US871300A - Process of leaching ores. - Google Patents

Description

PATBNTED NOV. 19, 1907.

A. SGHWARZ.

PROCESS OF LEAGHING ORES.

APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 1, 1906.

INVENTOR r v 4 6 WITNESSES:

l/m ATTORNEY I by gravity in a fine stre 40 cndof one is below the piano ol tho UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED SOHWARZ, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO SUHWARZ ENGINEE OF NEWYORKI, N. Y., ACORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

RING COMPANY,

PROCESS OF LEACHING ORES.

To all whom it. may concern:

Be it known that l, ALFRED Scnwanz, a i'blocks 8 ma subject of the lln'iperor oi Germany, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, 5 county, :and State of N cw York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Processes of Leaching Ores, of which the fol-, j lowing is a specification.

' The presentinven'tion relates to a method 1.0 of leaching ores the primary object being to expose every particle of the ore to the leaching solution in order to ell'ect a practically complete recovery of the values. This is accomplished by causing the ore to descend am through the leaching' solution. The accompanying drawing illustrates one form of apparatus by which the invention maybe practiced and in which Figure] is a vertical section, the air supply pipe being shown in elevation; Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the plane of the line "2-'-2 of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a detail view. Similar reference numerals indicate similar parts in the several views.

Referring to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a vat or tank the dcpth of which may be varied according to the particular orc treated or. the quantity of ore undergoing treatment. Supported within said tank is a 'i'ramc-work comprising uprights 2 held together bys'uitable tic rods 3. Fastcncd upon two opposite sides ol' the interior of thc fra1no-work are" blocks 4 which servo as supports for aserics ol' hoppers 5 any number oi which may be employed according to circumstances. Those hoppers are pyramidal or conical in form and arranged one above the other and preferably so that the lower top of tho one next below, as indicated in the drawing. The openings 6 at the apiccs of thc hoppers are made of such diameter as to pcrmit ore to descend thcrcthrough in a very lino stream and at a conmarativcy slow rate so as to socure the complete breaking up oi the strcams of ore and to all'ord an op mrtunity for the solvent to act upon the metallic constituents of-thc ore. in order to vary thc size ol thc openings 6 to meet conditions presented by ditl'ercntorcs and to regulate the rate of flow of the ore i may cniplo) blocks 7 ol' the form shownin Fig. 3. These blocks are adapted to be seated in the lowcr part oi'thc hoppers and are, provided with a central longitudinal openl i r l i l I l l l ing 8 for t.

Patented Nov. 19, 1907.

he passage of the ore. Sets of y be utilized each set being made with the openings 8 of different diameters.

in leaching ores method the the level in according to the present vat or tank 1 1s iilled to about dicatcd m Fig. l=w1th asolvent 9 determined by the particular ore treated. The hoppers 5 except the top-most-are completely submerged in the solution, the level of the latter however being above the outlet ol. the top ore is then -most hopper. The 'mlverized discharged mto the top hopperthe opening (5 ol which permits it to descend by gravity stream.

in a constant and regulated This line stream of ore is 'i1nn1e dlatcly dlvidcd as it enters the quiescent solvent and spr ads out, from the opening in the hopper for a short distance in a cloud-like form. it then settles gradually and quietly in thc hoppcr next munedlatcly below from which it in to the next turn passes through the solvent hopper and so on throughout the series of hoppcrs from top to bottom of the tank.

The ore will thus be arrested in its I downward movement giving the solvent fur ther opportunity to act upon it while it is held in the hoppers. pers or the opcnmgs gradi'iatc ncXt lowcr to accumul though as n d so as to contract 'ill be The openings 6 in the hop- 8 in the blocks 7 may be from one to the g the escape of the 1d permitting it the several hoppers, al understood, after the opcrthus rctardin ate in ation is once l'ully started by an accumulation in thc lowcr-most l ioppcr thc flow from one to the other will be continuous, there being at the same time a of tailings continuous discharge from the lower-most hopper.

,llnring lhcsc successive passages thc ore is acted upon into solution a1 lower-most chargcd up thcncc carried by convenient necessary, scribed in a date luircwith.

without the aid of n without dis naturally d by the solvent, the values going [(l the tailings received in the hopper from which they-arc dis on the inclined bottom 10 and a discharge pipe 11 to any vcsscl l'or further treatment if n to a valve oi the Gllt'tlttOl'Ol don application tiled by me of even The solution when sat uratcd wn oil through a branch pipe 12 ipitation oi the values thcrcl'rom.

soon from the foregoing descripic leaching oi the ore is oil'ectod icchanical agitators and turbancc of thc ore except that uc to the falling of the orc by Q emsoo gravity through the quiescent solution from hopper to hopper. This disturbance however is amply sufficient to expose every particle of the ore to the action of the solvent and results in an effective solution of the values. Under certain conditions it may be necessary to assist the solvent action by the presence o'fair. For that purpose Iarrange a pipe 13 along one side of the tank, said pipe being connected to a suitable source of air supply. Branches l4 lea ;lfroni pipe 13 and terminate in proXirnityto the openings 6 of the hoppers so as to distribute the air in the presence of the falling stream of ore by the successiveipassages of the ore from care being taken, hox've'ver, that the air pressure shall not be sufficient to interfere with the proper descent of the ore.

The present invention I have found 'par ticularly adapted to the recovery of gold by the cyanid. process. In that case the tank will be filled With any standard cyanid solution, the gold and silver being dissolved out the several hoppers through the solvent;

The final recovery of the metals from the somanner.

lution may be-eflected in any well known What I claim-and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1'. The method herein described consisting in causing the ore to descend by gravity ini-a continuous stream through a series of vertrcally disposed hoppers having graduated dis-- charge orifices, said hoppers being submerged in a quiescent leaching solution.

quiescent solvent, and introducing air into said solventv 1n the presence of the telling stream of ore.

In Witness whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two 35 z 2. The method of leaching ores consisting v vin causing the ore to descend by gravity through a series of hoppers submerged III-8,;

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