The Otago Daily Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1897.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10722, 10 February 1897, Page 2

The Otago Daily Times. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1897.

A decision .recently given by the, Full ;Couh'of the Tran^yaaji, is fraught with Jthe gre.ateafc.; interest ; to.-thope are jconcerned in.. finning matters, and particularly to those-who have to do with ;the cyaHd^ process. The case to which we refer was one in which an action "was brought .against tlie Africa.n .Gold ißecovery'l; Coinjiahy/ By 'a"' plaintiff Vhose namfe the "".decision"' does .'not. dißcloße i ..-jbut- i; vho .claimed . that, he was injured ;in."his>riglUs as one 'of the public. .Thei decision of the 'court was to the effect that the pro-; «ess of recfoferihg gold aiid silver known as the MacAuthttß-Forbest process, -for which two-patents hadbeeitt (obtained ;for South Africa^.'was not-protected by Ithose patents,, which were therefore The circumstances were briefly these: —In 1888 and 1889 JFoerest .and MacAbthtje, obtained from the Government of the jSouth^ African Republic, and in 1891 tl^^i^-I^i^^ig^t-^aind ;.tis£.vin the patents to the .. African Goll. Company^ which was now 'the defendant. ! The'; first of thepatents which .ere- the groundwork :of the action..wwa y for a process for " (1) Obtaining gold -And silver from ores and other, compounds,, consisting in dissolving them , out by treatingthe . powdered r ore 'or compound with aVsolviiiibii "containing cyanogen, or a cyanide' 'ot cyanogen-yielding substance, substantially 'as herein--sb^ff?i^§?C_abßd;" -.and; 'f (2).<Qfaph : taining, gold and ■ silver from, ores^and jothercompounds, consisting in dissolving jthem out by treating tne powdered ore ;or coffip6'undrwith a dilute -solution- conj taining a quantity of. cyanogen, or a i cyanide or cyanogen-yielding substance, ithe cyanogen of which is proportioned | to ;the gold- or silver, or gold arid silver; J substantially as'hereinbefore described." j $i£otiier, patent had, for its object an (improvement of; the first patent by ] using alkalis aiid fine .particles' of zinc, ' through which the gold in solution had j to.-'pkßsL.biV. filtrate;, 'As.a- matter of ! fapt th^ MacAi\Ehui'--Forf'est polVipahy have', for: a -'long' time' sought the help pt^the Ja^^'o6urts' at HBme ahd in several of the colonies to maintain;' tKeiJ";r!gljt' to^the.jp&cint^fdt: the process in question. In 1894, and again 'in 1895 application, 'was. made to courts in various mining countries for permission i 6 riiake 'an amendment in the specification's..""'/ The application was refused in Tasmania! "Victoria,.and New Zealand, .arid in the Transvaal it ( was also declined, but with perßisSfoir 'jio ' rehew ; tHb" application. The'cause "of the -application for an amendment <i'£ the specification was a decision -of the English Court of A.ppeal, < in which that court, whilst giving judgment- against the patentees, MacAhthur and FoBEESiI, held that tlie patent was capable of amendment. The patentees made two claims—one for the use of cyanide generally and the other for the use of a dilute solution of cyanide. .The Court of Appeal I held that the MAC'Aimiuii-FoMfsi'

process hacl novelty, invention, and Utility, but that the claim regarding it was toti "wide and. geiierM. 'It also' held that as claim No. 2 rested entirely upon No. 1, it must also fall to tlie ground with it. What has nowbeen successfully done in the highest court of the South African--Republic, is to attack the MAcARTHim-Foint!E'B'r patent in its very basis, and to prove that it is not a new discovery' arid has been anticipated. Tlie judgment 'of the Transvaal court is- lengthy but luminous. The court held it to be clearly established by the evidence that at the time when the patent i was applied for and granted it was a well-known fact that gold could be j obtained from ore by a solution of i potaasic cyanide. Hence the company's

