The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1868-03-13
nEvoLuTIos IN SILVER MINING,
The CupeI Proeess-Highly Satisfactory
Rssutt. In n antan =.
SALT LAKE Utah Feb 90

MINING in MONTANA
A correspondent Of the Montana Democrat
speaks as follows in regard to the mines Of
| Argenia, Montana:
"Tne excitement oecasioaed in our city
By the success of Mr. Eser in reducing ores
OF the Rat,lesaake District, shows that our
people not withstanding the repeated trials
and failures Of Eastern professors. have some
confiiehae vet in the mineral wealth OF Mon
tana. MIR tssser commenced operations last
November under the directions of Mr.. Rompf,
a practical German miner, with the constrac-
ton of a small furnace, which, from the re-
| suits il has already produced, proves beyond
! doubt he richnsss Of The district, and that
successful silver mining is within the means
| Of the people OF the Territory. They need
not go abroad for cspissl or material, or de-
| pend auy longer upon the oracaiar wisdom
| mummefies or mysteries al professors.
! .. In seventeen days Er. Eslerl furnace haz
| smelted seventy tons OF ore, producing at
| least fifteen tons Of metal, and from this
metal i've hundred pounds OF oliver will be
| obtained by eupellstion probably before the
| close OF another week. The furnace Is erect
| ed on the Ra,tlesnake Creek, q hort distance
I above the village, and close to The lodges Of
| ore. The buildings is Of logs The stack con-
| tsins -, o09 bricks. which were burned on
| the plain in front OF il. from the disint egra-
led granite that has been washed from the
| surrounding mountains These bricks equal
Ia their resistance to heat the best fire bricks
of the States. The cupel furnade is built Of
them entirely.
''The~melting faFnace is iiaed with soft
rock found in great abundance in the scini-
II. resembling, iugeneral character. the soap
stone Ct France. The strongest heat does
| not affect il, aud il becomes hard by expos
nre. Il waier power consists of an oEeI-
| shot wheel. fifteen feet in diameter. This
| gives motion TO the fan. and does the blast.
| ing for ba.h smelter and cupelieH, and affords
waste ROVER for several additional stacks that
! Mr.. Esler proposes to erect during the COM
! ing season. Eighty bushels Of charcoal will
run the furnace twenty four hours, smelling
eight tons CT ore. Charcoal can be bought
/ for twenty five cents per bushel. Six hands
at five dollars currency day, manage the
! furnace nilh and day. The ores will yield
| from forty dollars TO over two hundred dol
| lars per ton. Ores are FIRST thrown into heaps
| in front Of the furnace, covered with wood
and etEec.ualIy roasted; then, after being
eraeked, they are mixed in proportionate
quantities with iron. lead and other ores, utl-
I'll q proper lux il obtained aud run through
| the furnace. Thelead or metal is run OF into
cakes the size of an ordinary milk pan. The
| cupeliius is reverberator, the fame pass
| ing into 1t from the Gre-box adjacent. X is
circular, and CT Sufficient capacity to capel
| from fifteen to twenty tons OF the metal.
"All the preparation necessary for this pro-
cess is to fill the lower portion Of the furnace
to the depth Of about two feet with clean pull
verized limerick, which is carefully tramped
down. Each cake Of the metaltps held in the
1 lame upon fork until it melts and runs
down upon the lime, and the fire is then in>
creased until the lead is burned, for ned into
/ lthrage upon the top of the heated metal. and
then blown by the blast to the door OF the
furnace, so that it can be readily scfaped out
from time 10 time until all is removed, leav-
ing a cake of pure silver at the bottom A
miller heat restores the ithrage again to lead
and thus the whole process Is completed.
The building being kept open while the work
is progressing, the workmen satfer nothing
from the arsenical yapor which proved near.
" fatal 10 Professor Stiles, Of tie ST. Louis
| Works he cost Of building the furnace
was S5oo0. The ore is abundant, and oil Of
IT is renuneraiive. The same may be said oil
Boulder District. Every material used in
building tie furnace may be found within
three niles, and the power is inexLanstibe
y y safe to say, isat with this present stock
and other Improvements contemplated, Mr.
Esser VII, during the next year, take out n
silver and LEAD II least $3.50 ,0e0.. The PEG
pie OF Montana are under lasting obligation.
TO Mr.. Espr for what he has DONE