| Show J f AMERICAN SMELTING AND REFENING COMPANY 1 > rf 3 7j cr + ry ar nd or 3 n3 Si c 1 ne 4 p rW ho nt j re T k TL s f j 1 4 l s ii 1a s Mann CI T IL Tones Js The plant of the American Smelting rind Refining company 13 located In Murray a few miles from Salt Lake City and IB one of the handsomest omeltero In the country It Is equipped with all the latest machinery and sIn s-In charge of the most able men In their field The scope of this company Is far broader than any of the other smelting phints In the State and Its operations are on a much larger scale It la In the market for every class of ore that maybe may-be offered provided they have sufficient value in precious metals or In lead or copper to pay for treatment As the business Is conducted by this company it requires an enormous Investment of capital but It offers advantages that the smaller establishments cannot Where the latrter have the opportunity for combining the ores of their respective I respec-tive districts and thereby securing better bet-ter results In the economic sense the American company with Its enormous plants In the different sections all over I the mining region can ship from one to the other effecting economies that enable It to reap the higher reward while at the same time offering special advantages and Inducements to the producer of the ores The work In a smelter requires the employment of a high class of skilled employees and all the practical sciences I sci-ences are called upon to furnish the I precise data upon which the success of tho various processes depends A trip to and through a smelting and refinery plant Is an Interesting one The carload of ore when It reaches the smelter Is to the unpractlcccl eye no more than a carload of rock and earth and even the practiced eye of the e I + t fJ 3 ° I L 144i I V 4 i 1 t T j 4 j j 4 Interior of Bruckner Building1 14 I pert orecorter cannot definitely determine deter-mine the value without an assay It may have passed first through an independent inde-pendent sampler established with a view to protecting the seller or to afford af-ford a basis for competitive bids If not it Is systematically every third or fourth shovelful or barrow load going to the sampler floor and the balance going on to Its proper ore bin The detained portion passed over the grizzlies or screen and the coarser portions arc fed through the Jaw crushers Then all oClt Is thorougly mixed together so thatielther quarter of It will fairly represent the whole One quarter Is then passed between rollers that crush It still finer and again It Is mixed and quartered When the sample ia so reducEd In bulk as to permit Its being handled by the assayer as-sayer It Is sent to the laboratory Again the fining and quartering process pro-cess Is I repeated until the whole carload car-load Is finally represented by not more than a handful of the material In the carload The process of assaying Is simply smelting on a miniature scale and the object Is I to not only determine the exact ex-act value of the ore butalso what fluxes are necessary and the due proportions pro-portions to be added One ore will contain a heavy proportion propor-tion of lead another of copper another of Iron nil of which facilitate them the-m > lllnr of them > and another may supply a part or all of the limestone required for fluxing Others may be deficient In one or the other of these requisites In practical l smelting the surplus of one Is I made to supply the deficiency of the other Many ores carry such a percentage of zlncVor anti Zinctr o4contairng On the other hand l an ore containing a sufficient percentage of load or cop H er PO that It has carrying capacity for ores other than its own may be so de airnble In a certain locality pr for a certain smelter that the treatment churge may be reduced to almost nothing noth-ing the assayer Is then hi a sense the first controlling factor In dctennln ing whether an ore shall be rminert or shipped and this he dctenufiies from samples taken from the minI hh n an ore body or vein has been disaovoved Then again aSter It has been determined deter-mined that there Is profit h I It the assayer finds the value for the seller ami the buyer and at the smelter de tormlnes the relative proportions of each class of ore that shall be used in making the bed preliminary to smelt ing After sampling the ore Isl placed In separate bins each lot or cass by itself and from these It Is conveyed by wheelbarrows usually to thc bedding bed-ding bins where It Is placed Sublayers of greater or lees thickness according to the proportions required During tho past year the American Smelting and Refining company has I been constructing a new and modern I plant not far away from the old Ger mania The undertaking In Itself Js the recognition by oxeperjenccd mining men that the location Is one of relatively relative-ly large Importance The expenditure Involved I will hardly be less than 1000 i 000 It Is to have a complete mOl ern equipment for both lead l and copper smelting and the buildings asthey arc taking form and receiving their equipment I equip-ment of machinery Indicate the magnitude magni-tude of the operations they are Intcmte to provide for Compared with them the Germanla which io doing a great I deal of work yet Is but a sorry make c mony as to make difficult the reparation repara-tion of the metals from the slag these are classed as rebellious oreo The excess of the objectionable elements of the one Is counterbalanced their absence ab-sence In another All of these points and many more must be determined before the ores are sent to the furnace before they are paid for In fact Then the exact proportion of each and ever pone p-one of them must be considered In making the furnace charge Such absolute precision Is requisite and so small are the qualities of valuable elements ele-ments In the ordinary mass which the smeltorman hua to manipulate that scales of the finest construction that will weigh an almost Infinitesimal atom are required Some of these scales are so delicately balanced that after a postage ntnmp Is accurately weighed > a I dot from the point of a hard pencil ovflll show a i weighable quantity of the lead from It The value of ore Is computed from the quantities so found rated at the market mar-ket price For Instance an ore carry Ing 10 per cent lead should yield 200 pounds of thnt metal worth nt the recent re-cent est1bjshed price 7 If there are 3 ounces of silver It would be worth at the current rate 162 If to that there be added 15 of an ounce of gold that would add 150 to Its value making the total for the three 1012 At current rates for smelting such an ore would not justify mining as to the smelting charge must be added the cost of transportation to say nothing of the cost of mining and these would exceed the above total unless the values can be concentrated before shipment Into Jess bulk of waste materials and thereby there-by save transportation charges shift of a smelter Every possible application ap-plication of steam and electric power In Ifs operation Is being adopted and the same force of men as now employed will be competent for double the product pro-duct at least Cheaper rates for smelting smelt-ing arc promised when the new plant starts and It Is I anticipated that large accumulations of lowergrade ores than have heretofore been profitable to ship ban be handled nt prices that will afford af-ford a fair profit to the miner without Involving loss to the smelting company It S3 also definitely stated that the present plant of the Germanla is to be utilized for pyriilo copper smelting after the new plant goes Into commission commis-sion sionThere There Is perhaps no single industry Within the State that distributes year In and year out 50 much money so widely as smelting Tho fires never go out the operations continue twenty four hours In the day and seven r1n sIn s-In the week The Ores handled by those already In operation as shown by the I dally reports of settlement are worth 500000 for the weekly l output making the aggregate for the year fully S25 I 000000 The record of thp receipts at the smelter would of thqmselvQsattest the prosperity which ha actually attended I legitimate mining during the past year While the stock exchange has been the center of a speculation that has cap tured the gullible and has Involved serious seri-ous loss for many an unfortunate citizen citi-zen the mines themselves have been yielding of their treasures In a most liberal l way The new year opens AvUh simple smelting facilities for ban llng alltfi Increased output that ds promised from the mines and with contracts signed and sealed at prices that will afford a II fair in ar gin of profit for all concerned 4 I r t p 1 SV VYV > < SN8s8K i > < r ¼ SmwsS > J D 1 ir1lp j ri a a S f Jfr Now Plant American Smelting and Refining Company Murray Titan ta i4 i y p4 Y q2mi ni L s Fr 1i L P Interior Engine Room |
