A N T I M O N Y : ITS HISTORY, CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY ...
A N T I M O N Y : ITS HISTORY, CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY ...
A N T I M O N Y : ITS HISTORY, CHEMISTRY, MINERALOGY ...
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124 THE METALLURGY OF ANTIMONY.<br />
The following analyses refer to material from the mine La Lucette;<br />
the quantities are those yielded per ton:—<br />
Antimony, kilos .<br />
Gold, grammes .<br />
Waste ground by<br />
Crushing<br />
Mill.<br />
10'9<br />
6<br />
Ball<br />
Mill.<br />
9*5<br />
5<br />
Concentrates<br />
from "Waste.<br />
Sample Sample<br />
II.<br />
1141<br />
34<br />
97*5<br />
214<br />
Mixed<br />
Materials.<br />
14*6<br />
1<br />
Tailings.<br />
6-1<br />
traces<br />
(b) The Treatment of the Concentrates.—They are lixiviated in<br />
agitators with a solution of sodium sulphide. The sulphide of<br />
antimony is dissolved as double sulphide of antimony and sodium,<br />
and the gold is left in the residues.<br />
The liquor thus obtained is heated with the sulphurous acid coming<br />
direct from the roasting of pyritic ores or of the sulphide of antimony,<br />
obtained in the same process from a previous treatment. The antimony<br />
sulphide thus precipitated has a red colour. The gold residue can bo<br />
treated in a reverberatory furnace in the presence of litharge. The<br />
gold can be extracted by cupellation or by oxidation with nitrate of soda.<br />
The process is profitable with an ore containing:—<br />
Antimony, 4 per cent., or 40 kilos per ton.<br />
Gold, 12 grms. per ton.<br />
The profit is 21 frs. per ton, after subtracting the expenses. One<br />
ton of ore may cost only 6 frs. This result has boon obtained at<br />
Genest (Mayenne); France.<br />
Lyte proposes to roast antimony-bearing lead, silver, and copper<br />
ores in the presence of chlorides, to condense the antimony vapour<br />
in a solution of salt, and to precipitate the metal by iron or zinc.<br />
This process requires complicated condensing apparatus.<br />
The Utah Antimony Company, of Garfield Co., Utah, has been able<br />
to obtain a concentrate containing 65 per cent, antimony from ore<br />
containing only 11 per cent, of that metal. The mill is capable of<br />
producing 10 tons of concentrate per day.<br />
III. EXTRACTION BY ELECTROLYTIC METHODS.*<br />
It has been proposed to treat poor sulphide antimony ores, and the<br />
residue from the liquation of richer ores, with solutions of alkali-<br />
* Electric Smelting and Refining of Dr W. Borchors, translated \)y W. G.<br />
McMillan, pp. 476-487 ; London, C. Griffin & Co., 1904.