IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COPPER
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BELL, of Saint Austell, in the County of Cornwall, Mine Agent, send greeting.
. WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Bell, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said Thomas Bell, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Thomas Bell, my exors, admors, 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 expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COPPER;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said Thomas
Bell, shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, 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
Thomas Bell, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and

page_text: ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being bad
to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The copper ores to be operated on are first reduced to such a size that all
the particles will pass through a sieve containing four holes per square inch.
The ore is then to be taken to an air or melting furnace, commonly called a
melting furnace, see Figures 1 and 3, and is thrown into a hopper k, placed over
an opening in the arch or vault of the furnace. The quantity of ore to make a
charge will depend upon the size of the furnace, but a suitable furnace for one to
one ton and a half per charge will be most convenient. To every twenty parts
of ore put into the hopper, one or more parts of lime or other carbonacious
matter, either slaked or unslaked, are to be added. When the furnace is at a
white heat the slide in the bottom of the hopper is withdrawn and the charge
pulled down into the furnace, where it is levelled and spread over the bottom
by means of rabbles or other tools worked from the side doors or at the
drawing hole f. If the orcs be very much impregnated with sulphur, arse-
uiate clay, or clay slate, then to every twenty parts of ore from two to three
parts of lime, limestone, fluor spar, chalk, or other calcareous matter, are
thrown into the furnace. and scattered over the surface of the ore. A little
sharp slag or the skimming from the jigging sieves may also be added, but if
the ores contain or are mixed with much lime or limestone, as frequently
occurs where the ores composed of limestone, flour spar, &c., then a less
quantity of limestone will be required; but in all cases the quantity of cal-
careous matter to be added to the charge must depend on the judgment of
the smelter. The charge having been arranged in the furnace, as before
described, the doors are all closed and lifted up, and a brisk heat is applied to
the ore and limestone. In about three or four hours the charge will be
melted, and the doors are to be opened and the charge well. stirred with
a rabble; after which a fresh charge of ore and calcareous matter may be
added in the proportions before given, and the doors being again closed the
fire is increased, and in three or four hours further time the second charge will
also be melted. The melted ore, after being well stirred, is then drawn or run
out of the furnace into a sand or other mould or bed formed against the sides
or end of the furnace. This melted mass will be composed of vitrified copper
ore, iron, sulphur, earthy or calcareous matters, &c., and, when cooled, is
broken into pieces of ten or twelve pounds weight. When the ore is rich
another method of treating the ore in the air or melting furnace is as
follows-The operations of charging the furnace and melting the ores are
as before described, but instead of drawing out all the melted materials at the

page_text: door f, a part only of the upper surface of melted matter is so withdrawn.
The remaining portion being much richer in copper, and consequently more
fluid than the other, is "tapped" or run out at the side taphole e into sand
moulds or forms, and the two portions so respectively withdrawn are kept
apart from each other; but both are afterwards melted in the cupola furnace,
to be hereafter described. It is only advisable to employ this method when
the ore is very rich and contains much black, grey, native carbonate, or other
tender and rich descriptions of copper ore; but if yellow ore or copper pyrites
be the ore used, then the operations first described are the most suitable to be
employed.
In Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, is shown a method for constructing a double
air or melting furnace worked with one fire. The mode of working both
furnaces is the same as in the case of single furnace. The advantage to be
gained by the employment of a double furnace is the economy of fuel. After
the ores have been melted from the melting furnace and the vitrified mass broken
into pieces, the next operation is to take them to a cupola furnace, Figure 6
and 7, into which a blast of either hot or cold air is introduced from an ordinary
fan blowing machine, or from blast cylinders propelled by a steam engine or
other first moving power. The fuel used in this furnace is either coke, charcoal,
wood, bituminous stone, or anthracite coal, but coke or charcoal is the most
preferable fuel. When the fire has been raised in the cupola, and it is ready
for charging, as much of the vitrified ore, &c. drawn from the melting furnace
as can be conveniently arranged around the interior of the cupola furnace is
placed so as to leave free in the centre of the furnace a core of fuel about
one foot in diameter. The blast is then applied, and as the charge sinks in
the cupola, more vitrified ore and a small quantity of lime, limestone, or
calcareous matter is added, care being taken to keep the centre of the furnace
charged with fuel only; by these means a clear draught through the fuel will
be always maintained. If the furnace becomes clogged at any time, so that
the draught is impeded or the charge does not descend regularly, an addi-
tional quantity of limestone or calcareous matter must be added. As fast as
the vitrified ore is melted it runs off at the opening f, and passing over the
settling pot or vessel g, which is filled with ashes, and into which some of the
richer parts of the metal subside, and these fall in a continuous stream into
the reservoir h, the water in which is kept at a sufficiently low temperature by
a stream of cold water constantly flowing into it, the heated water flowing off'
by another channel, so that the level of the water in the reservoir is always
maintained. As soon as the stream of melted ore, &c. falls into the water it
breaks into small pieces, by which means the metallic particles granulate and

