Volume 28 (1874) (430 pages)

An Illustrated Jou rnal of Mining, Popular Science and Progressive Industry. BY DEWEY & CoO., Patent Solicitors. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1874, VOLUME XXVIII ‘Number 2. Antimony Reduction—No. 2. Tn onr last Issue wo made somo remarks on tbe treatment of antimony and we now proceed to consider the extraction of metallic antimony direct from ores and also from the crude antimony. At present the greatest proportion of antimony is still obtained from ernde antimony. For this operation there are two principal methods In ase; that is, it is effected either by preeipitation with iron while smelting, or hy a combined oxidation and reduetion process. The treatment with iron gives good results, but the antimony takea np some iron and requires subsequent refining. Besides the iron, sulphate of sodinm (Glanber salt), is taken as a finx and some pniverized charcoal also added, Autimony and sulphide of iron are formed, which nnite with the resniting snlphide of sodium. This, salt forms aliqnid cover over the metal and preventa its volatilization to a great extent. Soda in place of Glanher salt gives a less liqnid finx and is, besides, more expensive, ae ‘The furnace nsedis similar to tbat shown in Fignres 1 and 2 of our engravings. The ™ concave bottom or crucible is beaten hard and made of @ mixture of sand and clay, being provided with a tap hole. In this 100 parts of crude antimony are mixed with 42 parts of iron filings, and 10 parts of enlcined Glanber salt, with an additiod of 3 parts of pulverized charcoal, or ~ with 50 parts of soda and 10 ‘of charcoal. In eight or ten honrs about 330 ponnds of the antimony is melted in. . © rad . The smelting of ore for metallio antimony direct, snffers less loss than for crude antimony. Poorer ores, from 30 to 40 ~~ per oent., are smelted in sbaft furnaces with threé tnyeres. ‘The furnace is 11 feet high from the tnyeres, 3 feet deep and 2%, feet wide.’ The ore is pulverized and roasted in a reverberatory fnrnace, oné ton in six hours, and smelted with coke in the above shaft furnace. With poor ore. the smeltiigin a shaft furnace is more sconomical than in a crucible’ furnace. , For the pnrpose of smelting the ore in a} reverberatory furnace, if no iron is nsed for precipitation, a csrefn] roasting is required. ‘This is’ best performed in a reverberatory roasting fnrnace, like that ; shown in Fig. 3, and the pulverized ore is in-. trodnced throngh the arch and stirred at a low: heat until all the sulphur is driven out. The loss in roasting is, of course, very variable, but,Zwith a careful roasting and proper ore, only from 1% to 2 per cent. volatilizes. The roasted ore is then mixed with uuroasted, oxidized ore, if such is obtained from tho mine, and the whole mixed with from 22 to 30 per cent. flux (salt, Glauber sslt and soda), and 15 or 20 per'cent. of powdered charcoal, besides some slag from the former charge. The roasting furnace, as well as the smelting furnao, ia provided with dust-chambers, where a part of the volatile antimony is deposited, whichis alao added to the ore mixture, . : ' The furnace shown in Figs, 1 and 2represents the smelting furnace. The crucible is lined with, firé' olay’ and when red hot the ore is oharged up to 650 pounds, the door is closed for a'short time and the fire Immediately started. Much stirring is required for four or five honrs and the scum.is ocoasionally drawn out. After six hours the smelted mass is tapped and metal and slag run into a small hearth in front i o{ the furnace, When cold, the regulus is taken out, the slag separated and the antimony metul hrokeu into pieces for further refining. The loss of antimony by this process is about 15 percent. The refining process is mostly earried on in crucibles with a proper finx, which is the same us used for the smeltirg of ore, consisting of sulphate and carbenate of soda and sslt. If there isarsenic iu the metal, it is well to introduce from time to time a piece of saltpeter into the erncible and stir the msss with a clay stirrer. Mr. A, F. Wendt, in Csnads, nses a large reverberatory furnace, 40 .drawn every 24 honrs, so that the ore, remains feet long and 9 feet wide. According to the WEED Vy EES Tipe? Bee Ng.2 i reduced metal and fluxes the gaugue. In about four honrs tho furnace is at a bright red heat approaching whiteness, the whole mass is in fusion and active ebullitien, and the carbonie seid penrtrates the layer of slag as a bine flame. The charge is now repeatedly stirred until quite fused. The fire is then let dewn and the doors opened until the slag becomes thick and pasty, wherenpen it is drswn out. As goon as it is removed, 25 pounds of saltcake and 10 pounds of charcos] are thrown on the mets], snd the fire again raised. In one honr and a half the slng is iu a state of fnsion as iqnid as water. The metal is ladled into Late ~« 3 a ; FURNACES FOR REDUCING ANTIMONY. Engineering and Mining Journal, which describes Mr. Wendt’s furnace, it has ten working doors aud holds five charges, three of 600 pounds of wet ore (concentrated) being introduced and 40 