IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF COPPER ORES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF COPPER ORES."-A
communication from abroad by Joseph Marie Puistienne, of Paris,
in the Empire of France.
Sealed the 16th October 1861, and dated the 3rd May 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
3rd May 1861.
I,WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF COPPER ORES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention of improvements in the treatment of copper ores relates
more particularly to the treatment of copper pyrites or poor copper ores, for
the purpose of extracting therefrom the metal and other useful products in a
simpler, more expeditious, and more economical manner than heretofore.
The Invention consists in treating the ores with sulphur and chloride of
lime, and in carrying out the Invention the pyrites or ore to be operated upon
is to be pulverized after being roasted or not. If the ore has been roasted it
is mixed in proportions varying according to the richness of the ore and the
nature of the gangue with the sulphur and chloride of lime, and then heated,
when a lump or mass of sulphuret of copper will be obtained. This impure
Price Ad

page_text: mass of copper will, when roasted and heated with carbon, furnish malleable
metallic copper. This same sulphuret of copper may also be mixed in suitable
proportions with natural or artificial oxide of copper, and by the application
of heat, metallic copper will be obtained from the two mixed bodies.
By causing sulphur and chloride of lime to act either separately or in com-
bination on the ore, a sulphuret of copper may be obtained at one operation
without roasting, and metallic copper when the roasting has been carried to
the proper point. Other chlorides besides chloride of lime or chloride of
calcium may be employed, and the Inventor has also obtained good results
by heating a mixture of sulphur and lime with copper pyrites.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 2nd November 1861.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chaucery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Third day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fourth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Edward Newton, Her special license, that I, the said
Willian Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as 1, the said William Edward Newton, 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 THE TREATMENT OF COPPER ORES," being a
communication from abroad by Joseph Marie Puistienne, of Paris, in the
Empire of France, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Edward Newton, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW IE, that I, the said wam Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the 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):
Copper is a metal, the ores of which are sufficiently numerous, as it is
found in the state of native copper, as an oxide, a carbonate, and as a
pure sulphuret.
It is sufficient to be acquainted with the first principles of chemistry to know
that the working of the ore above mentioned is attended with but little
difficulty, for which reason those countries in which they are found may
consider themselves favored. But grey copper ore, and especially the double
sulphuret of copper and iron, or (copper pyrites) are also found. The method
of working these latter ores according to the process hitherto employed for
some time consists in alternate roasting and smelting, which operations produce
Jumps more or less rich in copper, and also scoriae, more or less rich in iron.
Black copper ore is also obtained containing sulphur, and more or less iron.
This latter is converted into metallic copper by the refining process, and in
these long processes heat and air are the agents, the greater affinity of copper
for sulphur, and of iron for oxygen, slowly effecting the remainder.
Struck with the abundance of copper pyrites, and also with the slowness
and difficulties attending their working, the Inventor of the present
improvements has succeeded in much simplifying the operations necessary
for the extraction of the copper from pyrites, as by his improved process
the metallic copper is obtained in a malleable state by two operations,
which are effected with great simplicity and economy.
In carrying out this Invention the pyrites are first pulverized in any ordinary
manner, and then by means of ordinary fluxes, and sulphur, and chloride of
lime, the ore, whether roasted or not, may be operated upon. In the case of
roasted ore, a certain weight of the ore is to be mixed with variable quantities
of sulphur and chloride of lime, according to the richness of the ore and the
nature of its gangue; the exact proportions of the several ingredients can
only be determined by experiment. The ingredients are then heated to a
considerable temperature, so as to cause the substances to amalgamate,
and a lump of sulphuret of copper will be produced, which, on being roasted
and heated with charcoal, will produce metallic copper in a malleable state;
or this sulphuret, on being mixed in suitable proportions with the oxide
of copper or native oxide, may by the simple action of heat produce metallic
copper from the two bodies combined.
By causing sulphur and chloride of lime to act either simultaneously or

page_text: separately, and taking care to cause the weights to correspond with the
richness of the ore and the nature of its gangue, sulphuret of copper may be
obtained by a single operation without roasting, and metallic copper will be
obtained when the roasting operation has been carried to a certain point.
Chloride of lime may be employed instead of chloride of calcium, and I have
also obtained sulphuret of copper by heating a mixture of sulphur and lime
with coppery pyrites. If the copper pyrites or other ore of copper contains
arsenic, antimony, zinc, nickel, cobalt, or other injurious of'deleterious matters
in quantities of sufficient importance, the pulverized ore should be first mixed
with chloride of calcium or sodium, and the mixture then roasted in order
to volatilize the deleterious metals in the state of chloride.
The advantages of this Invention are as follows, viz., first, the rapid pro-
duction of the metal; second, a considerable, if not entire economy of the
waste products; third, considerable economy in the cost of production.
When operated upon according to this method even the grey copper ore
gives satisfactory results; instead of pure sulphur raw sulphur may be
employed, or any other substance which will furnish the requisite quantity
of sulphur.
Having now described this Invention of "Improvements in the Treatment
of Copper Ores," as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and
having explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, 1 desire it to
be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim
the mode herein set forth of treating copper ores; I claim particularly
the application of sulphur, chloride of lime, and chloride of calcium, or other
chlorides, for the purposes of the present Invention, I wish it to be understood
that the proportions of the chemical agents above mentioned may be varied
according to the nature of the copper ores to be operated upon.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Thirtieth day of October, in the year of
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)