application for an 'i&iendttfent. 'J hey: then claimed that ;they wef<i the first j to discover1 that .a' weak. Solution-'at' potassic cyanide .had what ..hjis been called a selective action for gold. But it was proved bjr it host or AvitiiesaeS" in the Hdutli African trial that a patent ■was granted to one SiirpsoN-.ifi the United Stages iii.lßßs foi*..fin invention/ almost precisely similar. It should be mentioned'; that Mr Justice Komer in his decision upon_which the appeal was made in England displayed his know> ledge of the Simpson patent. * But SiMtsoN'- added to the- cyanide -of potassium, carbonate of., -ammonia and chloride of sodium v and ■ ifc.'. wasfor the Transvaal court to consider whether the§e;were essential parts; of the invention. The Transvaal court held that they were not •" 'that, in effect, the cyanide bf • potas'shlm was'the principal ingredient ahd that therefore the Mac-ABTHUit-FbiiRBST pr'oCelsß had Cbeeh 'anticipated. Even though" it had not .been anticipated by the Simpson patent iV would have been by "that "'of Rae (obtained in 1867)jin which cyanide of -potassium 'was usedto'di&MVe the'gold ;but witlt; electricity to _ precipitate '{£ ,'The Lords"Jli6tic!6B of Eagiand thought that becltise;'.carbonate_ of knlmonia was used in a. small quantity with | the cyanide of .jiptassium in the ■specification of Simpson, the speci- : ficatifirf'- was no" rantici|i'ati6'n' of the Mac Arthur - Forrest patent;-.-,-; but the - Transvaal ...court,- ;for reasons fully and ably set forth, dissented from this view, having'a "great quantity of;' fresh" evidence- before' it. Amongst: the witnesses .were, a, jmmb.er of Australian experts, examined, by commission, and Mr Skby, Government ahaij/'sirW t_ 'Dep'ai'tiiient of Mines iri New Zealand, who said .'positively that if a chemist had ■ tlie -patent: of Simpson ~ put. into .his. hand, prior. to 1888" he would come" to the' conclusion jthat cyanide of potassium "^ag'^he 'sole jageiit f here?tha*' "vfduid '■■ '.dissolve gold; that the., carbenateof .amnionia ■and these,, other things, .have >_.. np .particular tise." '" Any' chemist'" wold d certainly-:-arrive *_ - _&b -conclusion; I (He would think-—they need .not hayq _the ....others, e^cept,so -far j that?, in &ddihg tbef' carbftnate —df l.aramoniaj -he'j:alkalises> thevsplu^ion/' I iMr Cosmo Newbeey, analyst •_ and j metallurgist to the Department of I Mines in:Vi6fc6riaVv cbtfi'obbi'alied this, I .and added that Simpson; in prescribing j the ug'ebf carbonate of ammonia]" either [had mystification , in. .View, or that he ! used it in: neutralising acids in the tail; lings." Upon all. these; considerations i.the court. ', arrived....,!)^ -..this,.,,point: (/Whether there was ;heyeli;y and inventive ...skill.,in .the' ..use... pf,, a. ~dilute solution of potassic;.' cyanide in the treattnent ,o£.gold,.fotind..in. powdered p-^e?" And whether AliiGArthur and Fobeest., could ...be, ..s^id .„ to.,.,have discovered the selective action of such dilute solution? and;'if 39, whether-the AihcfoMTy c&. be piitented?,!'Sii'd 5 it decided ;n. the nega,Uye.' -v.This ..decision nullified the .first' patent^,whichi.w^ ;aceo;rdingly cancelled, and a,.,no_,less interestingf:.inqui^y;t_fpjlpw^d into the validity of patent Iso. 2, which prescribed preparatory treatment of the jdre with alkali or an .alkaline earth and the employment of gi'anulated zinc as a precipitant. The ieourt found that the alkaline treatment was an old and well-known process, and also that.the_zinc treatment was already covered~by Price's patent, dated 1884. -Ifr was described so far back as 1864 by I)V Elsner, bf Berli% .who; ! .;said' Ji quqting/- Otto's "Chemistry," tliafc "since "the metal; is not brittle enough-to-be ahd since, on account of its peculiar toughness; it cannot be conveniently filed, because it smears ihe file;,- it" is subdivided for this purpose, unless thin scraps are available, bj : .the _ operation ; qf granu-lating—-viz.,'"iV is poured' molten, in a thinlstream/into avesselcontaining ccjlc] water, which is" vigorously 'stirred with a .broom of twigs." This method of granulatirjg zinc was one of those described in the specification, of, ! th.e.,MAcAßTinj i ßFoßpsT patent!'"'fhe":effe6t"bf the judgment is to, octroy-all the J^aqArthU'RForrest rights in the Transvaal,, but joi course the judgment will have no effeel in jpritish territoi-ies.;; The evidence which influenced the court is, however, comjnon to all, '"and it 'May be considered at all events probable1 that s British court.would. cp,me:.l;o..;a similar decision. So far as J^few Zealand ii concerned, ifc' may J,be~ rioted that ir the.! Gaierajic!a.,.£!pe£cli- Jto. .__ .Ne\i Zealand Parliament in 1895 these words occur.:—" Useful as the cyanide process of extracting gold has been it is not* to "be gainsaid that th< royalty exacted under the patent righti of Cassel's Company has been a heavj burden on the back of mining enter prise..... Therefore, as .the .English .court! have • upset- the pafcent,: my- -Minisfceri have taken steps Jphave it set aside ii this colony." The_Cassel Company Vas the owner of -itho,.Mac Arthur Forrest patent. It plight to be unnecessary to say that the decision is i very important"one in the Band, wher< the cyanide process is .universal, anc its importance, is reflected, to".othei parte of the world where that proces! is in use