hours in the furnace. Every five or ten minutes the ore hss to be stirred to prevent agglomeration. The loss by roasting is 734 per cent. Consumption of fuel, three-qnsrters of a cord of wood in 24 hours. Mr. Wendt combines smelting and refining in ‘one operation, which is a great improvement in reducing antimony ores. The crucible furnace is five feetin diameter and 18 inches deep. The flux nsed in smelting is a crude sulphate of sodain the form of salt-cakes anda charge usually consists of 500 pounds of roasted ore, 100 pounds of salt-cake and 75 pounds of hardwood chargoal, all iu coarse powder. About one half of a cord of wood is burned at each charge. The ore is mixed with the chareoal and spread evenly in the retort furnace ‘being covered with a mixture of salt-cake and charcoal. The fire is immediately increased and a fused layer is formed which protects the 1 dishes holding 25 pounds each, care being taken to dip enough slag, to cover the metal; when cold the slag is broken off and the metal is ‘perfectly fine. Savina Monzy.—The report of O. C. Hewitt, Superintendent of the Keystone Consolidated mine, in ‘Amador county, is to the effect that they have saved abont $5,000 per month by the abandonment of blankets and buddles and the use of Hendy’s concentrators. The concentrators have been in nse there ahont five months and of conrse give great satisfaction, as they have performed their work so well. Tus Onovirne Mines.—The ‘Lava Bed”’ mines, near Oroville, continue to pan out to the Chinamen, by whom they are worked. The Chinese town near by is growing rapidly, and numbers of celestials are swarming thither. Tue Gould and Curry, Hale and Norcross, and Imperial mines, are all down to the Sutro tunnel level, and exploring at that point. The Yellow Jacket is considerably below it, and the A Startling Discovery. Throngh the kindness of a gentleman of scientific tastes, residing iu this city, we were permitted to see recent nnmbersof the Afonilor Belge, which contain references to the reported discovery, by a Belgian peasant, of a fact which, if more substsntially verified, is destined to eanse a complete revolution in the preparstion snd use of fuel, and furnish a partial selution, at least, of the difficult problem which hss so long coufrouted British economists. The statement is that it has been found that a mixCrown Point has penetrated 200 feet below it. ture of coal slack, or waste screeuings aud dust, with clay, mnd or other argillaceons matter, and sal-soda, may be made, which will cost one-half as much, and burn beller, than ordinary’coal. The ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, aud taken in the following proportions: coal slack, twentyfive parts; earthy matter, seventy-five parts, and sal-soda, one per cent. The whole virtue of the preparation rests, it is said, on the action of the sal-soda. How this substauce is capable of so assisting comhnation as to oonsumesuch a dead weight of wholly inert matter, is another thing, and will puzzle onr chemists to explain, A mixture, among the thousands constautly heing patented, especially in England, consista of seventy-five part’ of coal dust, and twenty-five ’ parts of clay. This manages to burn itself, yomewhatin the manner of peat, bnt is not so valusble as a heat-producer as the common coal, and is of qnestionable economy, inasmnch as the coal dnst alone, or mixed with only enongh water having elay in suspension to render the whole consistent, in the form of bricks, is much more effective, The trouble of weighing and incorporating so small a percentage is hardly compensated for by the trifling saving in material. But in the neW composition, ouly one-fourth of the entire mass is coal. It would even pay to expressly crush block coal on this system, if all that is claimed be true. The discoverer, or inventor, has not patented his improvement, and its benefits are free tothe world. It is further stated that manufacturers and other large fnel nsers in Belgium are making . trialof the compound with satisfactory results. Weawait further and more detailed information before commenting at length upon this last sensation. ‘Rich Ore. : We have jnst been shown a sample of about seventy ponnds of exceedingly rich ore oontaining free goldin abundance, taken from the Patterson mine at Tuttletown, in Tnolumne county. This mine belongs to Mr. J. J. Corrigan, (now on his way to London, England). He is the principal resident director here in San Francisco of the celehrated Richmond mino, at Enreka, Nevada. Mr. Corrigan deserves to he congratulated on bis success in developing the Patterson, as he took hold of it in an undeveloped state and by sinking to a proper depth, and providing the necessary means and appliauces, has made it an uubounded success. There is a 20-stamp mill erected on the grottnd and every thing bide fair for a large and steady yield of gold. Mr. D. T. Hughes, the Superintendent, deserves great credit for the able and efficient manner in which he bas opened this mine and brought it, within the period of one year, from obscurity to the position of one of the moat promising mines in the state,

