r84 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



incased in a brick structure into which hot air is led. As the sand 

 passes through the screen, it is dried and sifted ; all the coarser 

 gravel, passing out at the open end, is discarded. The dried sand 

 is raised bj a belt conveyor to a receiver, from which it feeds into 

 the Narod mill, shown on the right of plate 6. 



This mill consists of a number of small steel rolls arranged in 

 pairs, which are kept in contact bj powerful springs. The rolls are 

 incased in a cylindric screen of 100 mesh. A draft of air meets 

 the pulverized sand as it comes from the rolls, and throws it against 

 this screen, through which it passes to a conveyor, which elevates if 

 to the third floor of the mill and deposits it into a hopper. The 

 particles which are too coarse to pass the screen And their way 

 between the rolls again. 



As previously stated, it is asserted that the bromid of gold exists 

 throughout the interiors of the quartz grains ; hence the fine pul- 

 verization is necessary. 



Plate 6 shows the hop^^er, on the third floor, which receives the 

 pulverized sand from the conveyor, and from which it is packed in 

 bags of definite weight. Plate 6 also shows two of the four funnel- 

 shaped vats set in the floor, in which the sand, one bag at a time, is 

 mixed with the chemicals that reduce the bromid of gold and leave 

 the gold free to amalgamate in the next step of the process. It is 

 this chemical solution on which the success of the process is said to 

 depend, and the secret of its composition is closely guarded. 



After the sand is mixed with the chemicals, it is conducted 

 through iron pipes leading from the bottoms of the mixing vats to 

 the Sutphen amalgamators on the floor below. {See plate 7) 



There are eight of these amalgamators arranged in four pairs, 

 each pair being supplied from one of the four mixing vats above. 

 They are hollow iron cylinders, about 4 feet in length and 16 inches 

 in diameter, with an opening at the center into which a cover 

 screws. In each amalgamator is a solid steel cylinder 7 inches ii 

 diameter. They are connected with the power shaft by belts and 

 pulley wheels, by which they are revolved. This amalgamator is 

 the invention of one of the persons interested in the mill, and was 

 designed specially for this process. The amalgamators are charged 

 with the sand, after it has been acted on by the chemicals, and with 

 mercury to amalgamate the now free gold. As they are revolved, 



