CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING ORES OF COPPER CONTAINING ARSENIC що да
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Amedée Louis Beudant and Jean Louis Marie Paul
Benoit, Engineers, of Paris, in the French Empire, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING ORES OF COPPER CONTAINING ARSENIC
що да
ΠΟΠ
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING ORES OF COPPER CONTAINING ARSENIC
AND ANTIMONY"
Sealed the 1st November 1856, and dated the 6th May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Amedée Louis Beudant
and: Jean Louis Marie Paul Benoit at the Office of the Commissioners. of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 6th May 1856.
-We, AMEDEE LOUIS BEUDANT and JEAN LOUIS MARIE PAUL. BENOIT, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for 'CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS
IN TREATING ORES OF COPPER CONTAINING ARSENIC AND ANTIMONY, to be as
follows:-
The treatment of copper ores may be reduced to the treatment of a coarse
metal or matt containing sulphur, iron, copper, antimony, and arsenic, in
variable proportions, and sometimes other metals, such as silver, gold, &c. The
ordinary treatment of ores containing arsenic and antimony consists in driving
off or volatilizing the arsenic and antimony by successive roastings in presence

page_text: of pyritous materials, and melting after each roasting. By our Invention we
separate the antimony and a large portion of the arsenic in the metallic state,
and nearly pure, by a precipitation effected in the melted matt, and we
volatilize the remainder of the arsenic during the operation.
.
Into the melted matt we introduce a quantity of metallic iron, either
wrought or cast, which precipitates nearly all the antimony and arsenic, in
combination with a variable quantity of iron and copper. A small quantity of
antimony and arsenic generally remains in the matt, which is precipitated
by adding about one or two per cent., more or less, of lead or galena,
and continuing the action of the iron. The matt is thus almost entirely
deprived of antimony and arsenic. A small quantity of antimony and a con-
siderable proportion of arsenic are volatilized during the operation. If the
matt contains a large quantity of sulphur, some roasted ore is added to diminish
the quantity of iron required for the precipitation. The antimony and arsenic
thus obtained are melted with a mixture of ore or iron pyrites. The copper
and iron are thus dissolved, and the antimony and arsenic are left nearly
pure, while the cupreous matt is treated again in a subsequent operation.
We also effect the precipitation of the antimony and arsenic by adding
to the melted matt lime or roasted ores, or both, and covering the surface with
charcoal or carbonaceous matters, and finishing with iron and lead or galena.
We also effect the precipitation by adding to the melted matt a sufficient
quantity of roasted ore to saturate the excess of sulphur, and then adding
metallic lead, the quantity of which may be so proportioned as to precipitate
the antimony and arsenic in combination with only a small portion of lead; or,
in lieu of metallic lead, we employ galena or sulphuret of lead with roosted ore
and lime. The purified matt, thus obtained, may be again treated in the same
manner, or by introducing a small quantity of metallic iron, if it should still
contain any injurious quantity of antimony or arsenic. The copper is. then
reduced from it in the ordinary manner. By this method of precipitation we
obtain a very pure copper, and also metallic antimony and arsenic. The gold
and silver, if present, are found in the antimony and arsenic, and are separated
by the ordinary processes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed by
the said Amedée Louis Beudant and Jean Louis Marie Paul Benoit in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, AMEDÉE
LOUIS BEUDANT and JEAN LOUIS MARIE PAUL BENOIT, Engineers, of Paris;
in the French Empire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Amédée Louis Beudant and Jean Louis Marie Paul Benoit, Her special
licence that we, the said Amédée Louis Beudant and Jean Louis Marie Paul
Benoit, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the
said Amedée Louis Beudant and Jean Louis Marie Paul Benoit, our 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 CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN TREATING ORES OF COPPER CON-
TAINING ARSENIC AND ANTIMONY, upon the condition (amongst others) that we,
the said Amedée Louis Beudant and Jean Louis Mario Paul Benoit, our
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under our or their.
hands and seals, or under. the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said Amédée Louis Beudant and Jean Louis
Marie Paul Benoit, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
The treatment of copper ores may be reduced to the treatment of a coarse
metal or matt containing sulphur, iron, copper, antimony, and arsenic, in
variable proportions, and sometimes other metals, such as silver and gold. The
ordinary treatment of ores containing arsenic and antimony consists in driving
off or volatilizing the arsenic and antimony by successive roastings in presence.
of pyritous materials. This operation is repeated several times, and the