page_text: separate themselves from the earthy particles, forming themselves into small
nodules or prills. From time to time the granulated sustances are removed from
the reservoir. Or two reservoirs may be provided, the one one to be emptied
of its contents whilst the other is filling. The granulated ore, metal, matter,
&c. is then taken to a machine, known in mining operations as a "jigging
machine" (which is well known), worked by a steam engine or other moving
power, in which machine the said granulated matters are washed in sieves
immersed in a reservoir of water. A slight vertical motion is given either to
the sieve or water. The current of water passes through the sieve and lifts the
granulated matters, at the same time passing between the particles, by which
means the various substances contained in the sieve settle themselves according.
to their gravity; thus the metallic particles will form a stratum at the bottom
of the sieve. From time to time the upper portion of the contents of the
sieve are skimmed off and thrown aside, a fresh supply of unwashed granulated
matter being added. As soon as the granulated ore or metal has formed
a stratum two inches thick at the bottom of the sieve, it is taken out and
put aside, and the same is then called "ragging" or ". granulated metal." The
sieve is then recharged with unwashed matter and the operation is repeated.
A certain quantity of the finer metallic particles mixed with earthy particles
will fall through the opening in the bottom of the sieve into the reservoir,
which must be emptied of its contents from time to time. This is called
butch work," and if not rich enough to put aside at once, it may be washed
in a finer jigging sieve, or may be employed with great advantage to mix with
the raw ore in the air or melting furnace, as, by its superior fluidity, and
containing a large quantity of calcareous matter, it will greatly assist the
melting of the raw ore. The waste or skimmings of granulated matter from
the jigging sieves will sometimes contain a small quantity of light particles of
metal or ore, which may be separated by further washing in a "buddle shake,"
or by any of the means usually employed in the processes of washing or
dressing the skimmings of copper, lead, or other ores, which have been
washed in a jigging machine, or, in place of the above-mentioned washing
machinery, other washing machines may be used. The "ragging" or "granu-
lated metal" and hutch work when washed will be in the state of what
is called granulated, fine, or pink metal, or coarse copper, in the ordinary
processes of copper smelting, and for their further reduction into fine copper,
the same processes are to be employed as those usually resorted to in order to
bring the same qualities of granulated, fine, or pink metal into fine copper.
What I consider to be the advantages of my process or processes are, first,
a saving of time in bringing the copper contained in the ore into the state of

page_text: granulated, fine, or pink metal; secondly, a saving of fuel; thirdly, a saving of
expence in the number of furnaces requires to smelt a given quantity of ore;
fourthly, a saving in the quantity of copper obtained from a given quantity of ore.
I would here remark, that I do not claim the melting furnaces, nor the blast
or cupola furnace, nor the jigging or washing apparatus herein mentioned, nor
do I confine myself to the precise details of construction shewn, so long as
the peculiar character of my Invention be retained; but I would have it
understood, that what I claim is, the mode of treating copper ore by causing
it to be melted in order to get it into suitably sized blocks or lumps, and
then smelting the same in a suitable blast furnace, and subsequently melting
the same from the product therefrom by washing apparatus, as herein described.
I do not, however, claim either of those three processes when separately
considered.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Bell, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One.thousand eight hundred and forty-three.