US87248A - Improved amalgamator for collecting gold and silver - Google Patents

Description

GEORGE S. CURTIS AND HENRY CURTIS, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent No. 87,248, dated Februma/ 23, 1869. 4

IMPROVED AMALG-AMATOR FOR COLLECTING- GOLD AND SILVER The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making parl: of the s'ame.

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To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE S. CURTIS and HENRY CURTIS, both of Chicago, in the county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Iniprovemeut in Amalgamators; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full and correct description of the same, suicien-t to enable others skilled in the art to which our invention ppertains, to fully understand and use the saine, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which make part of this specification, and in which- Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of our invention, and

Figure 2 is a longitudinalv vertical section of the same.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in both figures. f

The nature of our invention consists in so constructing an arnalgamator, for separating gold and silver from pulverized quartz, by passing the latter' through a bath of quicksilver, that the quicksilver, and with it a quantity of fine particles of gold or silver, which, in common ainalgamators, is usually carried off with the quartz and lost, will be saved and reconducted to the bath.'7

A, in the drawings, may represent the conductor into which the pulverized quartz is thrown, and which conducts the saine to the bath B.

This conductor is perpendicular, and, by preference, of square or oblong form| but any shapeis suitable.

The bath B is lined with copper-amalgam plate, and ends in an upward opening, C, which is formed by the cover D of the bath, and a continuation, E, of the bath B, which forms an inclined amalgam-plate, provided with sides F, the incline being toward the bath.

These sidcs F are fasten-ed to the vertical end-piece D of the cover D by means of screws, or in any other suitable manner.

Situated over the inclined amalgam-plate E, and in any suitable manner attached to the sides F, is a water-showering box, G, of about the saine length as the inclined plate, provided with a supply-pipe, Hr and having its bottom perforated, as showu'at h.

The operation of our amalgamator is as follows:

The .bath B is filled with quicksilver, until it rises in the conductor A to a height above the plate E on under side cover D, the pulver-ized quartz, as it runs from the battery or stamps into the conductor, passing through cleanquicksilver under the cover or plate D, which, on its under side, has an amalgam-copperplate, E, which attracts the fine particles of gold and silver.

The quicksilver being considerably heavier than water, is displaced only by a greater quantity of water and quartz than itself, and the latter passing through the clean quicksilver, and leaving the saine to attract the particles of gold and silver, rises through the opening C, and passes out -over the inclined plate E; and as many minute particles of quicksilver pass out with the water and quartz, but always at the bottom of the mass, they are attracted to the amalgam-plate E, where they collect and coagulate, and run back into the bathv B, while the mass of quartz, always kept afloat by the spray from the showering-box B, passes off over the inclined plate E.

It will be seen that by this means the quicksilver, and with it a quantity 'of particles of gold or silver, which is usually lost in common arnalgainators, is

' saved, and great economy in amalgamating gained.

Having thus described our invention,

Vhat we claim as new, and desire .to secure by Letters Patent, is-- l. The construction of an amalgamator, in the manner as and for the purposes herein described, having an amalgam-plate, E', over the bath.

2. The inclined amalgam-plate E, when constructed substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. The showering-box G, when constructed substaniallyas and for the purposes described.

GEO. S. CURTIS. HENRY CURTIS. Witnesses:

Guns. B. HOLMES, CEAS. GILL.

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