Show description of the cunningham fine grinding mill SIDNEY NORMAN IN NORTHWEST MINING TRUTH clarence cunninghams Cunning hams new all fine crushing mill at alamo B C designed and constructed by the general engineering co of salt lake city under immediate supervision of karl bernson was placed in corn com commission last month and is now running smoothly upon ore from the wonderful mine with an indicated saving on july 30 when I 1 visited the plant of 94 per cent of lead 70 per cent zinc and 74 per cent silver these results were being materially increased from day to day and on august 12 stood at per cent lead 80 per cent zinc and 79 per cent silver marks new departure successful operation of the plant which by the hy by is the most complete and most expensive ever built in the can district marks a new departure in local ore dressing as all feed is fine ground jigs are dispensed with entirely tables first used to rough out the metallic contents and the residue again ground fine passed through the flotation process and finished on tables it is expected that this system will obviate the necessity of changing the flow sheet with various kinds of ore passed through a very important item when it is remembered that the plant must reduce the product of five or six mines in which mr cunningham is interested 0 the machinery is housed in commodious buildings with plenty of head room and minus the usual inconveniences of leaking launders the total cost to date is set at around original estimates having been largely increased by changes in construction st and continuous advance in price of labor and all materials on site of old mill the plant which occupies the same site upon which the old alamo mill was built in 1895 by A E humphreys major mcferran and captain nat moore to treat ores of idaho and alamo mines is located in one of the most beautiful spots in a country famed the world over for its scenic wonders from the eminence above the mill where cunninghams Cunning hams private residence has been constructed out of the former abode of captain nat moore can be seen the glacier above new denver the lucerne of america while deep down below is the azure blue of slocan lake carpenter creek brawls and swirls below the main bench 0 t P ayr ILI a alamo mill alamo B C designed and constructed by gene et engine ring co for clarence cunningham while up above on the north side may still be seen the overgrown original trail from kaslo to new denver over which by the by I 1 coaxed and bullied a bandoff cussed mules in 1894 when I 1 met the ravages of a financial panic with the blasphemy of a packer on all sides rise beautiful verdure clad mountains to a maximum height of and feet cleft east and west by the deep ravine of carpenter creek automatic ore handling at the head of the small creek that enters carpenter from the south are the queen bess idaho and alamo mines all owned by cunningham and under development they are all connected by aerial tramway with the mill the main section terminating in queen bess basin and branches running from no 5 and no 10 levels queen bess and no 2 idaho ore from these sources will be automatically dumped into mill bins of capacity ore from cunningham mines in the sandon district approximately five miles up the south fork of carpenter creek and including wonderful sovereign and will be brought by train over the canadian pacific tracks and dumped into railroad bins built under a five car unloading trestle specially con strutted ted for the purpose and just below the mill from there it will be taken up an incline tramway feet in ae length nath to io the mill bins the tramway car is loaded and operated by one man who handles the hoist under the trestle milling practice feed goes first to a blake crusher and thence to rolls after which it is elevated into mill storage bins of ton capacity it is then taken by traveling belt feeder to 6 hardinge in mill I 1 I 1 thence by 12 inch belt and bucket elevator discharging on type B traveling bucit screen of 14 mesh undersize goes to four wilfley tables and oversize returns to ball mill tailings from the first four tables go to 12 inch elevator and are discharged into 30 mesh callow screen undersize from this screen goes to 4 foot sloughing off tank and overflow from the latter to 50 foot dorr thickener where flotation feed is prepared underflow or thickened pulp goes to three wilfley tables the oversize from the screen is taken to one wilfley table making feed for re grinding to SO 80 mesh tailings from this table go to waste ground to 80 mesh tailings from the first th three ree wilfley tables go to re grinding mill from which 80 mesh product goes direct to flotation and slimes to 50 foot dorr tank product from re grinding mill goes to flotation flotation feed derived from thickened pulp in dorr tank and above mentioned regrind mill goes to two callow rougher cells each while tailings are carried to two wilfley tables making lead product concentrates from boughers rou ghers are elevated to two cleaner cells tailings from latter going to waste concentrate is then treated in re cleaning cell and tailings sent back by elevator to first cleaners concentrates then go over three wilfley tables where lead and zinc products are separated lead product goes direct to storage bins combining with product from tables zinc concentrate cen is taken to 26 foot dorr tank thence by elevators to storage tank and from tank to oliver filter press and into shipping bins making high product lead storage bins have a capacity of tons and zinc bins tons As said before saving on july 30 was 94 per cent of lead 70 per cent of zinc and 74 per cent of silver heads that day ran 39 per cent lead 64 per cent zinc and ounces silver this is a little lower than usual due to dilution of wonderful feed by dump ore from richmond eureka at sandon lead concentrates ran per cent lead and 78 ounces silver while zinc concentrate showed per cent and 61 ounces silver lead product goes to united states smelting smelling Sm elting co at midvale utah or trail plant of consolidated soli dated mining smelting smelling Sm elting co under usual rates zinc product is being shipped