IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Astley Paston Price, of Margate, in the County of
Kent, Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PURIFICATION
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Astley Paston Price at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd June 1854.
I, ASTLEY PASTON PRICE, of Margate, in the County of Kent, Chemist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PURIFICATION OF TIN, AND IN OBTAINING USEFUL PRODUCTS ARISING FROM SUCH
PURIFICATION," to be as follows:-
My improvements have for their object the entire or partial separation of
tin from certain metals with which it may be alloyed or mixed; such, for
example, as, first, tin containing or mixed with gold, together with or without
either silver, copper, or lead; second, tin containing or mixed with either lead,
copper, antimony, arsenic, tungsten, zinc, or iron; or, third, tin containing (in
addition to any or all of these) any of the before-mentioned metals, namely,
gold, silver, lead, or copper, and in obtaining tin therefrom, purified in part or
entirely from such impurities. My improvements consist in subjecting impure

page_text: tin to the action of bydrochloric acid, and in decomposing the solution of chloride
of tin so obtained by means of ammoniacal gas liquor or other ammoniacal
liquor, or with the volatile alkaline ammoniacal products obtained therefrom,
or with ammonia or carbonate of ammonia, so as to precipitate the tin existing
in solution, and to obtain a valuable product, muriate of ammonia. The oxide
and other compounds of tin thus precipitated may, if necessary, be calcined or
roasted in a suitable furnace, and may subsequently be reduced in a suitable
furnace with carbonaceous matter, in order that metallic tin may be therefrom
obtained; or the compounds of tin obtained as before mentioned may be
otherwise treated. The solution of muriate of ammonia, after separation from
the precipitated compounds of tin, may be evaporated, and crystals of muriate
of ammonia be obtained, or the same may be obtained by sublimation or
otherwise. Should the alloy or mixture have contained lead, then the lead
may be separated from solution by the employment of sulphuric acid or
sulphate of ammonia, and the solution of tin thus freed from lead may then be
treated with ammonia, or with any of the ammoniacal compounds, as herein-
before mentioned.
My improvements further relate to the purifying of tin containing gold or
silver, such as and more particularly that known as Australian auriferous tin,
by effecting the solution of the whole or the greater proportion of the tin
contained in such mixtures or alloys as may be soluble in hydrochloric acid,
and precipitating the same by means of sulphuretted hydrogen, which
sulphuret of tin may be subsequently treated as hereafter described, and
metallic tin be therefrom obtained. A solution of chloride of tin having
been obtained, as herein-before mentioned, is, if containing a large excess
of acid, to be partially neutralized by means of any of the ammoniacal
products or compounds which I have herein-before mentioned, and then
sulphuretted hydrogen is to be passed into the acid or nearly neutral
solution, until the whole or the greater proportion of the tin is precipitated.
The sulphuret of tin thus precipitated is allowed to deposit, and the
supernatant acid solution is then to be withdrawn, and this acid solution
may again be employed for effecting the solution of impure tin containing
gold or silver; or the acid solution may be neutralized with ammonia, or any
of the ammoniacal compounds before mentioned, and muriate of ammonia
be obtained therefrom; or it may be otherwise employed. The sulphuret
of tin thus obtained may be calcined or roasted, in order to be converted
into oxide or oxides of tin, and the oxide or oxides of tin thus obtained
may be reduced with carbonaceous matters in a suitable furnace, and metallic
tin bo therefrom obtained.

