US573834A - Amalgamator - Google Patents

Description

2 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. J.'STORER & F. MARTIN. AMALGAMATOR.

(No Model.)

(No Model.) 2 sheets-sheet 2.

J. J. STORER 8v F. MARTIN. AMALGAMATOR.

No. 573,834. Patented Dec. 22,1896.

UNITED `STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB J. STORER AND FRANK MARTIN, OF HELENA, MONTANA, ASSIGNORS TO THE UNITED MILL AND FURNACE COMPANY, OF MONTANA.

AMALGAMATO R.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,834, dated December 22, 18961. Application filed September 12, 1893. Renewed April 11, 1896. Serial No. 587,232. (No model.)

To u/ZZ whom 'llt man concern.;

and Clarke, State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Amalgamators, of which the following isa full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the numerals of reference marked thereon. The object of our invention is to provide an improved amalgamator for treating gold and silver ores.

The invention consists of the combination, with a suitable tank or trough lined with amalgamated copper plates and provided with a longitudinal groove in its bottom terminating in a Well and a revoluble shaft xed in the longitudinal axis of said tank and provided with angularly and radially adjustable blades or screw-threads, preferably of amalgamated copper, of a series of amalgamated copper arresting-plates coated with quicksilver, vertically adjustable and removable,

` suspended transversely within said tank and reaching from above the water-line nearly to the bottom of the tank, and it also embraces an inclosed amalgamated apron-plate connected with the discharge end of said tank and a mercury-trap set at the lower end of said apron-plate to receive the discharge therefrom, and of certain other novel devices, all of which will be hereinafter described.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of the specification, in which similar numerals of reference indi- Y cate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure lis a sectional side elevation of the amalgamating-tank an d attachments. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of same on line X X', Fig. l. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the tank. Fig. 4 is a plan view on line Y Y, Fig. l, with the arresting-plates removed. Fig. 5 is a reduced elevation of an arresting-plate. Fig. G is an end elevation of the same.

In the drawings, l represents the tank, having an inside rounded bottom 2 and upwardsloping sides 3, and having in its bottom a longitudinal groove i for the reception of th-e excess of Quicksilver, terminating at one end in a well 5, from which the amalgam and fouled Quicksilver, should there be any, may T Be it known that we, JACOB J. STORER and FRANK MARTIN, of Helena, county of Lewis be removed when desired by a siphon or other suitable device. The tank is lined throughout with amalgamated copper plate, as indicated at 6. The shaft 7, which has bearings designed to be water-tight in each end of the tank, has its outer end supported by standards 8, and is designed to be revolved in either direction by one or the other of its 6o pulleys 0. This shaft, within the tank,may

be provided with a spiral screw-thread of sufiicient width or depth to reach within an inch or thereabout of the bottom of the tank and about the same distance above the Water-line, as indicated at l0, but preferably it is provided with a series of blades ll, arranged in a double spiral and fixed in position by having their Shanks passed through the shaft and `held by nuts l2, as best shown in Fig. l. These 7o blades may be made of any material sufficiently strong to keep the pulp in agitation, but preferably are made of flat plates of amalgamated copper, which will not only keep the pulp in agitation, but will also serve to catch all the iioating particles of gold with which they may make contact. They may be adjustably attached to the shaft in other Ways `than herein shown and described, but we preferthis method, as it enables the operator to 8o more readily remove, scrape,and replace them when cleaning up. They may be set and firmly held with their faces at any desired angles to the shaft-axis and radially adjusted toward and from the shaft by means of the nuts l2, and they may be made of various shapes, but We prefer them flat, as indicated.

In Working a very slimy ore it is found best to radially adjust the blades to reach well above the water, so that they will when 9o in motion draw the slimes beneath the Water and create deeper vortices, with the effect of forcing them in contact with amalgamated surfaces; and byangular adjust ment of the blades the rate of the movement of the ore-pulp from one end to the other of the amalgamator may be regulated, while by turning some of the blades at opposite angles to others a greater agitation of the pulp is effected. f j

In order toassure the arrest and amalgamation of all the particles of float-gold, to

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presentan increased amalgamating-surface within the limits of the tank, and to cause the pulp to be longer retained and more repeatedly exposed to the amalgamated surfaces, we suspend in the tank a series of amalgamated copper arresting-plates 13 coated with Quicksilver, the lower half-circular ed ges of which are designed to reach considerably below the water-line and between the screwblades, while their sides or legs extend below the screw-shaft at the sides thereof, and their upper edges are secured in strips 14 of wood or metal, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2,-which stiffen them and prevent their bending under the pressure of the moving water, and by means of which they may be removably clamped or otherwise secured to the upper edges of the tank, as indicated at 15, and be firmly held in position when adjusted. It will be seen that these arresting-plates are so constructed and arranged that the ore-pulp and water cannot flow over them and must flow beneath them through the annular spaces formed between them, the screw-shaft, and tank-bottom, and that in this respect-in their construction, their positions, and functions-they are entirely unlike the rifies or arresting-plates in common use.

