GB190520380A - Improvements in the Treatment of Sulphide Ores. - Google Patents

Abstract

20,380. Bousfield, J. E., [Mackay, F., and Beckwith, A. J.]. Oct. 9. Zinc sulphate; lead sulphate. -Relates to the treatment of lead, zinc, antimony, arsenic, and other sulphide ores or mixtures of the same or metallic sulphides, preparatory to subsequent wellknown metallurgical treatment for the extraction and recovery of gold, silver, lead, zinc, and other metals therefrom. The raw ore or metallurgical product is pulverized and is then forced or blown by means of a fan or air current into a chamber heated by a small gas-producer. The chamber is furnished with holes for the admission of air for regulating the oxidation of the ore dust. If the ore is rich enough in volatile metal or metallic sulphide, the temperature is maintained without further extraneous heat : but in the case of lowgrade ores the chamber may be externally heated, or coal dust, producer gas, or combustible products thereof may be blown into the chamber. The zinc sulphide of the ore is transformed into zinc oxide, and the lead sulphide becomes sulphate, these two bodies with other volatile metals passing off as fume. The fume and desulphurized ore dust pass through flues having settling-chambers in which the ore dust is deposited, the fume being sucked by a fan through calico filtering-apparatus. The lead sulphate is collected and smelted or treated by known methods or sold as white pigment. The zinc oxide, a large proportion of which settles out with the desulphurized ore dust, is collected and treated with sulphuric acid to form zinc sulphate, which may be treated by known methods. The desulphurized ore dust is insoluble and may be smelted for the recovery of gold, silver, and other metals. The oxidized sulphur gases which pass with the fume from the fume chamber may be utilized for leaching out the zinc from the desulphurized ore dust if necessary. Or the whole products of the fume with or without the desulphurized ore dust may be arrested as they come from the volatilization chamber together with the sulphur gases by any known wet process for arresting flue dust and fume with the separation of the zinc from the insoluble portions of the captured flue dust.