CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF SMELTING OR EXTRACTING METAL FROM COPPER AND OTHER OBES
Year: 1839

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
JEFFERIES, of Holme Street, Mile End, in the County of Middlesex, Metal
Refiner, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-second day of May, in the second year of Her
reign, and in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Jefferies, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Jefferies, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
and such others as I, the said William Jefferies, my executors, administrators,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should and
lawfully might, make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
tlie Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and also in all Her Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
PROCESS OF SMELTING OR EXTRACTING METAL FROM COPPER AND OTHER OBES;"
in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said

page_text: William Jefferies, by an instrument in writing under my band and seal,
particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be
inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Jefferies, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
<described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of my Invention is to obtain copper and other metals from the
ore in a more economical manner, and in a better state or quality, than can be
effected by the method or processes commonly employed, and consists in an
improved process of calcining or roasting and preparing the ores for the after
process of smelting; and also in the use and application of novel or improved
constructions of roasting or calcining furnaces, ovens, or chambers, for effecting
such calcination of the ores. I will first describe my improved construction
and arrangement of roasting or calcining furnace or oven, and then my
improved process connected therewith, and mode of preparing for smelting.
Fig. 1 is a vertical section of one of my improved constructions of calcining
furnaces, shewing two ovens or roasting chambers connected in one building,
but they may be constructed separately, or three or four or any other number,
side by side. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken through the same in the line
a, b, shewing the flooring of the ovens or calcining chambers; and Fig. 8 is
another horizontal section taken in the line c, d, and shewing the flooring of
the upper chamber. These improved furnaces may be constructed of any
form that shall be considered desirable, either square, round, octagonal, or of
any other figure, though I prefer the form shewn in the Drawings, as it is most
convenient. The furnace consists of the walls A, A, which are built of brick-
work or stone in the ordinary manner. The furnaces are divided by the two
horizontal floors or partitions B, B, and C, C; the floor B forms the roof of
the ash pit D, as well as the floor of the roasting or calcining chamber or oven
E; and the partition C forms the roof of those ovens or chambers E, as well
as the floor of the upper chambers F; the smoke and vapours arising from the
roasting of the ore is allowed to pass through the openings G, G. In these

page_text: chambers F the vapours become condensed, and the sulphuric acid and other
heavy parts of the vapour may be collected in suitable vessels, by which the
deleterious matters usually thrown off into the atmosphere will in a great
measure be arrested, and their unpleasant consequences prevented. The roof
or covering H, H, of these upper chambers F, F, are formed of arched brick
or stonework, as shewn in Fig. 1, and the uncondensed parts of the vapour or
smoke may be allowed to pass of by the chimneys I, I, or by any other suit-
able apertures. The lower compartments or ash pits D are furnished with
doors J, J, which may be opened or closed according to the draft required
through the furnace during the process of calcining or roasting of the ores.
These doors also serve for the removal of the ashes and ores falling from the
chamber above. It will be seen that the horizontal partitions or floors B are
pierced with a number of small apertures for the admission of air from the
ash pits D, D, to the chambers or ovens E, F, in order to support the com-
bustion of the coal or fuel mixed with the ore, and thereby effect the roasting
or calcining of the charge of material. The ovens or chambers E are also
furnished with doors K, K, for the introduction of the fresh charges of orc
and fuel, and also the removal of the same when the process of roasting or
calcining is completed. The ovens or chambers are also furnished with other
smaller apertures L, L, for the purpose of allowing the attendant to inspect
the state of the operation and the degree of roasting or calcination going on.
These apertures are fitted with doors or covers to be opened or closed at
pleasure. The apertures G, G, leading from the ovens to the chamber above
are supplied with dampers, by means of which the draft or passage of the
vapour from the ovens can be regulated at pleasure. Figure 4 is another
vertical section, taken through two furnaces built together, but with only one
upper condensing chamber F, which in some cases may be preferred to those
having a separate chamber to each furnace. In this instance the roof H is con-
structed in a different manner to the former, and may be of iron tiles and
plastered, or it may be roofed in any other suitable way. I would remark,
that I do not confine myself to any particular shape of the apertures for the
admission of air through the flooring of the roasting ovens or chambers, as
these may be formed by leaving small spaces between the fire-bricks used for
the flooring or by piercing holes through them (when in the clay state) before
they are burnt.
Having described the construction of my improved calcining or roasting
furnace, I will now proceed to explain the improved process which I use in
conjunction therewith (that is to say) :-The ore is taken in the raw state in large

page_text: or small pieces as it may be brought to the smelting works, and is to be mixed
in the first place with a sufficient quantity of fuel, as coal, coke, or anthracite
coal, to effect the calcination of the ore; the quantity of fuel employed in
connection with a given weight of ore must vary from one hundredweight to
three hundredweight of fuel to one ton of ore; the more sulphurous the
state of the ore the less coal or other fuel is required for this purpose. The
mixture of the fuel and ore is then put into the calcining furnace or
chamber E with a quantity of wood under it capable of igniting the mass of
fuel. The whole of the materials are then set on fire, in which situation the
ore is to remain in the furnace subjected to the action of a slow heat for a
space of time sufficient to complete the operation, say, for four, five, or six
days, according to the quality of the material. The charge is then to be
drawn out of the chamber and wetted, and after laying in a wet state for three
or four days or more it is to be mixed with a quantity of lime, common soda,
or any other alkali that may be found more convenient for use. The calcined
ore and the alkali is then kept in a wetted, state for three days or more, as the
nature of the ore may require. If the ore be mixed with common unslacked
lime it will require about two hundredweight to the ton of ore, and after the
ore has been subjected to this process it is ready for the after process of
smelting in the common smelting or reverberatory furnace. If common soda
be employed about half a hundredweight of the alkali will be found sufficient
for every ton of ore.
Lastly, I desire it to be understood that I claim as my improvements the
process of smelting ores: first, the use and application of the construction of
furnaces as described above; and secondly, the method of submitting the ore
to a slow operation of calcining or roasting by the employment of a small
quantity of fuel kept in a state of slow combustion by the regulated admission
of atmospheric air, and after such roasting allowing the ore to remain for
several days in a mixture of alkali and water exposed to the atmosphere,
when it will be found ready for smelting in the reverberating furnace, the metal
being in a much more advanced state in its progress towards purity than by
any of the ordinary modes of smelting.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Jefferies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine.
WM (LS.) JEFFERIES.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of
November, in the third year of the reign of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, the
said William Jefferies came before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chan-
cery, and acknowledged the Instrument aforesaid, and all and every thing
therein contained and specified, in form above written. And also the Instru-
ment aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of the Statute made in
the fifty-fifth year of the reign of His late Majesty King George the Third.
Inrolled the twenty-second day of November, One thousand eight
hundred and thirty-nine.