page_text: materials are melted after each roasting; the antimony and arsenic are thus
át last driven off.
By your Invention we separate the copper from the antimony and arsenic,
and we obtain the antimony and a large portion of the arsenic in the metallic
state; and nearly pure, by a precipitation effected in the melted matt, and we
volatilize the remainder of the arsenic during the operation. We obtain this
result by certain operations or modes of treatment, which may be employed
together or separately.
The first mode of treatment is as follows:-Into the melted: matt. we
introduce a quantity of metallic iron, either wrought or cast, which precipitates
nearly all the antimony and arsenic, in combination with a quantity of iron and
copper, varying with the temperature and the state of the matt. A small
quantity of antimony and arsenic generally remains in the matt, which is pre-
cipitated by adding about one or two per cent.; more or less; of lead or galena,
and continuing the action of the iron. The matt is thus almost entirely
deprived of antimony and arsenic. A small quantity of antimony and a
considerable proportion of arsenic are volatilized during the operation. If
the matt contains a large quantity of sulphur, some roasted ore is added
in order to diminish the quantity of iron required for the precipitation. The
antimony and arsenic thus obtained are melted with a mixture of ore and
iron pyrites. The copper and iron are thus dissolved, and the antimony and
arsenic are left nearly pure, while the cupreous matt is treated again in a
subsequent operation.
or
The second mode of treatment is as follows:-We add lime or roasted ore,
à mixture of the two, to the melted matt, and we cover the surface with
charcoal or carbonaceous matter, and we thus obtain a metallic button or mass
of antimony and arsenic, either pure, or mixed with iron and copper, in quantity
varying with the degree of sulphuration of the matt and the quantity of lime
and roasted ore employed. As in the first mode of treatment a variable pro-
portion of arsenic is volatilized while the rest remains with the antimony, the
action is completed by the addition of a small quantity of lead or galena,
assisted by the action of metallic iron or by the action of the charcoal on the
surface. The remainder of the antimony and a portion of the lead are thus
precipitated As an example of this mode of treatment, it may be mentioned
that a grey copper or coarse metal, consisting of sixty parts by weight of proto-
sulphuret of iron, twenty parts of sulphuret of copper, and twenty parts of
sulphuret of antimony was melted, with the addition of a mixture of sixteen
parts of lime and six parts of roasted ore. A button of antimony weighing.

page_text: thirteen parts was obtained, and the operation was, completed,by, the addition
of two parts of galena, and stirring the mixture with a piece of iron.
The third mode of treatment is as follows:-We, add to the melted: matt. a
sufficient quantity of roasted.ore to,saturate the excess of: sulphur, and we add
metallic lead,,which precipitates the antimony and. arsenic, which carry, with
them a quantity of lead,, varying, with, the time, which is allowed to elapse after
the addition of the lead, the state of sulphuration of the matt,. and the quantity.
of lead added. The operation may be. so conducted as to obtain a complete
precipitation of the antimony, without its, carrying with it: more tlian a. very,
small quantity, of lead:
In lieu of employing metallic lead, galena may be added to, the; matt;
together with roasted ore or lime, or both, and the, whole is then covered
with charcoal or carbonaceous matter. The antimony and arsenic are thus:
precipitated. The button or lump of antimony and arsenic contains a certain.
quantity of lead, copper, and iron..
By these modes of treatment we remove the antimony and arsenic in the
matallic state by precipitation, and by volatilizing a portion. of the arsenic. We
thus obtain matts deprived of antimony and arsenic, and from which the
copper may be extracted, in the same manner as from the matts obtained from
the purest ores, which are free from antimony and arsenic, whose presence is
so injurious to the quality of the copper. Besides obtaining purified matts, wo,
obtain, as accessory products, firstly, a mixture of antimony, and arsenic nearly.
pure, or containing a little lead; and, secondly, a mixture of antimony and
arsenic containing copper and iron, which have been carried down in the pre-
cipitation. To separate the copper carried down in the second case, the
cupreous antimony is melted with a mixture of pyrites and ore in small quan-
tity; the iron and copper thus become sulphuretted and pass into the matt,
while the antimony and arsenic remain at the bottom nearly pure. The matt
thus produced carries away a little antimony and arsenic; it is treated like the
matts which are to be purified, and mixed with them.
In these processes, the gold and silver, if present, are concentrated in the
antimony and arsenic, from which they are separated by any of the known
means.
The different modes of treatment, herein-before mentioned, are applied in
nearly the same manner, and in the same or similar furnaces; it will there-
fore suffice to describe one series of operations more in detail. A great variety.
of furnaces may be employed, provided that they have an internal cavity in
which the antimony may collect.
d

