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Ordinary brick presses, with clay as a binder, were used in Europe as well as in this country, but they are too slow and expensive for large propositions and the presence of clay is usually undesirable.

The English Yeadon (fuel) press has also been used for some years at the Carlton Iron Company’s Works at Ferryhill in England, and at the Ore and Fuel Company’s plant at Coatbridge in the same country; also by some Continental firms. Dupuis & Sons, Paris, furnished a few presses which are mostly used for manganese and iron ores and pyrites. In some localities coke dust is added. The making of clay briquettes or mud-cakes is the crudest form of briquetting; but while heat has to be expended to evaporate the 40 to 50 per cent. of moisture in them, and while considerable flue dust is made, this method is better than feeding fine ore or flue dust directly into the furnace.

The only other method of avoiding briquetting is by fusing ore fines in slagging reverberatory furnaces and by adding flue dust in the slagging pit, thus incorporating it with the slagging ore. This is practised sometimes in silver-lead smelters, but in connection with copper or iron smelters it is not practicable.