678 Mr. Ludivig Mond [June 3, 



tion on a large scale of nickel from cobalt could not be effected, 

 whicli has so far been a most complicated metallurgical operation ; 

 and subsequently I was led to investigate whether it would not be 

 possible to use carbonic oxide to extract nickel industrially direct 

 from its ores. 



For solving these problems within the limits of the resources of 

 a laboratory, we have devised apparatus, the principles of which are 

 shown on this diagram. It consists of a cylinder divided into many 

 compartments, through which the properly prepared ore is passed 

 very slowly by means of stirrers attached to a shaft. On leaving 

 the bottom of this cylinder, the ore passes through a transport- 

 ing screw, and from this to an elevator, which returns it to the 

 top of the cylinder, so that it passes many times through the cylin- 

 der, until all the nickel is volatilised. Into the bottom of this 

 cylinder we pass carbonic oxide, which leaves it at the top charged 

 with nickel carbouyl vapour, and passes through the conduits shown 

 here into tubes set in a furnace and heated to 200° C. Here the nickel 

 separates out from the nickel carbonyl. The carbonic oxide is re- 

 generated and taken back to the cylinder by means of a fan, so that 

 the same gas is made to carry fresh quantities of nickel out of the 

 ore in the cylinder, and to deposit it in these tubes an infinite number 

 of times. 



Upon these principles Dr. Langer has constructed a complete 

 plant on a Liliputian scale, which has been at work in my laboratory 

 for a considerable time, and a photograph of which we will now throw 

 on to the screen. 



You see here the volatilising cylinder divided into numerous com- 

 partments, through which the ore is passing, and subjected to the 

 action of carbonic oxide. At the bottom the ore is delivered into the 

 transporting screw passing through a furnace (for the i^urpose of 

 heating the ore to about 350° C. whereby its activity is maintained). 

 This screw delivers into an elevator, which returns the ore to the top 

 of the cylinder, so that the ore constantly passes at a slow rate 

 through the cylinder again and again, until the nickel it contains has 

 been taken out. The carbonic oxide gas, prepared in any convenient 

 manner, enters the bottom of the cylinder and comes out again at the 

 top. It then passes through a filter to retain any dust it may 

 carry away, and thence into a series of iron tubes built into a furnace, 

 where they are heated to about 200° C, In these tubes the nickel 

 carbonyl carried off by the carbonic oxide is completely decom- 

 posed, and the nickel deposited against the sides of the tubes is 

 from time to time withdrawn, and is thus obtained in the 25ieces 

 of tubing and the plates which you see on the table. 



The carbonic oxide regenerated in these tubes is passed through 

 another filter, thence through a lime purifier, to absorb any carbonic 

 acid which may have been formed through the action of the finely 

 divided nickel upon the carbonic oxide, and is then returned through 

 a small fan into the bottom of the cylinder. The whole of this 



