Improvements in Amalgamators.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 29th Dec., 1896-Accepted, 15th May. 1897
Improvements in Amalgamators.
We, JACOB JONES STORER of Newton, Middlesex County, Massachusetts,
United States of America, Inventor, and FRANK MARTIN of Medford, Middlesox
County, Massachusetts, Mining 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 :-
The object of our invention is to provide an improved amalgamator for treating
gold and silver ores.
The invention consists of the combination with a suitable tank or trough lined
with amalgamated copper plates and provided with a longitudinal groove in its
bottom terminating in a well, and a revoluble shaft fixed in the longitudinal axis
of said tank and provided with angularly and radially adjustable blades or screw
threads, preferably of amalgamated copper, of a series of amalgamated copper
arresting plates, coated with quicksilver vertically adjustable and removable,
suspended transversely within said tank, and reaching from above the water line
nearly to the bottom of the tank, and it also embraces an enclosed amalgamated
apron plate connected with the discharge end of said tank, and a mercury trap_set
at the lower end of said apron plate to receive the discharge therefrom; and of
certain other novel devices, all of which will be hereinafter described.
Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming part of the
specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in
all the figures.
Figure 1 is a sectional side elevation of the amalgamating tank and attachments.
Figure 2 is a vertical section of saine on line X-X Figure 1.
Figure 3 is an end elevation of the tank.
Figure is, a plan view on line Y-Y Figure 1, with the arresting plates
removed.
Figure 5 is a reduced elevation of an arresting plate.
Figure 6 is an end elevation of the same.
In the drawing, 1 represents the tank having an inside rounded bottom 2, and
upward sloping sides.3, and having in its bottom a longitudinal groove 4, for the
reception of the excess of quicksilver, terminating at one end in a well 5, from.
which the amalgam and fouled quicksilver, should there be any, may be removed
when desired by a syphon or other suitable device. The tank is lined throughout
with amalgainated copper plate, as indicated at 6. The shaft 7, which has bearings
designed to be water-tight in each end of the tank, has its outer end supported by
standards 8, and is designed to be revolved in either direction by one or the other
of its pulleys 9. This shaft within the tank, may be provided with a spiral screw
thread of sufficient width or depth to reach within an inch or thereabouts of the
bottom of the tank, and about the same distance above the water line as indicated
at 10, but preferably it is provided with a series of blades 11, arranged in a double
spiral, and fixed in position by having their shanks passed through the shaft and
held by nuts 12, as best shewn in Figure 1. These blades may be made of any
material sufficiently strong to keep the pulp in agitation, but preferably are made
of flat plates of amalgamated copper, which will not only keep the pulp in agitation,
but will also serve to catch all the floating particles of gold with which they may
make contact. They may be adjustably attached to the shaft in other ways than

page_text: here shewn and described, but we prefer this method as it enables the operator to
more readily remove, scrape and replace them when "cleaning up."
." They be set
and firmly held with their faces at any desired angles to the shaft axis, and radially
adjusted toward and from the shaft by means of the nuts 12, and they may be made
of various shapes, but we prefer them flat as indicated. In working the very
"slimy "ore it is found best to radially adjust the blades to reach well above the
water, so that they will when in motion draw the "slimes" beneath the water, and
create deeper vortices, with the effect of forcing them in contact with amalgamated
surfaces; and by angular adjustment of the blades the rate of the movement of the
ore pulp, from one end to the other of the amalgamator, may be regulated, while
by turning some of the blades at opposite angles to others, a greater agitation of
the pulp is effected.
In order to assure the arrest and amalgamation of all the particles of float gold,
to present an increased amalgamating surface within the limits of the tank, and to
cause. the pulp to be longer retained and more repeatedly exposed to the
amalgamated surfaces, we suspend in the tank a series of amalgamated copper
arresting plates 13, coated with quicksilver, the lower half-circular edges of which
are designed to reach considerably below the water line and between the screw
blades, while their sides or legs extend below the screw shaft, at the sides thereof,
and their upper edges are secured in strips of wood or metal 14, as indicated in
Figures 1 and 2, which stiffen them and prevent their bending under the pressure
of the moving water, and by means of which they may be removably clamped or
otherwise secured to the upper edges of the tank as indicated at 15, and be firmly
held in position wheu adjusted. It will be seen that these arresting plates are so
constructed and arranged that the ore pulp and water cannot flow over them, and
must flow beneath them through the annular spaces formed between them, the
screw shaft, and tank bottom, and that in this respect,-in their construction, their
positions and functions,-they are entirely unlike the "riffles or arresting plates
in common use.
The discharge end of the tank is provided with a series of narrow, horizontal
openings 16 at different levels, through which the water and pulp are designed to
be discharged upon the apron plate 17, which is covered with amalgamated copper,
and partially enclosed by side and front plates 18 and 19 respectively, to prevent
the loss of the water and pulp by spattering. These discharge openings 16 may be
closed by eccentric bars 20, as indicated at 21, Figures 1 and 2, which bars are
journaled as shown at 22, on the discharge end of the tank, and they may be opened
by the upward turning of the said bars us indicated. We do not confine ourselves
to these special devices for regulating the discharge of the ore pulp and water from
the tank, as other devices, quite as serviceable for the purpose, may be applied
without departing from our invention.
The ore pulp and water discharged from the tank upon the apron plate 17, may
contain some particles of floured quicksilver and amalgam, hence they are made to
flow into the mercury trap 23, which is designed to extend the whole width, of the
apron plate, and is provided with partition plates 24, under and over which
respectively, the water and pulp flow in passing to the waste sluice 25.
In this mercury trap the floured quicksilver and amalgam will sink to the
bottom from whence it may be easily removed in "cleaning up."
And water may
be made to continually flow into the bottom of said trap through pipe 26, to prevent
the pulp from settling therein.
In operating this amalgamator, the amalgamating surfaces are first properly
prepared and a quantity of quicksilver is then put into the groove 4 for the
purpose of arresting and amalgamating the heavier particles of gold that will sink
to the bottom; all the openings in the discharge end of the tank are then closed
and the ore-pulp with water is introduced into the upper or feed end until the
water reaches nearly to the tips of the upward-projecting shaft paddles or blades.
Then the shaft is alternately rotated in one direction and the other in order to
bring all the particles of the metal in repeated contact with the amalgamated tank

