Show f TURNING ORE TO COPPER COPPERi ae pi Copper i- i J 4 i fe t i. i ri Scenes In Modern y Utah Copper f Smelting Plant 1 Moving Bister ister Copper rpm y i Converter to Pouring Ladle By r K Me Mo L. L B copper and accompanying T Tu 1 siliceous ores ore treated by Utah smelters In 1035 1935 would cover a Salt Batt Lake Lab City block black to a depth of 40 feet tet This material gathered from Utah California Colorado Idaho and NeY Nevada a. a before It could t be mad made useful In Industries and Ind the tb arts art called for tor the labor of ot 1100 noo men mn railroad tara cars and 5 worth of supplies prin of Utah origin four tour billion till bil lion cubic feet teft of ot natural gas gai 36 million k k w w. hours hour of electrical power and large tonnage of ot brick Th The ore had hill to be transported mixed mind In proper propel proportions proportion freed 1 from some ome of ot It Its sulphur b by roastIng roast roastS fog Ing separated Into metal and slag alai by smelting and finally Anally parted Into into In In- to Individual metallic substances by refining Certain D a natural a t l u r a I advantages make Utah Utahan an Ideal copper smeltIng smelt melt tag Ing center which attracts attract ore ores from froma a wide wId area and creates create a market not Dot only for producers of If copper but for miners miner of ot gold laId and sliver silver ore ores The Th advantage Include toM food and clothing ample for tor a large number num bet bar of skilled and unskilled worker I plentiful supplies of ot fuel and water and the services service of three great Ireat tall rail railroad road systems Item Disbursement b by bythe bythe the smelter help sustain agriculture ture tur wholesale and retail merchandising marchin dising and the professional cla classes The Th treatment of ot copper ores ore 1 is I. Interesting paid for tor the shipments from each mine must be sampled and valued separately Bites of crushed pro ore taken at reg rex ular War intervals from conveyor belt belts are au anti averaged led by lu successive division divi lIon sion to a sample ample small mall enough for tor t the assay auy which forms tonus the bail bails of settlement The lot 1 Is f. then mixed with ores orea necessary to form forma a suitable smelting charge In routing roasting the ore I I. I heated to a Q point where some lome of Df the sulphur 1 is il burned ort oft as at sulphur dioxide gas laa A series of ot revolving rakes rakel In the roaster Insure even heating Temperatures Temperatures Tem in the roasters roaster vary from BOO to 1200 degrees After AUel tho the charge charee ha hll been roasted routed it is I. hauled to the furnaces furnace In I larry tarry car care can The furnaces are ISO to leO feet long and 20 30 to 30 feet wide Above U II Uthe the charge floor carrying the tracks trick from which lb the larry cars can dump the roasted ore era into the fur furnice nice Dace There it slowly melts down until two products are formed Th The copper sulphur and some ome of ot the iron tron combine to to form copper matte The matte also alo collects the told gold and silver InTI in the ore The waite wait waste products product form a ela slag which floats and I is I. drawn off ott and consigned con can signed lIned to the Ila slag dump The matte matteIs Is i. tapped out at a lower level Inel near Deu the tIring firing end To obtain blister copper It li la nee essay essary to treat the copper matte In converters converters steel ilee cylinders with witha a large opening In the middle through which the matte matta Is la charged and the finished copper drawn off When the tM converter ha has matte for a II charge It I Is I. rolled back until a set let of ot air vent vents I Is beneath the molten metal Airle Air AirI AirIs I Is le then Ihen blown Into this and III silice siliceous Ice ous ore added front from the bins bin above A As AI the air i Is blown through the charge charu some of the sulphur 1 le I. driven off art a as a gi gee gu the Iron Is changed l Into Iron oxide and forms form a slag Ilag with the silica In the silice siliceous ous ore As the process continues all the Iron is I. I thus thul but the copper which li Is In the form torm of ot copper sulphide U is not affected When all the Iron ha lies been off oft the air begins to work on the remaining copper sulphide The sulphur then burns burn to sulphur dioxide dl di oxide gas gu passing up the flue At Atthe Atthe I the end of ot operation the matte malte converted Into blister copper rep re remain main mains In the converters converter This Is il poured oft ort an and l transferred to the casting catling furnace to a await walt pouring Into slabs or bars bare The waste gases ues from the roasters roast rout ers era and converters converter carry much tine line dust and fumes These Thue gases before being released through the smokestacks are clean denned cleaned ell In Cotrell plants plant I. I High tension electric currents current precipitate tate late the dust on steel teel plates from which It U I Is f. periodically 11 shaken halten Into Into In to hopper hoppers beneath During 1935 pounds pound of copper W was I produced In the United States Salt Lake Valley copper smelters melters produced pounds or percent of ot the total Production from mines mine in fn U Uta Utah t a h amounted to pounds The difference some lame 34 31 pounds pound represents represent copper In ores ore originating In nearby states state that was shipped to Utah for tor treat trent ment meat In treating copper ores orea and concentrates cone con other types such as AI siliceous and sulphide ores are necessary to make a II suitable furnace fur nace charge In this way the copper cop per smelters have been able to otter offer a market to the producers of ot these gold and silver ores ore Because Because- of ot this the mining territory tributary tribu tary to Salt Lake Lak valley has been constantly expanding until 30 SO percent percent per per- cent of ot the ore smelted originates originate in fa other states The economic ad ad- vantage to the people of ot Utah is la obvious The Tho copper smelting smelling Industry should bould be ba a substantial asset of ot this state for tor a long time to come Whether or not this will be ba the case cale depends depend on IOn the effort exerted ex ex- exerted ertell not Slot only by the Industry but by the people ot of the state tate to overcome overcome over oyer- come adverse conditions which will crop up ull from time to time In Inthe inthe 1 the fut future urt |