Batteries were widely used
in California, Australia and in the early days in South Africa but by the beginning
of the twentieth century were largely replaced by multiple stage crushing equipment
in ball mills. The last stamp batteries in
South Africa, for example, were built in 1918.
Battery
The earliest machinery for
crushing gold ores
was called a barrier option or stamp
mill. It consisted of a series of heavy iron pestles (usually five) rising
and falling in an iron trough, or mortar, through which ore mixed with water flowed.
The material was pounded by the ‘stamps’ until it was fine enough to filter through
mesh screens.