Improvements in and connected with Amalgamating Apparatus for Extracting Gold and Silver from their Ores.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Oct., 1896-Accepted, 31st Oct., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and connected with Amalgamating Apparatus for
Extracting Gold and Silver from their Ores.
I, JOHN WILLIAM CLARKE, of 222 Mansion House Chambers, in the City and
County of London, Agent, 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 :-
This invention relates to certain improvements in and connected with
amalgamating apparatus whereby gold and silver can be extracted from their
ores in a rapid, effectual, economical and practically continuous manner.
The invention refers to apparatus of the kind in which the crushed ore is
completely immersed in and passed through mercury by means of rollers, and
comprises a dished bed-plate to contain the mercury, two or more fluted rotatable
rollers mounted so as to be partially immersed in the mercury, a mercury splash-
guard beyond the last roller, a jet or spray of water to assist in carrying off the
tailings, and a tailing rake working transversely across the bed-plate at the rear,
all as hereinafter more fully set forth. The apparatus is electrically insulated and
the terminals or poles of a battery or dynamo, or other source of electricity, are
led into the apparatus to dip into the mercury in the manner and for the purpose
to be hereinafter described.
In the accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view and Fig. 2 a top
plan of my improved amalgamating apparatus with the cover removed.
The same parts are lettered to correspond in both views.
A is the hopper into which the crushed ore is fed with or without water and
which is provided with a screen A¹ through which the material passes and falls on
to the bed-plate B which latter is dished or recessed so as to form a receptacle to
hold the mercury. In the sides C of the apparatus are bearings D in which rotate
the axles E¹ of the rollers E two or more of which are arranged parallel with
each other.
The rollers E are fluted longitudinally and are so mounted in the apparatus as to
be partially immersed in the mercury on the dished bed-plate B. Outside the
apparatus these rollers are connected by gearing such as is shown at E 2, E3, E 4,
so as to rotate in the same direction and at slightly different speeds. One of the
axles is prolonged and on it is keyed the driving pulley F. The last cog-wheel E 4
gears with a pinion Sou a short parallel shaft S to which is keyed a cog-wheel S 2
gearing with a pinion T¹ on a second parallel shaft T which is preferably carried
across the apparatus and journalled at its other end in a bearing T2, and may if
desired carry a driving pulley F in addition to or in substitution for the pulley F.
On this shaft T is an eccentric Q the rod Q' of which is linked to one arm U¹ of
a bell crank lever having a fixed centre of motion on the frame of the apparatus
at U. The other arm U 2 of said bell crank lever is pivotted at R¹ to a link
arm R, the other end of which is pivotted on a stump R2 fast on the top of the
rake V. G is a guard plate secured to the base or sides of the apparatus and
situated in rear of the last roller so as to serve as a splash-guard to prevent the
mercury from splashing on to the rake. H is a water inlet which is led into the
apparatus in front of the rake, and behind the splash-guard G, and which leads
into a water pipe H' reaching from side to side of the apparatus and perforated so
as to direct the water towards the rear, and J and K are electric terminals or poles,
both dipping into the mercury on the bed-plate the leading wires passing through

page_text: the cover of the apparatus, J being the positive, dipping into the mercury near the
hopper A, and K the negative, dipping into the mercury near the rake V. L is a
plate of insulating material on which the apparatus stands, and the driving
pulley F, F, is or are made of, or covered with, an insulating material. The
whole apparatus is covered by a cover not shown in the drawings which completely
boxes in the rollers and rake, and prevents unauthorized access to the mercury or
amalgam. The rollers and the plate under the rake are made of a material, such
as copper, which is easily amalgamated. Gozequently any surplus mercury which
may pass the splash-guard G will increase the amalgamating surface of the plate
under the rake.
The apparatus works in the following manner. When the mercury is on the
bed plate and ore charged through the hopper, the rollers are rotated, the electrical
circuit is completed, and the water is let into the pipe H. As they rotate the
rollers carry the ore from the space below the hopper and pass it to the rear under
and through the mercury on the bed plate. After passing the last roller, the water
from the perforations in the pipe H thoroughly saturates the tailings and carries
them to the rake which entirely breaks them up liberating surplus mercury and
discharging the spent ore through the tailing discharge M. The transverse motion
of the rake is produced by the bell crank lever U operated by the eccentric rod Q',
as will be understood. The passage of the electric current through the mercury.
will tend to prevent it from "flouring" or "sickening," thus rendering it more
active in forming an amalgam with the metal.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to. be performed, I declare that what: I
claim is.;--
1. Amalgamating apparatus for extracting gold and silver. from their ores,
comprising a dished bed-plate to contain the mercury, two. or more fluted rollers
partially immersed in the mercury and geared so as to rotate together at different
speeds and pass the ore under the mercury to the rear, a splash-guard to catch.
mercury splashes from the last roller, a jet or spray of water for carrying the
tailings to the rake, a transversely moving rake.for opening the tailings, and means
for operating the rollers and the rake, all combined and operating substantially in
the manner herein before described and shown in the drawings and for the purposes
stated.
2. Amalgamating apparatus of the kind indicated in the preceding claim,
insulated from earth and placed in an electrical circuit by means of terminals or
poles, from a suitable source of electricity, which dip into the mercury so that an
electric current is sent therethrough when the circuit is completed, substantially as
and for the purpose hereinbefore set forth, and as shown by way of example in
the accompanying drawings.
3. Amalgamating apparatus for extracting gold and silver from their ores,
combined and operating substantially as and for the purposes herein before described
and illustrated.
Dated thin 10L 1
1000
F. W. GODBY,
36 Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Patent Agent for the Applicant.