page_text: My improvements further relate to the purifying of impure tin, containing
such or any of the impurities as herein-before mentioned, by effecting the
solution of that amount of tin contained in such alloys or mixtures as is
soluble in hydrochloric acid, or is capable of being dissolved by means of a
solution of bi-chloride of tin, and decomposing the solutions thus obtained by
means of sulphurous acid, which said sulphurous acid is to be passed into
solutions of proto-chloride of tin, and the bisulphide of tin thus formed is to
bo separated from the solution by decantation or filtration. The decanted or
filtered solution of bi-chloride of tin may then either be employed for dissolving
the tin contained in impure tin, which it will do, at the same time becoming
reduced to the state of proto-chloride of tin; or the tin may be precipitated
from the aforesaid solution of bi-chloride of tin by means of sulphuretted
bydrogen, and the resulting acid solution may be again employed for dissolving
tin; or the tin may be precipitated from the aforesaid solution containing
bi-chloride of tin, by means of any of the aforesaid ammoniacal compounds.
The solution of proto-chloride of tin, obtained by boiling or digesting a solution
containing bi-chlorido of tin with tin containing any of the herein-before
mentioned impurities, may be again subjected to the action of sulphurous
acid, as before mentioned, or may be decomposed by means of sulphuretted
hydrogen, or by means of any of the ammoniacal compounds, as herein-before
mentioned. Instead of employing sulphurous acid, as above described, sulphite
or hyposulphite of ammonia may be employed, and the solution of chloride of
ammonium resulting may be subsequently evaporated, and the said salt of
ammonia be therefrom obtained. The sulphides of tin obtained, as before
mentioned, may be calcined or roasted in a suitable furnace, and be thereby
converted into oxide of tin, which oxide or oxides of tin may be treated with
carbonaceous matters, and metallic tin bo therefrom obtained, or the sulphides
may be otherwise treated; any lead which may exist in either of the solutions
of chloride of tin obtained as before described may, if necessary, be separated,
as herein-before mentioned.
My improvements further consist in precipitating, by means of either car-
bonate of lime, or carbonate of magnesia or lime, the tin contained in the
solution of chloride of tin obtained by subjecting impure tin, or tin containing
or mixed with gold, silver, copper, lead, arsenic, antimony, iron, or tungsten,
to the action of hydrochloric acid; and after the separation of the solutions of
chloride of calcium or chloride of magnesium from the oxide of tin thus pre-
cipitated, reducing the said oxide of tin thus obtained with carbonaceous matter
in a suitable furnace, and thus obtaining metallic tiu.
Any lead existing in solution may be precipitated by means of sulphuric

page_text: acid, as before described. The residues from any of the foregoing processes,
containing gold or silver, either alone or mixed with tin and other impurities,
remaining after the action of the hydrochloric acid on impure tin, may be
treated as described in my Patent for improvements in the treatment of
certain alloys of tin; and the gold, silver, or copper may be therefrom
obtained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Astley Paston Price in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd December 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ASTLEY
PASTON PRICE, of Margato, in the County of Kent, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Astley Paston Price, Her special license that I, the said Astley
Paston Price, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others us
I, the said Astley Paston Price, my executors, administrators, or 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 PURIFICATION OF TIN, AND IN OBTAINING USEFUL
PRODUCTS ARISING FROM SUCH PURIFICATION," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Astley Paston Price, 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 Astley Paston Price, 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:―
My improvements have for their object the entire or partial separation of
tin from certain metals with which it may be alloyed or mixed; such, for

