IMPROVEMENTS IN Ex- TRACTING COPPER FROM ITS ORES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Haeffely, of Kearsley, in the County of Lan-
caster, Analytical Chemist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN Ex-
TRACTING COPPER FROM ITS ORES."
Sealed the 21st January 1862, and dated the 25th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Haeffely at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 25th
July 1861.
I, EDWARD HAEFFELY, of Kearsley, in the County of Lancaster, Analytical
Chemist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN EXTRACTING COPPER FROM ITS ORES," to be as follows:-
My improvements consist, firstly, in the application of the refuse liquid dis-
charged from chlorine generators, as a menstruum for dissolving the copper
contained in its ores; and, secondly, in precipitating copper from its solution
by the action of the refuse known in alkali works by the name of "vat
waste."

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edward Haeffely in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 25th
January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
HAEFFELY, of Kearsley, in the County of Lancaster, Analytical Chemist, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Edward Haeffely, Her special license that I, the said Edward
Haeffely, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Edward Haeffely, my executors, administrators, and 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 EXTRACTING COPPER FROM ITS ORES," upon the condition, amongst others,
that I, the said Edward Haeffely, 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 Edward Haeffely, 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 relate, firstly, to the extraction of copper from its ores
an inexpensive menstruum; and this part of my Invention is applicable chiefly
to those ores which have been used in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, such
ores containing comparatively but a small quantity of the metal. For this
purpose I use the refuse liquid discharged from chlorine generators.
Secondly, my improvements relate to the precipitation or separation of
copper from its solution; for which purpose I use the refuse known in alkali
works as "vat waste," which material being at present of no commercial value,
affords the means of effecting a great saving in the required operation.
In order that my Invention may be fully understood, I shall now proceed to
describe a mode of operating which may be followed :-Cupreous pyrites are

page_text: now much employed in the manufacture of sulphuric acid, but as a portion of
the sulphur always remains after the largest quantity which can be obtained is
driven off in the kilns, it is necessary that the ore be subjected to a calcination,
in order that the remaining sulphur shall either be driven off as sulphurous
acid or oxidized. After this calcination the ore is ready to be treated with the
solvent, the use of which constitutes this part. of my Invention. The apparatus
that I prefer to employ for this purpose is a series of stone vessels, so arranged
that the liquid may pass from any convenient reservoir to the top of any one
of the series, and make its exit at the bottom thereof into the top of the next
series, the whole arrangement being similar to that commonly employed for
lixiviating soda ash. The liquid which has been discharged from the chlorine
generators when hydrochloric acid and manganese have been used for the
generation of chlorine, and which is generally thrown away as valueless, is
introduced into the first vat, and after passing through the ore therein flows
into the next, and so on through the whole series, it being finally received
from the last into any suitable reservoir. A certain time is required for this
operation, in order that the whole or nearly the whole of the copper may be
extracted, and I find generally that about a week is required for that result;
after which the ore is removed from the first, and a fresh charge placed
therein, the liquor being now admitted to the second and drawn off from the
first, and so on throughout the series. The solution thus obtained may, so far
as this part of my Invention is concerned, be treated in any ordinary method
for the separation of the copper, but if to be operated upon, according to the
second part of my Invention, I proceed as follows:-In the first place, I
acidulate the solution with any convenient acid; but a cheap and effectual
method of accomplishing this is to add some of the above-mentioned liquid
obtained from the chlorine generators, and in sufficient quantity to make the
solution decidedly acid; the addition of water also is desirable, but not impera-
tive. The solution is then placed in a stone vat, and the residuum known as vat
waste, from the manufacture of soda ash, is added, the effect of which is the
precipitation of the copper as a sulphuret. The quantity of "vat waste"
required I determine by removing a test portion of the cupreous solution and
adding sulphuret of vodium thereto, or any other known reagent may be em-
ployed. It having been ascertained that the whole of the copper is separated,
the mass is thrown upon a sand or other filter, through which the metals and
other matters still dissolved pass, leaving sulphuret of copper mixed with other
substances. The precipitate is then well washed with water to free it as far
as possible from iron and other soluble matters, and is then, after draining,
dried in a reverberatory furnace or other suitable apparatus; after which, it
"

page_text: may be reduced, converted into sulphate, or otherwise disposed of, as may be
desired.
I have in the foregoing description alluded particularly to my Invention as
applied to those ores which have been treated for the manufacture of sulphuric
acid; but although the chief advantage thereof may arise from such combina-
tion, I do not confine myself thereto, as ores in their native condition may in
like manner be operated upon according to my Invention.
Also, according to the second part of my Invention, I do not limit myself to
the use thereof as connected with solutions obtained in the manner above
described, but I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters
Patent,-
Firstly, the use of the waste liquor from chlorine generators as a solvent for
copper contained in its ores:
Secondly, the use of the above-mentioned "vat waste," for precipitating
copper from solutions thereof..
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Haeffely, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
EDWARD HAEFFELY. (L.S.)