I am seeking information about Henderson plants. In 1860 William
Henderson of the Tharsis company in Glasgow patented a process for
extracting copper from pyritic ores by roasting the sulphide
concentrate with common salt to form copper chloride in solution, and
then precipitating copper metal out onto scrap iron. The best
description I have seen is in Manuel Eissler's Hydro-Metallurgy of
Copper (1902), which says the process was "largely employed in
Europe", which I think means Spain, the UK and perhaps Norway.
I am investigating the remains of a Henderson plant which operated at
Kapunda in South Australia from about 1866 to 1877. The ruins are
fragmentary, and the site is very difficult to interpret. I have a
feeling such plants were probably built to a standard plan drawn by
Henderson, so the remains of one may help to understand others. Can
anyone guide me to photographs, plans, other documents or site
remains of Henderson plants anywhere else in the world?
Peter Bell
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