page_text: example, as, first, tin containing or mixed with gold. together with or without
either silver, copper, or lead; second, tin containing or mixed with either lead,
copper, antimony, arsenic, tungsten, zinc, or iron; or, third, tin containing (in
addition to any or all of these) any of the before-mentioned metals, videlicet,
gold, silver, lead, or copper, and in obtaining tin therefrom, purified in part or
entirely from such impurities.
My improvements consist in subjecting impure tin to the action of hydro-
chloric acid, and in decomposing the solution of chloride of tin so obtained by
means of ammoniacal gas liquor or other ammoniacal liquor, or with the volatile
alkaline ammoniacal products obtained therefrom, or with ammonia or carbonate
of ammonia, so as to precipitate the tin existing in solution, and to obtain a
valuable product, muriate of ammonia. The oxide and other compounds of tin
thus precipitated may, if necessary, be calcined or roasted in a suitable rever-
beratory or other furnace, and the oxide or oxides thus obtained may subse-
quently be reduced in a suitable furnace with carbonaceous matter, in order that
metallic tin may be therefrom obtained; or the compounds of tin obtained as
before mentioned may be otherwise treated. The solution of muriate of ammonia,
after separation from the precipitated compounds of tin, may be evaporated, and
crystals of muriate of ammonia be obtained by sublimation or otherwise. Should
the alloy or mixture have contained lead, then the lead may be separated from
solution by the employment of sulphuric acid; the solution of tin thus freed
from lead may then be treated with ammonia, or with any of the ammoniacal
compounds, as herein-before mentioned.
My improvements further relate to the purifying of impure tin containing
such or any of the impurities, as herein-before mentioned, by effecting the
solution of that amount of tin contained in such alloys or mixtures as is soluble
in hydrochloric acid, or is capable of being dissolved by means of a solution of
bi-chloride of tin, and decomposing the solutions thus obtained by means of sul-
phurous acid, which said sulphurous acid is to be passed into solutions of proto-
chloride of tin, either at the ordinary or at an elevated temperature, until the
proto-chloride of tin has been in part or entirely converted into bi-chloride of
tin, and the bisulphide of tin thus formed is to be separated from the solution.
by decantation or filtration. The decanted or filtered solution of bi-chloride of
tin may then either be employed for dissolving the tin contained in impure tin,
which it will do, at the same time becoming reduced to the state of proto-
chloride of tin; or the tin may be precipitated from the aforesaid solution
containing bi-chloride of tin by means of any of the aforesaid ammoniacal
compounds. The solution of proto-chloride of tin, obtained by boiling or
digesting a solution containing bi-chloride of tin, obtained as before mentioned.

page_text: with tin containing any of the herein-before mentioned impurities, may be
again subjected to the action of sulphurous acid, as before mentioned, or may
be decomposed by means of any of the ammoniacal compounds, as herein-before
mentioned, or by means of any of the herein-after mentioned precipitants,
videlicet, lime, or carbonate of lime, or carbonate of magnesia; instead of
employing sulphurous acid, as before described, sulphite or hyposulphite of
ammonia may be employed, and the solution of chloride of ammonium resulting
may be subsequently evaporated, and the said salt of ammonia be therefrom
obtained. The sulphides of tin obtained as before mentioned may be
calcined in a suitable furnace, and be thereby converted into oxide of tin,
which oxide or oxides of tin may be treated with carbonaceous matters, and
metallic tin be therefrom obtained, or the sulphides may be otherwise treated.
Any lead which may exist in either of the solutions of chloride of tin
obtained as before described may, if necessary, be separated, as herein-before
mentioned.
My improvements further consist in precipitating, by means of either car-
bonate of lime, or carbonate of magnesia or lime, the tin contained in the
solution of chloride of tin, obtained by subjecting impure tin, or tin containing
or mixed with gold, silver, lead, arsenic, antimony, iron, or tungsten, to the
action of hydrochloric acid; and after the separation of the solutions of chloride
of calcium or chloride of magnesium from the oxide of tin thus precipitated,
by decantation or otherwise, reducing the said oxide of tin thus obtained with
carbonaceous matter in a suitable furnace, and thus obtaining metallic tin.
Any lead existing in solution may be precipitated by means of sulphuric
acid, as before described. The residues resulting from the treatment of impure
tin by any of the foregoing processes which may contain gold or silver, either
alone or mixed with tin and other impurities, may be treated as described
in my Patent for improvements in the treatment of certain alloys of tin; and
the gold, silver, or copper may be therefrom obtained.
What I wish to be understood throughout this Specification by impure tin,
or tin containing or mixed with gold, silver, copper, lead, arsenic, antimony,
iron, or tungsten, is, those alloys or mixtures which are obtained by reducing
impure ores of tin or alloys or mixtures resulting from the refining or after
treatment of such impure tin.
I wish it to be understood that I do not claim as novel the fact of the
precipitation of solutions of pure chloride or chlorides of tin by means of
ammonia or the herein-mentioned ammoniacal compounds, nor the precipitation
of tin from solutions of pure chloride of tin by means of lime, or carbonate
of lime, or carbonate of magnesia; but what I claim as my Invention is, the

page_text: purification in part or entirely of impure tin for commercial purposes, and the
obtaining of commercially useful products by the processes herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Astley Paston Price, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-second day of December, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-four.
ASTLEY PASTON PRICE. (L.s.)