Improvements in or relating to Obtaining and Separating Sulphide of Nickel in the Treatment of Mattes containing Copper, Nickel, Iron, and other Metals.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 10th Jan.. 1893-Accepted, 1st Apr., 1893
UUMIIDIN
Improvements in or relating to Obtaining and Separating Sulphide
of Nickel in the Treatment of Mattes containing Copper, Nickel,
Iron, and other Metals.
A communication by JOHN L. THOMSON, of 68, W. Eighth Street, Bayonne, in
the County of Essex and State of New Jersey, United States of America,
Metallurgist.
1, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON, F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster and 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex,
Civil 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:--
This invention relates to an improvement in method or process for obtaining and
separating commercially pure sulphide of nickel, in the treatment of mattes
containing copper, nickel, iron and other metals, as the same results from the various
operations of smelting various classes of ores containing these metals, for use in
metallurgical operations; and it also relates to an improvement in methods of
utilizing the by-products resulting from one separation in other separations, and
more particularly to a method or process in which the separation of the sulphide of
nickel is effected by the addition of any sulphide of any one of the alkaline bases,
such as sulphide of soda, sulphide of potash or sulphide of ammonia, but preferably
sulphide of soda, which produces, after smelting, a very fluid mass, in which the
various metals or salts therein contained, are so chemically changed, that they
assume during the smelting or upon cooling, by reason of their varying specific
gravity, such relative positions with reference to each other, that they may be
readily separated by mechanical means or by hand.
Now, my correspondent has discovered that where copper, iron, nickel and
sulphur, are combined as sulphides in an ordinary matte produced from or by the
primary treatment of the ores of these metals, in the ordinary operation of smelting
in any convenient form of furnace, or in the form of ores of these metals, they exist
probably as a combined molecule, the affinity of the various metals for the sulphur
is different and the metals exist in the mattes as sub-sulphides. When the mattes
are treated with any sulphide of any alkaline bases, above set forth, the copper first,
then the iron, and lastly the nickel tend to take sulphur from the alkaline sulphide.
When, for example, sulphide of soda is used, the sulphides of these metals coalesce
with the soda and form a very fluid mass. The sulphides of iron and coppe: adhere.
to the soda salts that are formed, and rise to the top of the mass, in the same manner
as slag rises upon metal, while the nickeliferous products are precipitated to the
bottom, and in the bottom of the mass the same sulphides of copper and iron are
found in a certain quantity, and a much larger proportion of the nickel than of the
other metals, in the form of a sulphide of some sort. The smelted product so
formed, so far as it consists of crude metallic nickel, if any there be, and sulphide
of nickel, will be of greater specific gravity than the other portions of the mass,
this separation being effected in the furnace itself; and upon allowing the same to
cool, the nickeliferous products being found upon the bottom, may be readily
separated therefrom, either by breaking up the mass on becoming cool, or drawing
off the upper portion of the mass while still molten.
In practice, when the smelted mass is tapped from the furnace and allowed to
cool in an ordinary cooling bed, or in any mould or slag pot, two distinct compounds
exist which will assume with reference to each other, the relative position of layers
or strata, and which are called "tops" and "bottoms," according to their position.

page_text: The "tops," so-called, consist of salts of soda, sulphide of copper and iron, and some
sulphide of iron and nickel, while the "bottoms" consist of a very small amount of
soda, copper and iron, in the form of sulphides, and the greater part of the nickel
in the form of a sulphide of nickel; the proportion of the latter being very largely
in excess of the proportion of the iron and copper, for the reasons above given.
.
If now the so-called "bottoms" resultant from this operation or step in the
separation, are subjected to further treatment, by again smelting or melting in any
shaft or other suitable furnace, with the sulphide of any alkaline base, still further
separation of the copper and iron from the nickel can be effected, and eventually a
sulphide of nickel produced which is commercially pure.
*
The operation may thus be repeated any number of times according to the
character of the orés or mattes to be treated, and according to the purity desired in
the sulphide of nickel. The smelting may take place in any convenient form of
furnace, and the separation of the mass, after smelting and settling, may be effected
in any convenient manner. In theory any sulphide of either of the alkaline metals.
or sulphide of ammonia may be used, but in practice it will be found preferable to
use sulphide of soda, as it is much more cheaply and readily procured than other
sulphides of the character mentioned.
The sulphide of nickel so produced may be sold as such, for use in subsequent
metallurgical operations, or it may be desulphurized and converted into oxide of
nickel and sold in that form, or it may be converted into metallic nickel in any
convenient manner, as may be desired.
In practice, the amount of chemical re-agents added will vary from time to time,
in accordance with the nature and condition of the matte, but in practice it is found
that from thirty to fifty per cent. of the above described re-agents may be mixed.
with the ores or other nickeliferous substances charged into the furnace.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The hereinbefore described method of producing and separating sulphide of
nickel, consisting in smelting ores or mattes containing nickel with a sulphide of
any of the alkaline bases, or a mixture of any two or more of such sulphide
substantially as described, whereby sulphide of nickel is formed, which is of greater
specific gravity than the remainder of the mass, and is precipitated to the bottom of
the mass, while the copper, iron and salts of the alkaline base, rise to the top and
may be separated in any convenient manner.
2. The hereinbefore described method of producing sulphide of nickel consisting
in smelting the ores, mattes or other substances containing nickel with a sulphide of
any of the alkaline bases or a mixture of any two or more of such sulphides
substantially as described, in separating out the sulphide of nickel resultant from
the operation, from the smelted mass, and in re-smelting the bottoms rich in sulphide
of nickel with the sulphide of the alkaline base and separating the resultant
sulphide of nickel from the sulphides of the other metals present, and in repeating
the operation until a commercially pure residue of sulphide of nickel is obtained.
3. The hereinbefore described method of producing and separating sulphide of
nickel consisting in smelting the ores, mattes or other bodies containing nickel, with
a sulphide of any of the alkaline bases or a mixture of any two or more of the same
substantially as described, in separating out the bottoms rich in sulphide of nickel
resultant from the smelting, by means of specific gravity, and in subjecting the
separate sulphide of nickel to repeated smelting with the sulphide of any of the
alkaline bases, and subsequent separation by specific gravity until a commercially
pure residue of sulphide of nickel is obtained.
Dated this 9th day of January 1892
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.