IMPROVED MEANS OF AND APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF DIAMONDS, GOLD, TIN AND OTHER MINERALS FROM EARTHY AND OTHER MATTERS
Year: 1884

page_text: I CHARLES JULIUS BALL of 9 Bush Lane, Cannon Street, London, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of my said invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND
APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF DIAMONDS, GOLD, TIN AND OTHER
MINERALS FROM EARTHY AND OTHER MATTERS," to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to separate diamonds, gold, tin and other minerals
from the dross or valueless matters which accompany them, and I carry out my
invention as follows:-
I cause a current of water to ascend a pipe and to bring with itself the sands
and gravels or mud containing the diamonds, gold, tin etc. or the crushed ores.
The current being regulated at will is made sufficiently strong to carry away the
lighter material while the diamonds, gold, tin and minerals are unable to ascend.
Suitable openings being provided at the bottom of the pipe, the heavier and valuable
materials fall out into proper receptacles. In the case of auriferous sands I cause
the material to run horizontally or nearly so in pipes which are partially filled with
quicksilver forming a continuous bath or disposed in small ridges.
My ordinary forms of apparatus are the following:-
I bring the whole material and water to the top of a pipe which descends
vertically about 10 or 12' and then turns up in the form an U.
If gold has to be retained the bend of the U is made to extend horizontally for
as many feet or yards as may be thought advisable, this horizontal portion being
partly filled with quicksilver of which I use a special kind which has great
amalgamating power, the upward branch of the U is shorter than the downwards
one, and the difference produces the requisite head of water to give the current.
The heavier particles of a certain size remain behind, and are collected from time
to time at the bottom of the bend by suitable openings. The remainder of the
material and water comes out at the spout of the pipe, and falls on a screen
which separates all the worthless stones of a certain size say for instance one inch
diameter, the balance falls into a trough and thereby into a second U pipe of
somewhat larger diameter than the first so that the current in it is reduced in
proportion so as to be able to carry away the stones between one inch and say "
leaving behind the heavy materials, the spout of 2nd U pipe throws the material
TD C

page_text: י
again on a grating which separates the one inch to one half inch stones etc., and
the balance with the water goes into a third pipe of still larger diameter and
consequently lesser current which now carries away all but the heavy particles
between say and inch, this classification can be multiplied "ad infinitum'
according to the nature of the case.
In some cases I prefer to screen the material into the different sizes before
throwing it into the separating pipes which then must be fed from a separate source
with the proper amount of water.
The forms of the pipes are cylindrical, of a slight cone the larger diameter
upwards, and in some cases the cone is inverted. It is important to have towards
the top of the delivery branch of the U pipe a widening of section carried on some
distance so that should the current, being a little too strong at any moment, have
carried upwards a diamond or a piece of mineral, the said piece may not be lost,
but forcibly retained in that widened part of the pipe, by the slackening of the
current, which however is not sufficient to prevent the ejection of the lighter
material.
According to one form I use a main pipe (horizontally) containing some mercury,
if gold is expected, from time to time a slanting sieve of gradually diminishing
meshes is laid across the main pipe which is preferably made square, and above the
sieve a vertical pipe ended by a spout running to waste. The water and materials
pass through the sieves and up into the separating pipes the current of each of
which is regulated by a valve at its opening into the main pipe, or by its vertical
length.
Proper openings are provided at the foot of each sieve to collect from time to
time the materials retained.
In the case of diamonds the openings in the bends are made to fit in the opening
of a bag so arranged that when the bag has received the contents of the U tube or
straight tube, if I use the form last described it cannot be withdrawn without its
opening which is made of metal and has a door locking itself up so as not to be
unlocked except by a special safety key which ought to be retained by the head of
the works, in this manner the hands having no contact whatever with the diamonds,
robbery is avoided.
Tad this COLL 1
H. GARDNER,
166, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: I CHARLES JULIUS BALL of 9 Bush Lane, Cannon Street, London, Engineer, do
hereby declare the nature of my said invention for "IMPROVED MEANS OF AND
APPARATUS FOR EFFECTING THE SEPARATION OF DIAMONDS, GOLD, TIN AND OTHER
MINERALS FROM EARTHY AND OTHER MATTERS," 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 this invention is to separate diamonds, gold, tin and other minerals
from the dross or valueless matters which accompany them and I carry out my
invention as follows:-
I cause a current of water to ascend a pipe and to bring with itself the sands
and gravels or mud containing the diamonds gold, tin etc, or the crushed ores.
The current being regulated at will is made sufficiently strong to carry away the
lighter materials while the diamonds, gold, tin and minerals are unable to ascend.
Suitable openings are provided at the bottom of the pipe for the heavier and
valuable materials to fall out into proper receptacles. In the case of auriferous
Bands I cause the material to run horizontally or nearly so in pipes which are
partially filled with quicksilver forming a continuous bath or disposed in small
ridges.
My invention is illustrated in the annexed drawings in which Figure 1 is an
elevation partly in section, Figure an end view, Figure 3 a plan. My ordinary
forms of apparatus are the following
A kind of cupboard A A either made of iron or wood and duly locked contains
the whole apparatus to the various parts of which the man in charge can therefore
have no access. The material to separate and which must either be already screened
once to any given size say 1" or screened to that size by the first of the screens B
is fed into the hopper C. It spreads on the first screen of the screen frame D
which carries any desired number of screening plates E E and is jigged forward
and backwards by the action of a small pair of rotating cams F F which push the
screening trays backwards, and then allow them to come suddenly forward by the.
action of the india rubber springs G when they knock against a pair of stops H H¹
which causes the material to travel forward and thus to get screened and gradually
to come to the end of the trays.
If the preliminary screening is effected in the machine the first tray or screen B
is so prolonged as to deliver the material that cannot pass through it into a shoot I
going outside of the iron or wood cupboard. A A. The other part of the stuff falls

