Show boulder s greatest industry the boulder C county miner published at boulder in the heart of the great tungsten bearing district of colorado in a recent is sue published an article entitled boulders V greatest industry tungsten mining mill ing and refining attaining its hi highest gillest dc t in the great refinery now being j built by the boulder tungsten production ik company the subject is of especial inter est just at this time owing to the growing importance of tungsten production the J mining review through the courtesy of the publishers of the miner is enabled to i republish the article which is as follows the largest most complete and most ef focient refinery in the united states is building in boulder in three weeks engineer states the plant of the boulder tungsten production company will be in operation with larger capacity than any other plant in the country the machinery furnaces etc are all on the ground the buildings are nearly completed and the installation is progressing very rapidly the significance of this enterprise should be comprehended by boulder people and the stockholders of the company it is the biggest industrial enterprise jn n boulder it is the biggest tungsten enterprise in the world it is a factory which will convert the raw material of boulder county tungsten mines into the finished article of commerce it is a business institution which will handle from three to five million dollars worth of material annually it will employ from thirty five to fifty workmen continually and will be the biggest consumer of electric energy in the district it represents the greatest stride the city of boulder has made in industrial development to those who are financially interested in ill the boulder tungsten production company it means even more the refinery represents the final consummation of plan s which have made this company the greatt est of all institutions engaged in the tung sten industry A policy which has amalgamated one of the greatest tungsten ill mining 1 ning properties in the world has developed it in the most scientific and effective manner and system which renders the company a complete and independent unit in a very important in field of industrialism to the stockholders the significance of the present situation at which their company has arrived is that they now are the owners of such a complete unit the largest in the industry in the production of a material which has a present and permanent position in the realm of industry tungsten is one of the essential elements in manufacture it has a place with and is as secure as copper tin or zinc the world guold not more prosper without tungsten than it could without copper or iron certainly so far as the united states is considered the boulder tungsten production company be becomes colnes in its field the supreme head as the american steel company is at the head of the steel industry the company is not only out of the morass of development through which every industrial enterprise must pass but it is actually as head of the industry the greatest individual factor in the industry A representative of the miner visited the refining plant of the boulder tungsten production company this week and in company with engineer and superintendent in allen alien inspected the plant from end to end the technical description of the plant and the work it is designed to accomplish would be inconsistent with the purpose of tills this article chien Is written for the general information of the people of boulder as to the things which are occurring within their gates and for the information of the w world orld as to the things which boulder is doing and the manner er in doing them it is of less which they are interest how things are done than that they are done and the results that accrue from such acil achievement leveni ent is that which will appeal to the general public suffice that the technical work is in charge of the foremost engineers and experts of america A Me Terney comes from the house of hamilton hansel consulting engineers of new york city experts in their line the plant was designed by this firm and is being erected under the personal direction of their representative superintendent allen alien is a prominent mill operator of the district briefly the plant consists of two units one for the electrical smelting smelling sm elting of tungsten ores and the reduction of ferro tungsten the other a chemical plant for the extraction of pure acid by acid solution and precipitation the ferro plant will receive current from the colorado power company which lias has the magnificent plant in boulder canyon where the hydro power of boulder creek conserved in the great nederland dam generates the current which operates the mines the mills and reduction plants of boulder county and indeed supplies power for the lighting and street car service of denver R general view of surface workings mill shops etc of boulder tungsten production company at tungsten fifteen miles from boulder colorado photo by boulder county miner this current is carried at volts tension to the refining plant where it is stepped down to the voltage used in the process in two immense transformers these transformers are the largest in the west excepting two employed hy by the colorado company in reducing its current for the denver supply there are in the refining installation six electric furnaces in three series for general refining while two additional furnaces will be employed in higher stage refining the feature observable by a casual visitor in this department is the massive copper conductors switches and switchboards the automatic arrangements for charging the furnaces with ores and fumes and the simple methods for drawing off the refined tungsten and molten refuse elaborate installation for controlling and neutralizing the fumes have been prepared so that the workmen will be fully protected as to health and the neighborhood saved from all offense on oil tills this account one section of this plant bains heavy steam liani hammer nier for breaking the masses of ferro tungsten as it comes from the moulds and crusher and rolls to reduce it to proper fineness for use nse this whole plant is f ull full of interest it is housed in a substantial building forty six by ninety f feet tile the acid plant offers off ers less of interest to the visitor in that the installation consists mainly in batteries of wood stave leaching settling and precipitating tanks the process consists of taking from the ore its mineral contents in ill acid solution and in a series of reactions eliminating all but the acid which is finally broken down in its pure state practically the only machinery is a set of ball mills for tile the fine grinding of tile the ore and a complicated system of pumps and pipes for the direction of the various solutions used in the process A separate boiler room and heating plant will serve all buildings A well equipped machine shop and forge in another building is enabling all construction work to be done on the ground and repairs in the future will be made in these shops especial pride is taken by the management and by mr langridge the chemist in the laboratory which is now completed to the last bast detail and is said to be the best possible in all ways the plant is located at the west boundary of the city on arapahoe street it is adjacent to the railroad on oil one side and has boulder creek at tile the other three acres are embraced within the substantial enclosure which has been erected about the premises for the exclusion of every one who has not business reasons for entering at the mouth of boulder canyon the plant has every tungsten mine in the county accessible by a downhill haul by rail or wagon it commands its field its outlet eastward to the markets is equally open subsidiary to the boulder tungsten production company which has its own mines and mills are the barker tract mines the tungsten mountain mines company properties the brace tract and numerous smaller properties afford a very large and dependable supply of ore independent in one sense the hundreds of tungsten mines of the hills all become tributary to this plant because it affords the facilities they must have to make their product marketable indeed the refinery is the keystone of the whole industrial arch of tungsten production in boulder county the tungsten production of boulder county is by far the largest in north america hence boulder is known as tile the center of the industry and in development as in this refinery is of paramount importance there are certain such recognized centers in mining butte has been the great copper center the lake superior region of iron and copper joplin of lead and zinc bisbee of copper but boulder has no rival in ill tile the tungsten fields this condition has been due in some de degree t ree to natural resources in the tungsten deposits but its realization is due to such progressive spirits as J G dark clark and his associates who had the technical knowledge of mining and coupled with it had the vision and courage to build their industry to such magnificent proportions proportion |