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surety. But if it does wo may congratulate the inventor, and assure him of a rapid fortune, and the mine 
owners of a large addition to their profits ; and that by a process so easy and simple that any engineer or 
mine-manager can master the whole business in a day. The experiments are carried on with an ordinary 
electric battery of 15 elements, which is said to cost about £1 per week ; but when the apparatus is in 
permanent use, the battery engine can be utilized to drive a dynamo machine to generate electricity for the 
whole crushing plant, and light up the battery and mine as well. The last, and not the least, advantage, 
is that there will be a great saving of labour at the battery, as all blanketing may he done away with, 
should the electric current deal with the pyrites as expected by the inventor. The tray containing the 
quicksilver can be removed at pleasure, or as soon as it is well charged with gold, and a tray of fresh 
mercury put in its place with hardly a moment’s delay. The silver is then retorted in the usual way. 
The apparatus can be fixed anywhere, so long as the tailings pass through it, but it is better to remove all 
quicksilver and copper plates and fix the apparatus at the first delivery from the stamper boxes. 
“ The first experiment produced 4dwt. of gold ; the second, 8dwt. 15gr.; the third, from half-a-ton of 
old tailings of Welshman’s Reef, 4dwt. These experiments were witnessed by the following gentlemen :— 
C. T. Nicholls, chairman of the Welshman's Company; John Opie, mine-manager; John Watson, of 
Melbourne; and J. Mackie, J.P., of Ncwstead, and several others.” 
Melbourne Argus, l\th June, 1884.—“From a statement sent tons on behalf of Messrs. Rowe 
Bros., of Fryerstown, we give the following particulars of a series of trials at their mine of the 
above apparatus :— The first trial consisted of one ton of quartz crushed in the usual way, the apparatus 
beiug placed below the ripple tables, all the sand having to pass over the ripples and copper plates 
before coming in contact with the patent apparatus. After retorting the silver, the yield of gold 
was found to ho 15gn, a very good test of the gold-saving capabilities of the patent, as these 
15gr. are in excess of the yield by ordinary appliances from very poor quartz. The second trial 
was on the 5th instant, when a small quantity of raw pyrites was put through. The third trial took 
place on the 6th instant, when a third of a ton of roasted pyrites was put through before being ground 
in the Chilian mills. The yield was ldwt. Ogr. gold. These trials seem to show that the patent, apparatus 
will at least save the cost of roasting or the cost of grinding in Chilian mills, cither way a great saving. 
Future experiments with a full-sized apparatus will set this question at rest. The fourth trial took place 
on the 9th and 10th instant, when one ton of tailings was put through. These tailings were taken from 20 
different places from the largo pile at the old machine, the result being a yield of 24gr. of gold. The first 
trial was considered the best, as the quartz crushed does not give an average yield of more than 3(lwt. to the 
ton. The apparatus is particularly adapted for the treatment of tailings as they leave the stamp boxes, the 
gold in every instance being of the very finest description, and any quicksilver escaping during the usual 
process is caught and retained by the patent apparatus. In dealing with tailings this is very apparent, as 
after retorting more quicksilver was obtained than tlie quantity put into the tray of the patent apparatus. 
In the opinion of Messrs. Rowe Brothers, the apparatus will prove to be a great success. Tho experiments 
were witnessed by a number of gentlemen from Fryerstown and the surrounding districts.” 
In the Melbourne Argus of the 13th September, 1884, however, the following account of 
some further experiments of an unsuccessful character is given:—“Several gentlemen connected 
with tho Egertou Quartz Mining Company yesterday visited Mr. A. Barker’s metallurgical works 
at Footscray, to witness the final operations of the testing of 5001b. weight of tailings from the 
Egerton mine by Mr. Otto’s electric gold-saving apparatus system. By that system the tailings, or 
debris from quartz crusliiugs, are passed over a quicksilver surface, and olcctricized by a dynamo machine, 
one point being connected with platina and the other with carbon plates. Mr. Otto claims for his 
process that no particle of gold can come into contact with the quicksilver without being retained by it, in 
consequence of the magnetic attraction of the electricity. A number of successful trials of the apparatus 
had been made previous to yesterday, with tailings from different quartz mines, and the directors of the 
Egerton Company had sent down their tailings with the view of ascertaining whether an undue quantity of 
gold had been left in them. The average return of the company’s crushing** at tho mine is about 4£ dwt. of 
gold per ton, which is a payable yield, all above 3dwt. per ton being profit, and of course if more gold could 
he obtained from the tailings the returns would be larger. Tho result of the trial yesterday was, however, 
disappointing to the gentlemen present at it, as it was found that, only l*9gr. of gold had been extracted 
from the 50()lbs. weight of tailings, or at the rate of 9gr. per ton.” • 
Huntington and Koch's Patent Amalgamator . — This amalgamator lias recently 
attracted a good deal of attention, particularly in the Sandhurst district, where, it is 
said, the new process, at a competitive trial, gave an increase of 20 per cent, more 
gold than the usual appliances. The patentees are Mr. A. K. Huntington, professor 
of metallurgy in King’s College, London, and Mr. J. E. O. Koch, who has recently 
arrived in this colony from England, with the object of disseminating information 
respecting the contrivance. The following description has been supplied by the 
latter gentleman : — 
The Huntington and Koch amalgamator (see sketch) consists of a cast-iron vessel or pan (a), which 
has an outlet (f) at the bottom for running off the amalgam or emptying the amalgamating metal from the 
pan; also several outlets (g) at the top, through which the tailings are discharged. Passing down the 
centre of the pan is a vertical pipe ( b ), into which the ore or tailings are fed through the fixed hopper (e). 
They are then discharged, or sucked, into the amalgamating metal from the pipe (5) by means of the 
tubular arms or nozzle (//), made of a tapering ovate form, with an c4ongated slit (i) on the hinder side 
relatively to the direction of rotation. These arms create a vacuum in passing through tho amalgamating 
metal. C represents a stationary pipe or sleeve, which prevents the contact of the revolving pipe ( b ) and 
the amalgamating metal. Attached to the sleeve are vertical and horizontal screens (/<), to prevent the 
rotation of tho amalgamating metal, and to ensure the mingling of ore or tailings with same. D is a pulley 
by which the pipe (b) is driven. 
In operating with this apparatus, the ore or tailings, after being crushed in a battery or other suitable 
appliances, are delivered continuously into the hopper (e); they then descend the revolving pipe (5), and 
are ejected from the slits (i) of tho arms (//), so that they are mingled with, and rise through, the 
