposes to ordinary platinum.
It is therefore advantageous to discover a method of extracting these metals in
combination, by raising the ore to such a temperature as that they shall como
from the reducing apparatus in a state of fusion, and which shall also offer
facilities for melting large masses at once.
This method which results from scientific and practical experiments forms
the object of the present Invention.
For this purpose the platinum to be operated upon is mixed in a state of
division with lime, baryta, strontia, magnesia, or their carbonates. This mixture
on being roasted in the open air will be deprived of the greater part of the
osmium which it contains. The The ore is afterwards melted in vessels, tho
insides of which consist of lime, baryta, strontia, magnesia, or the carbonates

page_text: of those bases, and this fusion is operated by means of a combustible gas in
combination with oxygen. For the purpose of fusion apparatus are employed,
analogous in form (whatever may be their dimensions) to cupel or reverberatory
furnaces or refinery furnaces, in which apparatus, in the form of tuyeres, serve
to conduct a combustible gas, together with a current of oxygen, to support
combustion.
The platinum which is produced by this apparatus is alloyed with other
metals existing in its ore, by which valuable properties are communicated to it.
The same apparatus will serve for the fusion and revivification of ordinary
platinum, which has been deteriorated by use, and which is purified by contact
with the matters above mentioned; the same being either mixed with the
platinum or simply forming the sides of the vessels employed. The same
apparatus may also be employed for the alloys or metals of platinum ore.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 12th January 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William
Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR REDUCTION OF PLATINUM,"
being a communication from Jules Henry Debray, of Paris, Chemist, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton,
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

page_text: 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 Edward Newton, 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 (that is to say):-
Platinum, when alloyed or mixed with the different metals found in its orcs,
possesses properties which render it preferable for many purposes to ordinary
platinum. It was thereforo advantageous to discover a method of extracting
these metals in combination, by raising the orc to such a temperature as that
the mixed metals should come from the reducing apparatus in a state of fusion,
and which should also offer facilities for melting large masses at once.
This method, which is the result of scientific and practical experiments,
forms the object of the present Invention.
For this purpose the platinum ore to be operated upon is mixed in a state
of division with lime, baryta or strontin, magnesia or their carbonates. This
mixture on being roasted in the open air, will be deprived of the greater part
of the osmium which it contains. The ore is afterwards melted in vessels, the
insides of which consist of or are lined with lime, baryta, strontia, magnesia or
the carbonates of those bases, and this fusion is effected by means of a com-
bustible gas in combination with oxygen. For the purpose of fusion, the
apparatus employed may be analogous in form (whatever may be its dimen-
sions) to cupel or reverberatory furnaces or refinery furnaces, in which
apparatus, in the form of tuyeres, serve to conduct a combustible gas, together
with a current of oxygen to support combustion.
The platinum which is obtained in this manner, or is produced by the above-
mentioned apparatus, is alloyed with other metals existing in its ore, the
admixture of which with the platinum communicates valuable properties to it:
The same apparatus will serve for the fusion and revivification of ordinary
platinum which has been deteriorated by use, and which is purified by contact
with the matters above mentioned, the same being either mixed with the
platinum or simply forming the sides of the vessels employed. The same
apparatus may also be employed for the alloys or metals of platinum ore.
The osmides arising from the ordinary treatment of platinum ore, and which
constitute the part of such ore, which aqua regia cannot dissolve, may be
utilized in the following manner :-they are melted either alone or mixed with
lime in the fusing or melting apparatus above mentioned, when the oxydized
osmium becomes disengaged, and the precious metals iridium, rhodium, &c.,
remain in the form of a melted metallic mass, whilst the foreign matters, such

page_text: as iron, chrome, &c., unite with the lime and form more or less fusible com-
pounds; but if desired the whole of the osmium may be previously got rid of
before introducing the mass into the melting apparatus.
For this purpose the osmides are to be melted with zinc, the excess of which
will be volatalized; the mass remaining is then to be pulverized and treated
with hydrochloric acid. This last operation is employed when bydrogen is
wanted; it gives as a residuum a finely divided alloy of zinc and of the metals
from the osmides. This alloy or mixture, or that which results from the
pulverization and roasting in a cupellation furnace, loses all its osmium. The
roasted substance is then melted with litharge and lead. By this means a
button or small mass of metal containing the precious metals is obtained; this
button is cupelled and then melted in the ordinary apparatus. The samo
treatment equally applies to natural or native osmides, to poor ores of pla-
tinum, and to all platinum residuums. The metal which is thus obtained is
incorporated by fusion in suitable proportions with pure platinum to which it
will communicate valuable properties.
Having now described this Invention of "Improvements in the Manufacture
or Reduction of Platinum," and having explained the manner of carrying the
same into effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that what I claim as new in
the present improvements and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the mode
herein described of reducing platinum from its ores, so that certain of the
metallic matters found mixed with it in the ore may be reduced with the
platinum, and form a combination which will be found to possess certain
valuable properties, superior in some respects to pure platinum. I also claim
mixing with pure platinum, obtained or extracted in the ordinary way, the
valuable metals or matters which will produce the useful qualities above
referred to, thereby forming the alloy or combination artificially instead of
obtaining it direct from the ore.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twelfth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-cight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.s.)