IMPROVE- MENTS IN OBTAINING OR EXTRACTING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THEIR ORES
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Isham Baggs, of Liverpool Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN OBTAINING OR EXTRACTING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THEIR ORES."
Sealed the 2nd March 1853, and dated the 14th December 1852.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Ishain Baggs at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th December 1852.
I, ISHAM BAGGS, of Liverpool Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the suid Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN OBTAINING OR EXTRACTING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THEIR
ORES" to be new, and that I am the true Inventor thereof. And I
further declare the nature of such Invention to be as follows
(that is to say):-
The ore being reduced to fine powder, and nixed with water
into a paste, I cause such paste to percolate through sieves of wire
gauze, or perforated plates of metal (copper I prefer to any other
substance), the surfaces of which are amalgamated or covered with
mercury, by washing them in a soluble salt of that base, such
as the nitrate of mercury, and then in a bath of the metal itself.

page_text: The sieves being thus prepared, I place them in a suitable vessel
for producing continuous percolation, and I find it convenient
to use for this purpose a wooden barrel, revolving slowly upon a
horizontal axis, the sieves being placed radially to such axis, and
four or five such sieves being placed together at each arm or radius.
It is necessary to observe, that mercury or quicksilver must be
mixed with the quartz powder and water as usual; the object of
these improvements being to quicken the operation by bringing the
particles in more complete contact than is effected by ordinary
modes in a given space of time.
Secondly, my Invention consists in a new mode of separating the
quicksilver from the quartz after the process of amalgamation is
complete; and I effect this by causing the mud, consisting of
powdered quartz, quicksilver, & water, to pass through a
cession of sieves, such as those above described, which sieves are
placed very close together and inclined to the horizon. As the
particles of mercury touch the meshes of the analgamated sieves,
they are attracted and immediately flow towards the lower parts of
such sieves by the action of gravity. By these means the separation
is effected.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent, filed by the said Isham Baggs in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th June 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
ISHAM BAGGS, of Liverpool Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, send greeting.
**E
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two,
in the sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and
successors, give and grant unto me, the said Isham Baggs, Her
special licence that I, the said Isham Baggs, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Isham Baggs, my

page_text: 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 OBTAINING OR EXTRACTING GOLD AND SILVER FROM THEIR
ORES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Isham.
Baggs, 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 Isham Baggs, 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, reference being had to the Drawings
annexed (that is to say):
My Invention has for its object the enabling the process of
extracting gold and silver from their ores, by amalgamation with
mercury, to be effected in a more expeditious and efficacious manner
than according to the arrangements and mode of operating at
present adopted; and my Invention consists,
Firstly, in arranging inercurialized sieves or other surfaces
covered with mercury in the interior of an appropriate vessel or
ahalgamator containing the gold or silver ore, mixed with water
and a certain quantity of loose mercury in addition thereto, by
which means the active surface of chemical attraction is greatly
increased, and an amalgam is produced in a much shorter time
than under ordinary circumstances. And,
Secondly, in a method of separating the auriferous or argen-
tiferous amalgam from the refuse material with which it is associ-
ated, by taking advantage of the effect of the chemical attraction of
mercurialized sieves or surfaces, and the action of gravity of the
amalgam itself.

page_text: Figure 1, of the Drawings annexed is a side elevation of my
improved amalgamator, combined with an arrangement for carry-
ing out my separating or parting process; Figure 2, is a cross
section of the amalgamator; and Figure 3, a vertical section of the
separator. A, is a framing of wood or metal in which the amalga-
mator B, is mounted. C, is the shaft or axis on which the
amalgamator B, revolves. This shaft is supported in the end
bearings c, c, in the framing A, and is provided at one end with a
winch handle for working by hand, and at the other end with a
strap pulley D, for driving the amalgamator by power as may be
preferred. E, are sieves composed of copper wire or perforated
plates, of copper, arranged radially in sets of two, three, or more
within the amalgamator B The sets of sieves are mounted in
frames F, F, which are made of such size as to enable them to be
readily introduced or removed through the end b, of the amalga-
mator, and the frames F, F, are supported in position within the
amalgamator by the grooved frame G, mounted on the shaft C,
and by blocks G₁,G', which occupy the spaces left between the
straight sides of the frames F, F, and the curved interior of the
amalgamator, and serve also to direct the mixed matters passing
through one set of sieves to the next set in succession. The end b,
of the amalgamator is formed in two parts, which are made to take
off to allow of the removal and introduction of the sets of sieves
E, E, and are held firm when the apparatus is at work by means of
a bar H, the ends of which pass through holes in the straps h, h.
The bar has an oblong slot at the middle of its length, to enable it
to be moved endwise, and is provided with pinching screws, the
points of which bear against the noveable end b, and press it
firmly into place. I, I, are stay screws for supporting the barrel
B, on its shaft when the sieves E, E, are withdrawn. J, is an
aperture in the side of the barrel B, covered by the slide K,
through which the matters to be treated are introduced, and the
resulting amalgam and refuse withdrawn. The sieves E, E, are
mercurialized at the cominencement of each days working, or as
much more frequently as may be necessary, by immersing them in