An Illustrated Jou rnal of Mining, Popular Science and Progressive Industry. BY DEWEY & CoO., Patent Solicitors. SAN FRANCISCO, SATURDAY, JANUARY 10, 1874, VOLUME XXVIII ‘Number 2. Antimony Reduction—No. 2. Tn onr last Issue wo made somo remarks on tbe treatment of antimony and we now proceed to consider the extraction of metallic antimony direct from ores and also from the crude antimony. At present the greatest proportion of antimony is still obtained from ernde antimony. For this operation there are two principal methods In ase; that is, it is effected either by preeipitation with iron while smelting, or hy a combined oxidation and reduetion process. The treatment with iron gives good results, but the antimony takea np some iron and requires subsequent refining. Besides the iron, sulphate of sodinm (Glanber salt), is taken as a finx and some pniverized charcoal also added, Autimony and sulphide of iron are formed, which nnite with the resniting snlphide of sodium. This, salt forms aliqnid cover over the metal and preventa its volatilization to a great extent. Soda in place of Glanher salt gives a less liqnid finx and is, besides, more expensive, ae ‘The furnace nsedis similar to tbat shown in Fignres 1 and 2 of our engravings. The ™ concave bottom or crucible is beaten hard and made of @ mixture of sand and clay, being provided with a tap hole. In this 100 parts of crude antimony are mixed with 42 parts of iron filings, and 10 parts of enlcined Glanber salt, with an additiod of 3 parts of pulverized charcoal, or ~ with 50 parts of soda and 10 ‘of charcoal. In eight or ten honrs about 330 ponnds of the antimony is melted in. . © rad . The smelting of ore for metallio antimony direct, snffers less loss than for crude antimony. Poorer ores, from 30 to 40 ~~ per oent., are smelted in sbaft furnaces with threé tnyeres. ‘The furnace is 11 feet high from the tnyeres, 3 feet deep and 2%, feet wide.’ The ore is pulverized and roasted in a reverberatory fnrnace, oné ton in six hours, and smelted with coke in the above shaft furnace. With poor ore. the smeltiigin a shaft furnace is more sconomical than in a crucible’ furnace. , For the pnrpose of smelting the ore in a} reverberatory furnace, if no iron is nsed for precipitation, a csrefn] roasting is required. ‘This is’ best performed in a reverberatory roasting fnrnace, like that ; shown in Fig. 3, and the pulverized ore is in-. trodnced throngh the arch and stirred at a low: heat until all the sulphur is driven out. The loss in roasting is, of course, very variable, but,Zwith a careful roasting and proper ore, only from 1% to 2 per cent. volatilizes. The roasted ore is then mixed with uuroasted, oxidized ore, if such is obtained from tho mine, and the whole mixed with from 22 to 30 per cent. flux (salt, Glauber sslt and soda), and 15 or 20 per'cent. of powdered charcoal, besides some slag from the former charge. The roasting furnace, as well as the smelting furnao, ia provided with dust-chambers, where a part of the volatile antimony is deposited, whichis alao added to the ore mixture, . : ' The furnace shown in Figs, 1 and 2represents the smelting furnace. The crucible is lined with, firé' olay’ and when red hot the ore is oharged up to 650 pounds, the door is closed for a'short time and the fire Immediately started. Much stirring is required for four or five honrs and the scum.is ocoasionally drawn out. After six hours the smelted mass is tapped and metal and slag run into a small hearth in front i o{ the furnace, When cold, the regulus is taken out, the slag separated and the antimony metul hrokeu into pieces for further refining. The loss of antimony by this process is about 15 percent. The refining process is mostly earried on in crucibles with a proper finx, which is the same us used for the smeltirg of ore, consisting of sulphate and carbenate of soda and sslt. If there isarsenic iu the metal, it is well to introduce from time to time a piece of saltpeter into the erncible and stir the msss with a clay stirrer. Mr. A, F. Wendt, in Csnads, nses a large reverberatory furnace, 40 .drawn every 24 honrs, so that the ore, remains feet long and 9 feet wide. According to the WEED Vy EES Tipe? Bee Ng.2 i reduced metal and fluxes the gaugue. In about four honrs tho furnace is at a bright red heat approaching whiteness, the whole mass is in fusion and active ebullitien, and the carbonie seid penrtrates the layer of slag as a bine flame. The charge is now repeatedly stirred until quite fused. The fire is then let dewn and the doors opened until the slag becomes thick and pasty, wherenpen it is drswn out. As goon as it is removed, 25 pounds of saltcake and 10 pounds of charcos] are thrown on the mets], snd the fire again raised. In one honr and a half the slng is iu a state of fnsion as iqnid as water. The metal is ladled into Late ~« 3

