CERTAIN MACHINERY FOR WASHING AND SEPARATING ORES
Year: 1852

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM
HUNT, of Rennes, France, Gentleman, send greeting.
JUDA
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixteenth day of July,
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
John Hunt, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Hunt, my exors, admors,"
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Hunt, 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-npon-Tweed, in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, and in all Her said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my
Invention of "CERTAIN MACHINERY FOR WASHING AND SEPARATING ORES;" in
which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said John Hunt,
shall cause a particular description of the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that, in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Hunt, hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention consists in
washing ores, and in separating the metallic particles from the sand, earth,
or stone with which the same are in their natural state found mixed.
The especial object of my Invention is, the separation and extraction of gold,
whether in the state of grains or dust, from auriferous earths, sand, or crushed
quartz, rocks, or other matter containing the same, but it may also be used
with advantage for washing and separating ores or metallic particles of other
descriptions, such as copper, tin, &c.
The manner in which my Invention is to be performed is fully described in
and by the present Specification thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, are representations of the machinery I
employ for carrying out my Invention, Figure 1 being a perspective view
of the machinery complete; Figure 2, a vertical section on the line a, b, of
Figure 1; and Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6, separate views of some of the parts
detached. A, A, is a rectangular box or vessel, which is divided by the parti-
tions a, a, into three compartments B, C, D. The compartment B forms
the washing chamber, in which the auriferous or metalliferous matter to be
operated on is placed; the compartment C is the forcing chamber, from which
the washing water is driven into the washing chamber; while the compart-
ment D is that to which the water is supplied, and from which it passes into the
forcing chamber to be driven through the materials to be washed. The com-
partments B, C, and D, communicate with each other through the spaces b¹, b³,
which are left between the lower sides of the partitions a¹, a', and the bottom
of the box A. The space 63 is provided with a valve to prevent the return of the
water into the chamber D. E is an ore receiver, shewn detached in Figure 3,
the bottom of which is formed of wire finely woven, or of sheet copper per-
forated with numerous small conical holes. This ore receiver occupies a
position in the washing chamber B, in which it is sustained at a suitable height.
The tray F, shewn separately in Figure 4, is placed in the bottom of the
washing chamber to receive the metallic particles separated by the operation of
washing, which pass through the apertures or perforations in the bottom of
the ore receiver E. C is a framing of metal rods raised above the washing
chamber B, and d a similar framing attached to the upper edges of the ore
receiver E. G is a four-threaded screw, with a winch handle, by means
of which the ore receiver is raised and lowered in the washing chamber. his
a pin which is passed through a hole in the lower part of the screw G when
that hole is raised above the top of the framing C, and when it is desired to

page_text: keep the ore receiver E in a raised position. H is a flap-door in one side
of the ore receiver, which can be opened when the ore receiver is raised to
admit of the refuse matter being removed by means of the scraper I, Figure 5.
J is a square box used for forcing the water into the ore receiver, shewn
detached in Figure 6, which is fitted into the forcing chamber C, and is worked
therein by means of the handle J', which has its fulcrum in the standard j,
and is connected at its inner end to the forcing box by the link R. K is a
spout in the side of the washing chamber B, through which the used water
escapes; or the water may be made to return through the tube L to the
water chamber D when it is required to be used over again, in the event of its
being scarce, or difficult to be obtained.
The mode in which the machine is to be worked is as follows:- The
machine is to be placed perfectly level, and, if possible, in such a locality as to
take advantage of a stream for supplying water to the water chamber D.
Where such a stream or source of supply does not exist, the water must
be introduced into the machine by artificial means; and the water thus
supplied may be repeatedly used by allowing it to pass through the tube at the
side, until too much charged with muddy matter to be any longer available.
The mineral matter to be washed must be first passed through a common
sieve, the meshes of which are about one third of an inch square, and the
metallic particles remaining on the sieve can be easily picked out by hand.
The sifted matter must then be put into the ore receiver E, which must
be previously screwed down to its place, and fixed by a small pin of
iron, and spread evenly over its surface to within about one inch of the
water escape.
The square forcing box J, having been filled with water or
stones, or otherwise weighted in order to counterbalance the lift, must
then be set in quick motion by means of the handle J¹, so as to cause the
water from the chamber D to be forced into and through the contents of the ore
receiver E, whereby they will be set in motion, and the metallic particles, being
of greater specific gravity than the earthy and other matters, will settle to the
bottom, the grains which are sufficiently small to pass through the perfora-
tions of the receiver E falling on to the tray F, while the larger particles of
metal will remain on the bottom of the receiver E. The metallic particles
thus deposited can be removed from the receiver E and tray F at convenient
intervals; but as a certain quantity of foreign matter may remain mixed with
them, a second washing operation will probably be found necessary, which
may be performed as soon as a sufficient quantity has accumulated. The time
required to cause the precipitation of the gold or other metallic particles
contained in a single charge of the machine will of course vary according to

page_text: the nature of the mineral to be washed and the quickness of the strokes given;
from a minute and a half to two minutes will, however, be the average time
required for each charge. An inch and a quarter, or thereabouts, is a very
convenient length of stroke to be given to the forcing box. The removal of
the refuse or washed matters is effected by raising the ore receiver E by
means of the screw and handle G, g, and keeping it in a raised position by
passing the pin h through its corresponding hole in the screw G. The flap-
door H in the side is then opened, and the refuse matter removed with the
scraper I, but leaving at least from half to three quarters of an inch of sand
or mineral matter on the copper bottom, so as to prevent any metallic particles
that may not have been perfectly precipitated from being lost. When the
whole of the refuse matters has been removed, the flap-door is raised and
fastened, and the receiver screwed down to its place over the tray F, which
has been previously emptied, if necessary, and returned to the washing
chamber. When a plentiful supply of water can be obtained, and is not
required to be used more than once, the conducting tube L should be removed,
and the aperture which leads from it into the chamber D covered with a
slide fixed inside the chamber for that purpose. The used water charged with
earthy matter will then escape directly from the washing chamber B through
the water spout K. Care must be taken in working the machine not to allow
sand or grit to get between the working parts, as their action would be
thereby impeded, and much injury caused to the machine. The machine may
be constructed of any suitable metal or materials capable of standing the
work to be performed, and the continued action of water, copper, zinc, and
galvanized iron are, however, most suitable for the purpose. Instead of work-
ing the machine by hand, as in the arrangement just described, which, how-
ever, will be found most convenient for gold-washing purposes, it may be
worked by other power, particularly when the machine is made on a larger
scale, and employed for operating on other kinds of minerals, such as copper,
tin, &c. In some cases, too, it might be found convenient to modify the form
of the machine from that shewn in the Drawing, and to adopt other arrange-
ments than those described for the application of the water.
And having now described the nature of my said Inventien, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim is, the
improved machinery for washing and separating ores and minerals from
foreign matters, represented in the Drawings annexed and herein-before
described, in so far as regards the introduction of a valve under the forcing
box J, and the combination and arrangement of machinery whereby water is
forced in sudden jerks through pierced copper plates or sieves, and sets the

page_text: ore or mineral matters thereon in motion, in such a way as to cause each
kind of ore or mineral to be separated according to its respective specific
gravity.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Hunt, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Eighth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and
fifty-three.
JOHN (L.S.) HUNT.
Enrolled the Fifteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.