US4033763A — Process for recovery of selected metal values fro…

Claim 1

Independent Claim 161 words

The process of recovering selected metal values from waste waters in which said selected metal values appear in low concentrations on the order of 0.1-500 PPB, comprising the steps of: (a) mixing natural surface water, industrial waste water and organic waste together to form said waste waters; (b) capturing metal values from said waste waters by bacterial imbibing of said values to immobilize and concentrate the values into organic matter; (c) coagulating and de-watering said organic matter, thereby separating said organic matter as a sludge from the waste waters; (d) burning off the de-watered sludge to eliminate organic matter and form an ash comprising metal values and residual contaminants; (e) separating certain ones of said metal values including said selected values by dissolving them and removing them from said ash while leaving undissolved others of said metal values and said contaminants; and (f) purifying said dissolved metal values to isolate and recover the selected metal values from said certain separated values.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 161 words

The process of recovering selected metal values from waste waters in which said selected metal values appear in low concentrations on the order of 0.1-500 PPB, comprising the steps of: (a) mixing natural surface water, industrial waste water and organic waste together to form said waste waters; (b) capturing metal values from said waste waters by bacterial imbibing of said values to immobilize and concentrate the values into organic matter; (c) coagulating and de-watering said organic matter, thereby separating said organic matter as a sludge from the waste waters; (d) burning off the de-watered sludge to eliminate organic matter and form an ash comprising metal values and residual contaminants; (e) separating certain ones of said metal values including said selected values by dissolving them and removing them from said ash while leaving undissolved others of said metal values and said contaminants; and (f) purifying said dissolved metal values to isolate and recover the selected metal values from said certain separated values.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 42 words

The process as set forth in claim 1, wherein said capturing by bacterial imbibing step includes mixing the waste waters with a sludge activated with aerobic bacteria and aerating the mixed waste water and activated sludge to sustain growth of the bacteria.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 23 words

The process as set forth in claim 1, wherein said capturing by bacterial imbibing step includes mixing the waste waters with anaerobic bacteria.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 57 words

The process as set forth in claim 1, wherein said separating and purifying steps comprise pyrometallurgical metal-winning techniques including smelting of the ash with the ore of a base metal to obtain an impure mass of the base metal in which said selected metal values are dissolved; and refining said mass to obtain therefrom selected metal values.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 45 words

The process as set forth in claim 4, wherein the mass is refined and formed into an anode; the anode is electrolytically separated into a pure metal cathode and a mud containing precious metals; and the mud is further refined to recover the precious metals.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 48 words

The process as set forth in claim 1, wherein said separating and purifying steps comprise pyrometallurgical metal-winning techniques including the steps of mixing the ash with copper sulfide ore; smelting the mixture to obtain a dissolved metal matte; and refining said matte to obtain therefrom selected metal values.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 45 words

The process as set forth in claim 6, wherein the matte is refined and formed into an anode; the anode is electrolytically separated into a pure copper cathode and a mud containing precious metals; and the mud is further refined to recover the precious metals.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 72 words

The process as set forth in claim 1, wherein said separating and purifying steps comprise pyrometallurgical metal-winning techniques including the steps of mixing the ash with lead oxide ore; smelting the mixture to obtain a lead mass in which said metal values are dissolved; refining said mass by the addition of zinc to form a zinc crust containing said metal values; and further refining the crust to recover the precious metals therefrom.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 62 words

The process as set forth in claim 1, wherein some of the metal values appear as cyanicides, the step of removing said cyanicides from the ash, and wherein said separating and purifying step comprises hydrometallurgical metal-winning techniques including cyanidation of the ash; separation of dissolved metal values from undissolved metal values; and precipitation of selected dissolved metal values from the cyanide solution.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 38 words

The process as set forth in claim 9, wherein said cyanide solution includes dissolved compounds of precious metals, and said metals are precipitated from the cyanide solution by adding dust of a selected non-precious metal to the solution.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 110 words

The process of recovering precious metal values from waste waters including natural water, industrial waste water and organic waste where the precious metal values appear in very low concentrations, comprising the steps of: (a) coagulating and separating solid matter as a sludge from the waste waters; (b) de-watering the sludge; (c) mixing the de-watered sludge with an ore of a base metal selected from the group copper and lead; (d) smelting the mixed ore and sludge, wherein the organic matter in the sludge reduces the ore to produce a mass of the base metal containing the precious metal values; and (e) refining the mass to recover selected precious metals therefrom.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 110 words

The process of recovering precious metal values from waste waters including natural water, industrial waste water and organic waste where the precious metal values appear in very low concentrations, comprising the steps of: (a) coagulating and separating solid matter as a sludge from the waste waters; (b) de-watering the sludge; (c) mixing the de-watered sludge with an ore of a base metal selected from the group copper and lead; (d) smelting the mixed ore and sludge, wherein the organic matter in the sludge reduces the ore to produce a mass of the base metal containing the precious metal values; and (e) refining the mass to recover selected precious metals therefrom.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 27 words

The process as set forth in claim 11, including the additional step of treating said waste waters by bacterial digestion prior to said coagulating and separating step.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 40 words

The process as set forth in claim 12, wherein said bacterial treatment step includes mixing the waste waters with a sludge activated with aerobic bacteria and aerating the mixed waste waters and activated sludge to sustain growth of the bacteria.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 20 words

The process as set forth in claim 12, wherein said bacterial treatment includes mixing the waste waters with anaerobic bacteria.

Claim 17

Dependent Claim 45 words

The process as set forth in claim 11, wherein the mass is formed into an anode; the anode is electrolytically separated into a pure base metal cathode and a mud containing the precious metals; and the mud is further refined to recover the precious metals.

Claim 18

Dependent Claim 52 words

The process as set forth in claim 11, wherein said mixing step includes mixing the ash with lead oxide ore; and said refining step includes the addition of zinc to the mass to form a zinc crust containing said precious metal values, and refining the crust to recover the precious metals therefrom.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1980-07-04	1981-01-03	1981-07-05	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1984-07-04	1985-01-03	1985-07-05	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1988-07-04	1989-01-03	1989-07-05	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Process for recovery of selected metal values from waste waters

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