page_text: lining, screw blades and arresting plates. Then the upper discharge opening is
opened for the escape of water and pulp, and the shaft is kept revolving to cause
the tank contents to flow in that direction, and a constant feed of ore-pulp and
water into the tank is continued until the operation is suspended for the purpose of
"cleaning up."
Then the discharge openings, from above downwards, are successively opened to
permit the remaining water and pulp to discharge upon the apron plate, and thence
into the mercury trap, and finally off through the waste sluice 25. After the
water and pulp have been discharged from the tank, the excess of quicksilver
charged with gold is syphoned or otherwise removed from the well 5, and the
amalgamated surfaces are cleaned of their adhering coating of amalgam. For this
purpose the arresting plates and shaft blades can readily be taken out, and the
shaft may be removed if necessary and after the mercury, trap has been freed
from pulp by proper flushing its contents of arrested floured quicksilver amalgam
are removed.
. Though the shaft blades in combination with the tauk lining present, in a given
space, a much more extended amalgamated surface than is found in any other
form of amalgamator of equal capacity, they would not be fully effective were it
not for the amalgamated arresting plates, which prevent the otherwise unin-
terrupted flow of the water and pulp from the feed end to and out of the discharge
end of the tank, and which, each in its turn, impedes the flow of the water and
pulp, and causes them to swash and eddy against their amalgamated faces, and to
be forced down in repeated and frequent contact with the amalgamated shaft
blades and tank sides, so that the tank contents are constantly agitated and forced
into repeated collision with amalgamated surfaces by a combination of forward
and backward, of right and left rotary, up and down vertical, vortical and lateral
movements from one side to the other, whereby every particle of amalgamable gold
must be arrested and amalgamated.
Though the extended, amalgamated surfaces of the tank lining and shaft blades
and the quicksilver in the groove will readily catch and retain all of the heavier.
particles of the metals that are in a condition to be amalgamated and that are
deflected against them by the arresting plates, it is the arresting plates themselves
that, coated with quicksilver, serve most effectually to catch and amalgamate the
float gold, which in some ores constitute their greatest values, most of which would
otherwise be lost.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. An amalgamator constructed substantially as herein shewn and described,
consisting of a tauk lined with amalgamated plates, a shaft made to revolve in the
longitudinal axis thereof, and carrying amalgamated blades adapted for radial and
angular adjustment, preferably arranged in spirals, and a series of vertically
adjustable, removable, amalgamated arresting plates extending above the water
line and having a space beneath their lower edges for the flow of water and ore
pulp, all arranged and operated substantially as set forth.
2. In an amalgamator, a series of vertically adjustable, amalgamated arresting.
plates vertically suspended therein, at right angles to the outward flow of the
water and pulp, with their upper edges extending above the water line and their
lower edges above the amalgamator bottom, substantially as and for the purposes
described, said plates being coated with quicksilver for the purpose of arresting,
retaining and amalgamating the particles of precious metal passing through the
amalgamator, as set forth.
3. The combination with an amalgamator consisting of a tank lined with
amalgamated plates and having a longitudinal groove and well in its bottom and a
series of adjustable discharge openings at one end, provided with a revoluble
shaft carrying amalgamated blades, and with a series of vertically adjustable

page_text: amalgamated arresting plates, of an enclosed amalgamated apron plate fixed at the
discharge end of the tank, and of a mercury trap set to receive the material
discharged from the said apron plate, all arranged and operated as herein. shewn
and described.
4. The combination with an amalgamating tank constructed substantially as
herein shewn and described, of a revoluble shaft fixed in the longitudinal axis
thereof, and provided with angularly and radially adjustable amalgamated copper
blades. as set forth.
Dated this 29th day of December 1896.
For the Applicants,
GEDGE & FEENY,
60 Queen Victoria Street, London, E.C., Chartered Patent Agents.