Show I TURNING ORE TO COPPER I upper Cher o Ems fl w x M Scenes In inS ind d Modern S Utah Copper x Smelting Plant T y yM yI M I aster opper ram 4 o to t adle adleY Y I I I I I By Dy E Me Mc L lIll copper and accompany lug Ing T siliceous ls ores treated by Utah smelters In 1935 1035 would cover a Salt I Lake ake City block to a depth of 40 feet teet This material gathered from Utah California Colorado I Idaho and Nevada before It could be made useful in n industries and the al arts aits tB called tor for the labor Jabor of 1500 men railroad cars care and at y th of supplies grin principally of Utah origin four tour lion cubic feet ot of o natural na ural gas 36 million k Ic v w 1 hours of electrical O power er and large tarle tonnages of brick The ore hid to be transported mixed In proper proportions treed from some Borne of ot Its sulphur by roast lag separated into metals and slag by smeltinG and aud finally parted in into into Into to individual metallic by renning Certain n natural at a t u r a l 1 advantages make Utah an Ideal copper smelt smelting smelting smelting ing center which attracts attracta ores from troma froma roma a wide area and creates a market not only for tor producers of ot copper but for miners ot of gold and silver ores The advantages Include f trod od and clothing ample for a largo larg turn um umber ber ot of skilled and unskilled workers plentiful supplies of fuel tuel and water and the services of o three great rail railroad railroad road systems stems Disbursements by bythe bythe bythe the smelters help sustain lure ture wholesale and retail merchandising dising and the professional classes The tr treatment of ot copper ores res Is InterestIng paid for tor the shipments from from cich ech mine must be sampled and valued separately Bites of crushed ore taken at reg regular regular regular ular Intervals from conveyor or belts arc an av averaged raged by successive lve divi son to a a sample small email enough l J the the assa which hleb forms the basis ot of settlement The tot lot K rS r then mixed with ores necessary to form forma a suitable smelting lUng charge In roasting the ore is heated to a point where here some of ot the sulphur is burned off as sulphur dioxide gas gasA gasA gasA A series of ot revolving rakes In the roaster Insure even heating Tern In the roasters vary from to 1200 degrees After the charge has been roasted it is hauled to the furnaces In larry harry cars The furnaces are to feet long and 20 to 30 feet wide Above is III the charge floor carrying the tracks from which y the larry cars dump the roasted ore into the fur furnace nace There it slowly melts down until two products are formed The copper sulphur and some ot of the Iron combine to form copper matte The matte also collects the gold and silver sUver in the ore The waste products form torm a slog slag which bleh floats and Is drawn dran off and con consigned consigned consigned signed to the slag dump The matte matteIs matteis matteis Is tapped out at a lower level near the tiring firing end To obtain blister copper It la is nee essary to treat the copper matte in steel converters converters steel cylinders with witha a large opening In the middle through which the matte Is la charged and the thc finished copper drawn oft off When the converter has matte for a charge It Is la rolled roiled back until a set of air vents Is beneath the m molten metal AIr Mr AIrIs MrIs Is then blown into this and silice silice- siliceous siliceous ous ore added from the bins above As the air Is 18 blown through the charge some of the sulphur is 18 driven off as 88 a gas the Iron is 18 changed Into iron oxide and forms fOJ ms a slag with the silica In the silica ors OJe ore A Aa As the process continues all the iron is thu thin thus but the copper which Is In is In the form of copper sulphide is not affected When all aU the iron laB has mas been ted Blag off the air begins to wor work wort on the remaining copper sulphide The rhe sulphur then burns to sulphur dl dioxide oxIde gas passing Up the flue At Atthe Atthe Atthe the end of this operation the mattE converted com Into blister bUster copper re ra molDs In the converters This is poured oft off ff and transferred to the casting furnace to 10 a await alt alt pouring in Ila slabs or bars berm into o w- w ww J w The me est ast b t al l s S from irom time nw roast ers eril and converters carry calfY much fine tine dust and fumes These gases eases before being released through the smokestacks are arede de cle med h li Cotrell Catrell plants tension electric currents tate the dust lust on steel platt plates s from it Is periodically shaken into In Into Into to hoppers benan beneath tb During 1935 pounds lOunds I of copper was v as produced In the United States Salt Lake Valley VaHey copper smelters produced produce I pounds or 20 4 1 percent of the total Production Pi from mines In InI inV I V InV f tab t a b a l to o ti b pounds The The rIte difference difference some spume 34 I pounds represents copp copper r rIn In ores originating in fn nearby states stateR that was shipped to Utah for tor trent treat went ment In Iii treating copper coper ores and con concentrate concentrates other types such BUCh su h IU as siliceous and sui sulphide ph hIe roes 01 are ar necessary to make a suitable fur ful pace nace charge charBe In this way the cop cop- copper copper per smelters have been able to otter offer a market to the producers of these gold and silver ores Because of thi this the mining territory tribu tributary tributary tributary tary to Salt Lake valley has bas ha been constantly expanding until 30 per percent percent percent cent of the ore are smelted originates perI I in other states The economic ad advantage vantage to the people of Utah is 18 obvious The copper smelting industry I should be a substantial asset of this state for tor a long lone time to come Whether or not this will be the case depends on the efforts ex exerted exerted exerted not only bv by the Industry but by the people poor Ie of ol the state elate to over over- overcome over come come adverse conditions which will crop up from time to time lime In Inthe inthe Inthe the future I |