Thomas Edison: Great idea, but . . .
MADRID, N.M. — Best known as the inventor of the phonograph and the first practical incandescent lamp or light bulb, Thomas Edison came here in 1898 determined to reproduce, on a large scale, laboratory experiments in which he had successfully separated New Mexico’s high-desert, Ortiz Mountains’ gold from sand without using water.
The Old Coal Mine Museum features an exhibit on Edison and this “gold extraction project,” which began after he built an electric power plant in Madrid fueled by abundant supplies of local coal.
This plant, which also provided power to a mill Edison constructed in the Ortiz Mountains, subsequently became the source of early electrification in the region. And that was basically the only positive result of this project.
Edison, who patented more than 1,000 inventions in his lifetime, endured repeated setbacks in his attempts to bring the mill into production, from equipment failure to torrential rainstorms and blizzards.
And once the mill was finally up and running, it soon became apparent that the electrostatic separator he invented to successfully separate non-magnetic iron ore from sand wouldn’t work, in “real life,” on the Ortiz Mountains’ gold-bearing sand. That was because, despite appearances, this sand contained sufficient moisture just below the surface to short-circuit the electrostatic drum in the separator.
So by 1903, Edison had left Madrid — and moved on to his next invention.
— Lynda La Rocca