page_text: from tray to tray and gradually arrives well sized or classified to the ends of the
respective trays.
The whole of the tray frame is suspended from the top cover of cupboard by
two pairs of chains J J to allow its rocking motion and is immersed in a fixed
tank K filled with water and kept full either by a pump Lattached to the apparatus
as further described or by a direct inflow of water from any other source; to
obtain a perfectly invariable level the tank has a large overflow M communicating
with a lower, collecting tank N and is slightly overfed.
The end of the tank K is divided by parallel plates P P each rising to the
underside of the tray E above the one it serves, so that at each jerk forward 1
the material of each corresponding screen falls into its appointed portion of the
tank.
Inclined sides Q Q are provided in these rectangular portions of the tank, which
lead the material to openings R R in the bottom of tank, each opening connects
with a pipe S S of india rubber or metal which runs first downwards and then 1
turns up and reascends vertically, it receives a union T at its upward end
which contains a side opening U controlled by a small piston V, the working
handle W of which is caused to be outside the closed cupboard A. The union T
receives a glass or metal tube X terminated by a bend Y ending over a slanting
perforated trough Z which throws out of the cupboard the exhausted material and
returns to a lower tank 'N the water used.
This apparatus is lowered until the head of water caused by the difference of
level between the water in the tank and the delivery of the aforesaid bend is
sufficient to carry away the stones of the size appointed to that particular pipe.
The glass, portion X of the ascending column is either made like a belly or of ovoid
fusiform shape so as to have its middle section a little larger than its end sections,
or it can be cone or cylindrical, but a little larger than the pipe S which brings the
material to it.
The current is duly regulated by raising or lowering the end of the pipe, the
worthless stones are shot out of the pipe while the diamonds ecte. remain in the
widened belly or pipe. When the proper height has been ascertained the pipe is
then fixed permanently by a collar a and set screw against a back board or rod b.
A glass plated opening c in front of the cupboard A enables the workman to
notice any diamond in these bellies or pipes ✗. He then pulls out the corre-
sponding piston V whose handle W is at hand, and the current being partially 3
diverted into the side opening U in the union previously described, the diamonds
fall and are sucked into this opening.
This opening is connected by a pipe d with a common collecting pipe e ending in
a collecting bag or in a perforated box for directly into a perforated box of its
own, inside the cupboard A and in the lower collecting tank N. The diamonds 4
therefore all accumulate with a very few stones in these boxes while the water
returns to the lower tank N whence it can be pumped again into the upper tank K
to follow the same round by any kind of pump.
At stated times the cupboard A is opened by a responsible person and the
perforated box or boxes f collected in which the diamonds are found with a very 4
few stones.
The same general arrangement can be used in a different form especially for large
quantities but with the following alterations Instead of horizontal jerking
trays E E I use a series of successive or concentric trommels E as shown at
Figure 4. The diamonds can be caused where seen in the bellies to come out by 6
lowering the end of the pipes which being india rubber accomodate themselves to
such change, the head of water being thereby increased the diamonds shoot out
and can be collected at the end of the pipes,
"

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
The combination of screening action with that of a vertical current of water
regulated as described and especially the arrangements and devices by which the
operating workman has no possibility of touching the separated diamonds,
substantially as described and as shown by the accompanying drawings.
H. GARDNER,
166, Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said C. J. Ball.