Reclaiming particulate magnesium and magnesium-base alloy scrap

Claim 1

IN A METHOD OF RECOVERING FINELY-DIVIDED FREE FLOWING MAGNESIUM AND MAGNESIUM-BASE ALLOY SCRAP THE STEPS WHICH COMPRISE BRINGING TOGETHER A CONTINUOUSLY FLOWING STREAM OF A MOLTEN SALINE FLUX DERIVED FROM A MOLTEN BODY THEREOF AND A CONTINUOUSLY FLOWING STREAM OF THE SCRAP PARTICLES SO AS TO RAPIDLY ENGULF AND THEREBY SET THE SCRAP PARTICLES WITH THE FLUX, THE SAID SALINE FLUX COMPRISING ALKALI AND ALKALINE EARTH METAL CHLORIDE HAVING A DENSITY ABOVE THAT OF THE MOLTEN SCRAP METAL AND A TEMPERATURE OF AT LEAST 40 CENTIGRADE DEGREES ABOVE THE MELTING POINT OF THE SCRAP METAL, WHEREBY A SLURRY IS OBTAINED CONTINUOUSLY OF THE SCRAP METAL AND THE FLUX, PASSING THE SLURRY CONTINUOUSLY INTO A POOL OF THE MOLTEN METAL THROUGH A FILM OF FLUX THEREOVER, SAID POOL FLOATING ON THE SAID MOLTEN BODY OF THE FLUX, WHEREBY THE PARTICLES OF SCRAP METAL ARE ABSORBED BY THE POOL OF MOLTEN METAL AND THE FLUX OF THE SLURRY THEREBY DENUDED OF METAL DESCENDS THROUGH THE POOL OF MOLTEN METAL INTO THE UNDERLYING BODY OF FLUX AND MAINTAINS A FILM OF THE FLUX THEREOVER, CONTINUOUSLY DELIVERING MOLTEN FLUX TO THE FIRST STEP, AND CONTINUOUSLY REMOVING RECOVERED METAL FROM THE SAID POOL.