| Show NEW quicksilver RETORT spokesman review spokane wash W B dennis of cottage grove ore brother of G B dennis of this city has perfected an invention for treating quicksilver ore it is attracting the attention ot of mining men and a model has been called for by the smithsonian institution the principle of the new plan is to induct the heat from the top of the furnace instead of the lower and it is said that by this method six times the heat intensity formerly had can be obtained mr dennis worked on the the scheme for a year and has built one plant the invention came about through his interest in the black butte quicksilver mine near cottage grove ore this mine was purchased six years ago by AV B dennis G B dennis and associates but proved unprofitable to work under the old method on account of the low grade of ore development work has been going on ever since the property was acquired but no quicksilver has been taken out A new plant is now being built and as soon as it is finished shipments of quicksilver will be made G B dennis said yesterday the black butte quicksilver mine eighteen miles from cottage grove ore is probably the greatest deposit of cinnabar ore in the world development under way for five years has reached a vertical depth of 1600 feet has more than feet of underground openings a vein or ledge feet wide and exposes more than tons of ore averaging 6 a ton and which under the new dennis process will cost less than 1 a ton to mine and treat my brother W B dennis is in charge and the largest owner in the property although associated in the enterprise are wealthy men in portland ore and new york in the mining world this property has become widely known not only for the extent of the ore deposit and its systematic development but because the new furnace represents an important advance in the metallurgy of this metal the black butte quicksilver mine being its birthplace for twenty years no advancement has been made in treating cinnabar the scott huttner furnace being the type universally used in california and spain it has served the purpose in so far as to admit of a profit above mining and treatment where the average grade of ores was better than one per cent the work of the inventor of the new process has been along scientific principles perfect combustion of the fuel and of the organic matter in the ore has been sought the ratio of heat absorption to temperature the velocity of the gases and the requisite areas of their volume and expansion have been mathematically figured out and provided for in the construction of the furnace furnace A complete roast is obtained in four hours as compared to the old style furnace in twenty four hours thus t giving to the new furnace fully six times the capacity and a saving of a higher percentage of the values by far more perfect A twenty ton plant which has been used for experimental purposes is now being enlarged to tons per diem and will be added to as rapidly as practicable until a 1000 ton plant is installed A model plant has been on exhibition at the lewis and clark fair in portland this model will be sent to the smithsonian institution at washington D C at its reo request aest there to be re bained for permanent exhibit in the national museum of arts art s and industries such distinction is accorded to only meritorious inventions in scientific work and in this case is the result of a consensus of opinion of metallurgists and engineers from all parts of the world who have visited the black butte plant and who have requested that it have a place in the federal government exhibition |
