Salt Lake Tribune | 1914-05-01 | Page 16 | Sulphuric Acid Plant is Planned

SULPHURIC ACID MTISMID Tt Is said on good authority that tho big leaching plant being planned by the Utah Copper company is to have as a companion compan-ion enterprise a sulphuric acid plant at the Garfield smelter. Its object would bo to supply the acid at a low prico for leaching purposes, It being produced as a by-product of the smelling operations and from fume products that, at tho Garfield smelter aro not utilized, but are allowed to escape Into the air. This acid Is a deadly poison to all vegetation, vege-tation, nnd has caused both the Murray and Mid vale smelting companies no end of troublo with the farmers. As a result of this damage to the crops, both of tho valley smelting concerns have installed large baghouses for the purpose of catching catch-ing the acid, but the Gurfield company has not found It necessary to stop the acid that Is thrown out by the stacks, as tho company owns all the adjacent territory ter-ritory that is affected. It is learned that Utah Copper officials havo gone over the situation carefully with the Garfield engineers and ascertained ascer-tained that the sulphuric acid could be obtained very cheaply: that there Is no profit now to be mado on this product as the local plants are situated at too great a distance from the markets to use It. Thus the product is now obtained at a loss to tho smelting plants. Sulphuric acid Is the best process by which leaching operations can bo carried on, and Its application to the ore-bearing rock results in the dross being eaten away from the metal, and gives the mines a pure metal which can be shipped direct to the eastern refineries. It Is by reason of the low cost of obtaining the acid, together with the fact that no smolt-ing smolt-ing processes need be applied, which makes It possible for Utah Copper to commercialise an oxidized ore that carries one-half of 1 per cent copper at a profit. It Is said further that the Utah Copper leaching plans contemplate an eventual enlargement of the 10,000-lon plant it is proposed to install at first to ono of 20,-000 20,-000 tons dally capacity.