a ; FURNACES FOR REDUCING ANTIMONY. Engineering and Mining Journal, which describes Mr. Wendt’s furnace, it has ten working doors aud holds five charges, three of 600 pounds of wet ore (concentrated) being introduced and 40 hours in the furnace. Every five or ten minutes the ore hss to be stirred to prevent agglomeration. The loss by roasting is 734 per cent. Consumption of fuel, three-qnsrters of a cord of wood in 24 hours. Mr. Wendt combines smelting and refining in ‘one operation, which is a great improvement in reducing antimony ores. The crucible furnace is five feetin diameter and 18 inches deep. The flux nsed in smelting is a crude sulphate of sodain the form of salt-cakes anda charge usually consists of 500 pounds of roasted ore, 100 pounds of salt-cake and 75 pounds of hardwood chargoal, all iu coarse powder. About one half of a cord of wood is burned at each charge. The ore is mixed with the chareoal and spread evenly in the retort furnace ‘being covered with a mixture of salt-cake and charcoal. The fire is immediately increased and a fused layer is formed which protects the 1 dishes holding 25 pounds each, care being taken to dip enough slag, to cover the metal; when cold the slag is broken off and the metal is ‘perfectly fine. Savina Monzy.—The report of O. C. Hewitt, Superintendent of the Keystone Consolidated mine, in ‘Amador county, is to the effect that they have saved abont $5,000 per month by the abandonment of blankets and buddles and the use of Hendy’s concentrators. The concentrators have been in nse there ahont five months and of conrse give great satisfaction, as they have performed their work so well. Tus Onovirne Mines.—The ‘Lava Bed”’ mines, near Oroville, continue to pan out to the Chinamen, by whom they are worked. The Chinese town near by is growing rapidly, and numbers of celestials are swarming thither. Tue Gould and Curry, Hale and Norcross, and Imperial mines, are all down to the Sutro tunnel level, and exploring at that point. The Yellow Jacket is considerably below it, and the A Startling Discovery. Throngh the kindness of a gentleman of scientific tastes, residing iu this city, we were permitted to see recent nnmbersof the Afonilor Belge, which contain references to the reported discovery, by a Belgian peasant, of a fact which, if more substsntially verified, is destined to eanse a complete revolution in the preparstion snd use of fuel, and furnish a partial selution, at least, of the difficult problem which hss so long coufrouted British economists. The statement is that it has been found that a mixCrown Point has penetrated 200 feet below it. ture of coal slack, or waste screeuings aud dust, with clay, mnd or other argillaceons matter, and sal-soda, may be made, which will cost one-half as much, and burn beller, than ordinary’coal. The ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, aud taken in the following proportions: coal slack, twentyfive parts; earthy matter, seventy-five parts, and sal-soda, one per cent. The whole virtue of the preparation rests, it is said, on the action of the sal-soda. How this substauce is capable of so assisting comhnation as to oonsumesuch a dead weight of wholly inert matter, is another thing, and will puzzle onr chemists to explain, A mixture, among the thousands constautly heing patented, especially in England, consista of seventy-five part’ of coal dust, and twenty-five ’ parts of clay. This manages to burn itself, yomewhatin the manner of peat, bnt is not so valusble as a heat-producer as the common coal, and is of qnestionable economy, inasmnch as the coal dnst alone, or mixed with only enongh water having elay in suspension to render the whole consistent, in the form of bricks, is much more effective, The trouble of weighing and incorporating so small a percentage is hardly compensated for by the trifling saving in material. But in the neW composition, ouly one-fourth of the entire mass is coal. It would even pay to expressly crush block coal on this system, if all that is claimed be true. The discoverer, or inventor, has not patented his improvement, and its benefits are free tothe world. It is further stated that manufacturers and other large fnel nsers in Belgium are making . trialof the compound with satisfactory results. Weawait further and more detailed information before commenting at length upon this last sensation. ‘Rich Ore. : We have jnst been shown a sample of about seventy ponnds of exceedingly rich ore oontaining free goldin abundance, taken from the Patterson mine at Tuttletown, in Tnolumne county. This mine belongs to Mr. J. J. Corrigan, (now on his way to London, England). He is the principal resident director here in San Francisco of the celehrated Richmond mino, at Enreka, Nevada. Mr. Corrigan deserves to he congratulated on bis success in developing the Patterson, as he took hold of it in an undeveloped state and by sinking to a proper depth, and providing the necessary means and appliauces, has made it an uubounded success. There is a 20-stamp mill erected on the grottnd and every thing bide fair for a large and steady yield of gold. Mr. D. T. Hughes, the Superintendent, deserves great credit for the able and efficient manner in which he bas opened this mine and brought it, within the period of one year, from obscurity to the position of one of the moat promising mines in the state,