Show GROUND BROKEN FOR PLANT butte mont dec 20 the construction t of f a electrolytic plant by the ana 1 onda conda company for the reduction of zinc t ores res at the rate of pounds a year t t I 1 ill be the first undertaking of its kind in athe he world john D ryan president and ben bell B thayer vice president v of the anaconda copper mining company did the plowing for the breaking of ground at the sited site at great grea t falls actual construction work marks the consummation of long investigation and research work at the washoe smelter in anaconda for many years the presence of zinc in the butte ores has been a curse to the miner and here as in other western I 1 camps mines containing payable quantities of gold silver copper and lead have been forced to suspend operation because of the penalty inflicted by the smelters shelters sm elters due to the zinc content there are millions of tons of ore in the butte district alone of this character experiments show that the problem has been solved and that tile the business of reducing ore in an electrolytic manner will prove profitable the ten tons of zinc produced at the experimental plant shows that almost pure zinc can be obtained great falls was chosen as the reduction center because it has the requisite power the plant which will be completed september 1 1916 will require electric horsepower for its operation and additional units of the recently completed volta plant there will be installed this development adds greatly to the ore reserves of the anaconda company as in the past it has been impossible to mine ores of the character that can be successfully handled by this new process while great falls benefits largely butte where the ore will be mined and anaconda where it is proposed to erect a large concentrator cen for the purpose of concentrating the ore will likewise be benefited the anaconda company will get zinc ore from the poulin east gray rock lexington and alice old silver properties the emma and several of the copper properties |