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Show Lead Mining in Missuaii. In view of the large Jea i prcdudion of Uub, tho followiLg description ot Mine La M jlte. on- o( the lead districts dis-tricts of M-idisou county in South E.ist MUijuri, will be of interest to the readers of the Helald. Tnis noted district U located in tbe Oxrk mountains, in which a company of Englishmen have recently negotiated a purchase of $3,000,000. Tb mines worked are more than a dozen, comprising of tbe richest Granby, John, St. Joe, Potoai, Webster, etc. The production here U one eighth of that iu the entire state. Thirty-eix tquare u-lles, or 2-1,000 acres in one body, is owned by Hon. EowUnd Hazard, of South KingMljii, Rhode leland, and devoted to lead mining under the management of Mr. William B. Cogswell. The face of i tie gruticd is broken and devoid of atlractiuu. A claim or lead is worked by a gau of men who open, drill, blast and deliver the crude ore, receiving re-ceiving per ton a price, governed by the ruling rate on lead. Tbe ore at tbe "dressing works" passes through crushers, sieves and elevators and is separated finally from the mineral containing the lead by an operation of "jigs" or plungers, forcing water from below and throwing .ofl "the particles of rocky matter, while the lead remains below; 16 per cent, of mineral is thus ol-tained, 30,000 gallons gal-lons of water per huur is used ihe 1 water is brought in a wouden flume a mile and u half from the reservoir. The mineral is taken to wasting furnaces where it is shovelled over a surface xuxtu leet, to drive on the sulphur of which there is 75 to 80 per cent, removed, aud the reaidue is elimiuated in tbe blast furnace afterwards. after-wards. Formerly there was a large residue lost in the washing, but this is now saved by tbe use of a slime washer, consisting of an endless apron of rubber, to which the lead adheres and from which it is removed. In the blast furuace process, sulphate of iron and copper, nickel and cobalt are tuten up by meaus of iron pre cipitatiou as a fiux. The sulphur is driven ofl, reducing the sulphides partially to oxides. The old s'.ylBof Scotch hearths is discarded, the American hearths heiug far more efficient. The furuace or hearth resembles a cupola or amoke stack. The molten mass relieved of its impurities, im-purities, drawn ofl At one aperture, and in cooling resembles slag, while the lead is run into iron keiilea. Here a cruse several inches thick is formed, called a matte, consisting of nickel, iron and cobalt, and shipped to Europe, where it is separated. Tbis matte Is broken up uud washed' the third time before being uaed. The stalwart fellows (mostly . negroes), with long bars, remove this matte or incrustaLion, dibcloaing beneath the black mass, the still red and fiery sea of molten lead. This is ladled into another kettle, aud tbunce poured into irou moulds, forming pigs of eighty pounds each. Tbe heat is intense, in-tense, and with tbe unhealthy fumes, affect the negroes to such an extent that they have to lay by for some weeks to recuperate. Tne yearly j product of these works is some 65,000 ' pigs. This is mostly used for sheet and pipe lead. It is not so suitable for making shot as that of other mines, the qualities needful for shot boing fluidity, iu order to assume the spherical form, and cooling quickly; this is sometimes accomplished by the admixture of arsenic. To show bow eucb industries are a fleeted by the general depression, Jead is now bringing less than four cents, against fty cents a few months since: Cobalt commands $3 to $4 a ton. Freights to St, Louis are twenty-fivo cenlB per hundred pounds (100 miles), thence to Hamburg (4,000 miles), but seventy-five cents a lair illustration of "Jong" and "short" rates! |