The discharge end of the tank is provided with a series of narrow horizontal openings 16 at different levels, through which the water and pulp are designed to be discharged upon the apron-plate 17, which is covered with amalgamated copper and partially inclosed by side and front plates 18 and 10, respectively, to prevent the loss of the water and pulp by spattering. These discharge-openings 16 may be closed by eccentric-bars 20, as indicated at 21, Figs. 1 and 3, which bars are journaled, as shown at 22, on the discharge end of the tank, and they may be opened by the upward turning of said bars7 as indicated. XVe do not confine ourselves to these special devices for regulating the discharge of the ore-pulp and water from the tank, as other devices Quite as serviceable for the purpose may be applied without departing from our invention.

The ore-pulp and water discharged from the tank upon the apron-plate 17 may contain some particles of iioured Quicksilver and amalgam. Hence they are made to [low into the mercury-trap 23, which is designed to eX- tend the whole width of the apron-plate and is provided with partition-plates 24E, under and over which, respectively, the. water and pulp iiow in passing to the waste-sluice 25. In this mercury-trap the floured Quicksilver and amalgam will sink to the bottom, from whence it may be easily removed in cleaning up; and water may be made to continually flow into the bottom of said trap through pipe 2G to prevent the pulp from settling therein. n In operating this amalgamator the amalgamating-surfaces are first properly prepared7 and a Quantity of Quicksilver is then put into the groove 4 for the purpose of arresting and amalgamating the heavier particles of gold that will sink to the bottom. All the openings in the discharge end of the tank are then closed and the ore-pulp with water is introduced into the upper or feed end until the water reaches nearly to the tips of the up ward -projecting shaft paddles or blades. Then the shaft is alternately rotated in one direction and the other in order to bring all the particles of the metal in repeated contact with the amalgainated tank lining, screwblades, and arresting-plates. Then the upper discharge-opening is opened for the escape of water and pulp, and the shaft is kept revolving to cause the tank contents to flow in that direction, and a constant feed of orepulp and water into the tank is continued until the operation is suspended for the purpose of cleaning up. Then the dischargeopenin gs, from above downward, are successively opened to permit the remaining water and pulp to discharge upon the apron-plate, and thence into the mercury-trap, and finally off through the waste-sluice 25. After the water and pulp have been discharged from the tank the excess of Quicksilver charged with gold is siphoned or otherwise removed from the well 5, and the amalgamated surfaces are cleaned of their adhering coating of amalgam. For this purpose the arrestingplates and shaft-blades can readily be taken out, and the shaft may be removed, if -necessar f, and after the mercury-trap has been freed yfrom pulp by proper flushing its contents of arrested floured Quicksilver and amalgam are removed.

Though the shaft-blades in combination with the tank-linin g present, in a given space, a much more extended amalgamated surface than is found in any other form of amalgamator of equal capacity, they would not be fully effective were it not for the amalgam ated arresting-plates, which prevent the otherwise uninterrupted iiow of the water and pulp from the feed end to and out of the discharge end of the tank, and which, each in its turn, impedes the flow of the water and pulp and causes them to swash and eddy against their amalgamated faces and to be forced down in repeated and frequent contact with the amalgamated shaft-blades and tank sides, so that the tank contents are constantly agitated and forced into repeated collision with amalgamated surfaces by a combination of forwardand-backward, of right-and-left rotary, upand-down vertical, vertical, and lateral movements from one side to the other, whereby every particle of amalgamable gold must be arrested and amalgamated.

Though the extended amalgamated surfaces of the tank-lining and shaft-blades and the Quicksilver in t-he groove will readily catch and retain all of the heavier particles of the metals that are in a condition to be amalgainated and that are deliected against them by the arresting-plates, it is the arresting-plates themselves that, coated with Quicksilver, serve IIO ` would be lost.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. Au alnalgamator constructed substantially as herein shown and described, consisting of a tank lined with amalgamated plates, a shaft made to revolve inthe longitudinal axis thereof, and carrying amalgainated blades adapted for radial and angular adjustment, preferably arranged in spirals, and a series of vertically-adjustable, removable, amalgamated, arresting-plates extending above the Water-line and having a space beneath their lower edges for the flow of the Water and ore-pulp, all arranged and operated substantially as set forth.

2. The combination-With an amalgamator consisting of a tank lined with amalgamated plates and having a longitudinal groove and Well in its bottom and a series of adjustable discharge openings at one end, provided With a re voluble shaft carrying amalgamated blades, and with a series of vertically-adjustable amalgamated arresting-plates, of an inclosed amalgamated apron-plate fixed at the discharge end of the tank, and of a mercurytrap set to receive the material discharged from the said apron-plate, all arranged and operated as herein shown and described.

The combination With an amalgamatingtank constructed substantially as herein shown` and described, of a revoluble shaft fixed in the longitudinal axis thereof, and provided with angularly and radially adjustable amalgamated copper blades, as set forth. In testimony that We claim the foregoing We have hereunto set our hands, in the presence of two Witnesses, this 8th day of May, 1803.

JACOB J; STORER. FRANK MARTIN. Witnesses: 4

JAMES F. CHESTER, FINLAY' MCRAE.

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