page_text: The accompanying Drawing shews a reverberatory furnace adapted for the
purpose. Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section, and Figure 2 is a
horizontal section of the furnace. A is the grate; B is the bridge; C is the
arch or roof of the furnace; D is the bed, which slopes down to the cavity E
in which the melted antimony and arsenic collect; F is the chimney.
The matt is melted on the bed of the furnace, and the workman judges from
its colour whether it contains sufficient sulphur to saturate the different
elements and convert them into protosulphurets, and if it does not appear to
contain sufficient sulphur a portion of pyritous ore, is added.
The colour of the matt is a very correct test or indication to the cye of the
workman after a little practice. When the matt is well fused, a mixture of
lime and roasted ore is added, in the proportion of about eighty parts of lime
and thirty parts of roasted ore for each hundred parts of sulphuret of antimony
contained in the mass. The proportions admit of considerable variation,
and we only mention the preceding proportions as having been found to
produce a good result. After the whole mass, with these additions, is
completely fused, we place some charcoal or other carbonaceous material
on the surface and continue the heat; the antimony and arsenic collect
in the cavity in the bed, from which they are tapped or run out; about
two per cent. of galena is then added to the remaining matt, and it
is stirred with an iron tool. A fresh portion of antimony containing some
lead collects in the cavity, and is tapped and ran out; the matt is then also
run out of the furnace. If the last portion of antimony has carried down a
little lead with it the matt may be considered to be pure; but if the antimony
does not contain any lead, a small portion of lead should be added to the
matt before running it out of the furnace.
By these means, which are simple and easily understood by the workmen,
we succeed in purifying the matt by a single fusion from the antimony and
arsenic which it contains. The matt may then be treated like those now
obtained from pure minerals, by submitting it to a roasting and fusion.
.
The treatment herein-before described is applicable both to the rich matts
and the matts of the first fusion, so that if the first treatment should not have
entirely removed the antimony and arsenic, owing to negligence on the part of
the workman, or any other cause, the rich matt may be purified from the last
portions of antimony and arsenic by again treating it by one of the modes
herein-before described, as for example, by means of a piece of iron; by this
micans we separate not only the remaining antimony but also the lead. The
more or less red colour of the piece of iron employed in. the process shows

page_text: whether the copper is free from antimony. The antimony thus separated con-
tains copper, and may be melted and passed through the processes with the
matts of the first fusion. The purified matt is reduced by the ordinary means,
and furnishes a very pure copper.
Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that what we claim
is, the mode or modes of separating antimony and arsenic from copper ores by
precipitating the antimony and arsenic in the metallic state, in manner herein-
before described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Amedée Louis Beudant and Jean Louis
Marie Paul Benoit, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this
Twentieth day of October, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
CH. ARMENGAUD, Ing" Civil,
No. 23, Boulevart de Strasbourg,
à Paris.
A. L. BEUDANT.
(L.S.)
L. M. P. BENOIT. (L.S.)