to united states zinc co at blende colo under settlement rates that provide for base of 1350 for 40 per cent product and 1 additional for every unit above 40 when spelter is quoted at 5 cents st louis with 5 per ton added for every cent at which spelter is quoted above 5 cents silver contents are paid tor for at the rate of 65 per cent of content full new york price where that content content is above 30 ounces treatment rate is 5 per ton and freight to colorado 12 this indicates that zinc product is worth approximately per ton net with silver at per ounce and spelter at 8 cents per pound a very satisfactory result when the difficulties of other slocan operators are borne in mind mill buildings commodious the mill building is in five decks the lower or tank deck being feet the second devoted to flotation and fine grinding machinery feet the third or coarse concentrating floor feet the fourth or crusher deck feet and the aw fifth or bin deck feet floors are of concrete with all foundations solidly s set et in the same material there is a noticeable absence of vibration and noise has been brought to a minimum the exterior of the buildings is painted battleship grey with window trimmings of white water power ample power is derived from horsepower pelton doble wheel provided with pelton governor and actuated by water brought from the north fork of carpenter creek just above three forks in 22 inch steel pipe approximately feet long under foot effective head auxiliary power is now being brought from alamo creek in 10 inch steel pipe under foot effective head and will be used for domestic purposes and fire protection to prevent any possibility of power shortage it is also proposed to bring further water supply from mcguigan creek the middle fork of carpenter creek in 11 inch pipe to connect with main 22 inch line just below three forks modern machine shop just to the east of the main mill building A mining scene in the alamo mining section is a modern machine shop thirty feet wide by fifty six feet long and containing two forges 16 foot lathe power hacksaw power hammer emery grinder shears two drill presses and other power machinery all repairs for the various mines in which cunningham is interested will be made under this roof and he also expects to build his own ore cars and other heavy equipment all buildings steam heated the mill building machine shop offices residences and change room will all be heated in winter months by steam generated by 54 inch by 12 foot boiler thus one of the great hindrances to all the year round work will be eliminated mill force sixteen men the mill has been running two shifts up till this time but three will be used within the next few weeks and it is expected that the plant will be run at maximum capacity thereafter for a long time when three shifts are employed the total mill payroll will embrace sixteen men the cunningham staff at the mill includes D A model land formerly receiver of the city of sandon office manager J ambrose cunningham a nephew who has recently returned from united states army service assistant jack chapman general foreman F W graham mill superintendent H E stevens foreman machine shop II I 11 I L butchart outside foreman and F H hawkins ha assayer the assay plant is in a separate building just west of the main office building and is completely equipped balance table supports are set in concrete and every modern appliance has been installed wonderful supplying mill As said before feed for the new plant is just now being derived from the wonderful mine near sandon which has been equipped with aerial tramway to the canadian pacific tracks daily output is tons S So oin eore was also coming from the dumps of rich mond eureka just across the gulch from silversmith at sandon under lease fron from consolidated mining smelting smelling Sm elting co it is understood however that so some m e df difficulty I 1 fill 1111 has arisen between the latter and cunningham and supply from that source may be discontinued temporarily at least about wonder wonderful fult 1111 thirty men are employed at fori formerly der direction of angus mcgillvray mcgilivray superintendent of cork province mines ore is being extracted from levels C and D sovereign shows go good od reserves milling frig ore of excellent A large tonnage has also been developed at the sovereign as and this supply will be available as soon term lower the new aerial tramway with head of main in ain street nal at the all in 1 has been completed the towers occasioned are but some delay has been place left W wil alkes e by of cable which bye about abou t twenty barre pa on june 19 men are employed at the mine developing on levels nos 1 2 and 3 under direction of joseph johnson Sli ships carload the group cunninghams Cunning hams latest acquisition east of the queen bess and on the sandon slope gives promise of developing veI ve into another provider of fair proportions the property was worked for several years by george petty formerly owner of the monitor but several months ago he turned it over by lease and bond to jack thompson and W H north the latter in turn disposing of it to cunningham at an advanced price said to be in the neighborhood of one carload of clean ore is now being shipped and an ore shoot has already been developed eighty feet in length with width of from eighteen to nineteen feet operations are under direction of victor eo developing idaho alamo A small crew is engaged in development work at idaho alamo and it is said that a large tonnage of good milling ore will be available in winter when there is some possibility of interruption to railroad traffic in the deep gulch between the mill and sandon queen bess the meal ticket queen bess the big cunningham bonanza and which he affectionately refers to as his meal ticket is shipping from to tons of clean ore every month from above level no 5 and between no 6 and 5 much development is also under way including a raise from no 7 to no 6 on the ore body which appears to lie flatter than usual at that particular point only men are employed although net profit is probably running well up to monthly jack jones is superintendent |