page_text: a solution of the nitrate of mercury, or of any other salt of
mercury capable of producing a like effect. The sieves may be
composed of other metal than copper, or of metal covered with
copper, but I prefer the use of copper as being perhaps best adapted
for the purpose. The mode of operating with the apparatus is as
follows:-The auriferous or argentiferous ore reduced as nearly as
possible to an impulpable powder, and mixed with a small propor-
tion of water and a quantity of loose mercury proportioned to the
amount of precious metal which the ore is supposed to contain, is
introduced into the amalgamator through the aperture J, which is
then closed. The mercurialized sieves having been previously
inserted in the interior of the amalgamator, and fixed in position
by attaching the end cover b, the amalgamator is then set in
revolution, and kept rotating slowly either by hand or power, until
an amalgam is produced, containing the whole or nearly the whole
of the precious metal in the ore. The time necessary for obtaining
this result is very much shortened as compared with the ordinary
mode of operating, owing to the increased amount of chemical
attraction exercised by the mercury in the minutely subdivided
state which it is caused to assume in passing through the sieves.
A small proportion of the gold or silver adheres to the mercurialized
surfaces of the sieves, whilst they retain their active attractive
properties; but this is carried away as the action of the sieves
become weakened by continued use. When an amalgain has been
obtained, the aperture in the barrel B, is uncovered, and the
contents of the barrel allowed to pass into the hopper of the
separator, which should be placed in a convenient position near it.
The separator is composed of a hopper M, and an inclined shoot N,
which are supported by the framing O. The hopper is provided
with a slide P, by which its lower orifice can be entirely or partially
closed when desired. In the interior of the inclined shoot N, are
arranged a set of sieves P¹, two, three, or more, the upper ends of
which are bent upwards, and fastened to the top of the shoot. These
sieves are composed of copper wire gauze or perforated copper,
and are mercurialized by the same process as the sieves E, E, of

page_text: the amalgamator before described. The lower extremities of the
sieves are .carried downwards into the receiving vessel Q, into
which the amalgam and refuse from the separator both pass. The
action of the separator is as follows:-The amalgam, refuse, &c., from
the amalgamator having been introduced into the hopper M, the
slide of the hopper, which had been previously closed, is slightly
opened, so as to allow the matters to pass slowly to the sieves P¹;
the amalgam is then attracted by the mercurialized surfaces of the
sieves, and gradually fills up their ineshes, until the gravity of the
amalgam overcomes the force of attraction, when the amalgam
flows down the inclined shoot N, into tlie bottom of the receiving
vessel Q, and a continuous process of attraction and descent by
gravitation will then be carried on, until the whole of the amalgam
present is separated from the refuse. A portion of the refuse will,
however, have been passing through the sieves from the commence-
ment, and flowing along then into tlie receiver Q, with the
amalgam; but as the quantity of amalgam in the receiver accumu
lates, the refuse will be raised and thrown over the sides of the
receiver, leaving the amalgam for subsequent treatment by distil-
lation in the usual manner.
Although in the amalgamator, I have described the mercurialized
surfaces as being sieves, I do not confine myself thereto, nor to the
mode of arranging the same shewn in the Drawings, and I some-
times employ copper balls mercurialized instead of sieves; and so
also with regard to the separator. I do not limit myself to the
particular mode shewn of arranging the mercurialized surfaces, as
the same may be varied if preferred.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim in respect thereof is, -
-
Firstly, the employment of mercurialized sieves or surfaces in
apparatus for extracting gold and silver from their ores by
amalgamation, as herein-before described; and,
Secondly, the mode of separating the amalgam from the refuse
matter with which it is mixed, by means of mercurialized sieves or

page_text: surfaces, so arranged as to act by attraction and gravitation, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Isham Baggs, have hereunto set
iny hand and seal, the Fourteenth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
ISHAM BAGGS. (L.S.)