, 1870-03-23
WHITE PINE REGION.
The Base Metal Ores and Their
=. Valuc.
Smelling and its Difficulties.
Furnaces.
Extent OF the white Pine
District.
Business with Chicago,
lrRox oun srEcIAL CORRESPONDENT
SHRxANtpWH, WHITE PIxI CoENTT,l
nanrh

lrRox oUR srEcIAt CoEREsroHDKFrl
SHxsxANrowR, WHITE PIS1 CoEs1T,l
EEvApA, March I.
In December Last, wrote for THx TRnux1
recital Of what Ind been dono in this notef
mining district, and Representations Of its fu
tuge. The approach Of tho winter season il
White Pine waa signalizod by the departure o.
one-hah Of its population for tni}de1 climate
md By general suspcnsion Of mining ope1s
tious4 The mills hAvo been supplied through
the winter With ore which bad accumnlssat
upon tho various dumps during tho aummel
and autumn. There 4re now ever two hun
dred stamps in this district, nearly al contin
uous1y in operation. The price OF milling fol
custom work has been materially reduced
being now from e12 to eli per ton
This reduction enables the o~nera Of mine.
producing : low grade Of ore to proceed in ths
development Of their claims, and to rcalizo !
profit FROM their working. The result il, ths'
larger ehipnsut Of bullion is now mAdt
weekly than ever before.
| MINES OF BASE INITIAL
Although, "A stated above, many Of the lead
ing msnea have not been extensively worked
during the winter, exception must bo made
|
heated in what Is called the naso Metal range.
This latter Ii likely to eclipeo in celebrity the
famous Treasure Hill Smelling furnaces
Lave been erected in great number, and .
lvely competition has sprung MP in tho pu1.
thAse Of baso ores from the mineIs. Notvith'
nstal niuos arc being aevelope1 with greas
1apidity. aud hundreds OF toms End Iea1y
transportation il, huge wagons to tha VARIOUS
emol,ing works. Tho prieo Of base orc hss
risen from - to sl5 ind go per toai deliv-
| cred at the Mines.
cuAnAcrkn or TIE BAsE ORES.
The mines Of the RAso Metal range pfothce
ore peculiar to this district, and none
like it has ever hitherto boon discovered
IN tho United States. 1t il principally
= carbonate Of lead beaEing silver ia
variahle proportions. 1ba color Of the orc ia
modified to various shades Of gray, blue,
| green, red, aud yellow, by the presence Of OK
| ldcs Ut iron and carbonates ~ copper. Beauti-
ful specimens OF malacAite arc occasionally
fonn1 among the latter, worthy Of place IN
any cabinet Tie pure gray ca1touato Of leatl
Is tile most fusiblc ore, and il tho most sought
after by the smelters. It's value consists nut
only its trActAblty, but in the fact that it is Of
| great use in the smelling Of mora refractory
kinds. Cur snetcrA mix tho ores containing
copper with ths gray carbonate OF lead, and it
is found t},at this method produces bullion
richer in silver than when tho lattcrsie sznc1ted
hy itself. 'AssAya show that this ora contains
| from Se0 to SIS per ton of the prec1uB metal;
! while those nnprog1sated with coprery3eld as
| high ~ from $50 70 s200 in silver. 1be work
| iuE results OF the smelling Of thess. do not
yArE much frnm those Of the assays.
EkEl.T1Sa FrRSAtEa.
These nIe At present Of two kinda. 0113i-
na1y upright furnaces, OF cupolas, with: aod
without foroad blast, are the most in t1se !;
heen found not adapted for the work Tho
reason fos tlia u, tllat very Little Argentiferous
ga1enA OF euIphu1et Of lead I1s get been found
among the ores of this district. Roasting,
therefore, II unnecessary, and The resert'cra-
carbonate ore hold. out, tho present furnaces
no means TO be relied upon. Tho probabilities
are in favor Of the theory that, 1t greater
| Depths Of working, theee mines will begin to
The csrbaaates. No mino in this district has
yet reached depth Of 200 feet
! DIFFICULTIES OF TILE kdE1TEns.
Al through tho autumn and winter months,
| the scientific and unscientifc workers. Of base
ores have bothered their iearnel and unlea1ned
| lining their furnaces: one which will with
stAuI tho combined action Of intense heat
and chemical decompouition- The best
English lse-bsick has proved not =
mountains have been ransAcked Tor clays, fire.
stone, laws, obaidian, tica, SCOTIA, asbestos,
porcelain, xilicon-anything known for ita fire.
resisting qualities. Nothing has been found
~ vet that can ba dapended upon to last more
than Ave or xix days- The ca1bonic acid and
fu1 everything containing silica, and excoriate
| the lining rapidly. There seems to DO no
other remedy for tho difficulty except the ono
in uRe in Germany. This is to make l plastic
composition Of are-c!ay, salt, and plumbago,
md bake it gradually to the sides and hoafth
OF the furnace. A lining OF this kind has been
known to last si1 montha without needing re-
pair. It seems certain that mora refractory
material must be maao uso Of By our suaelters
for Innings, before complete success ahall
| crown their efforts to smelt the b3so ores
Another difcultgis the want of experience
OF many who have undertaken the business.
| Some ende4yor to economize IN fuel and
cheat the charcoal-hu1ners out OF their
| quencs Is that thar-fu1n.ces soon become
choked With chilled alag, unsu'elted ore, aud
hAlf-eonsnmed charcoal These must be re-
| moved from the furnace, sometimes by the une
Of eola.ehisel, l,afoFs oper.tions eau Eo, on
again All which II expensive, both OF tiuc
and money. to say nothing OF injury to the fnr-
| nAce liuinGa.
Others, not having the requisite scientific
| knowledge Of the meteorological character Of
the ores, undertake to reduce tho most rotrao-
| tory ore alone, without the proper admi1ture
Of the carhonates. TAis consumes large
amount Of fuel without effect, tue ore resisting
Ill attempts At smelling it in this WAY. It has
Often been necoBsAty, in order to save the fur
mace, to get nd OF = surerabundAnce Of iron
| and n1nRaueAc, which some OF these ores con-
tain, by employing dux, At considerable ad-
ditional expense. ..
Tie busineaa OF smelling Is SO profitable, tho
orca being II present Putchasable At very low
rates, that everybody who has sufficient capi-
tai 10 build furnace Is rushing into the occu-
| patton, with more haste than wisdom Many
will Luru their hngeza. in moro sensea than
! one.
| COMPARATIVE yALrE OF TIE TWO BINDS OF
! FCRxAcEa.
It pecns to be conceded by tho best judges
that theirs is much larger percentage Of loss,
| in 10th silver and lead. By the use OF
blaat furnaces, than By that Of the ordinary
| draft furnaces. such as arc employed in swan
eea, Walee. The intensity ot the heat, and
the nlidity Of the current, in tho former, must
volatilixe i large proportion Of toth nesals,
The Welth snelters prefer \ slower Lut surer
| method Of saving the precious metal, They
| have long nues attached to their furnaces,
sometimes running up to height Of Hixty
feet, and sven higher. In some Of these tues
arc affixed condcnsers, consisting OF SPRAYS OF
watey. Which pfecipit1ae the fumes arising fru1n
the furnace, carrying With them the SolatiliEcd
silver md lead, which is subsequently collected
and rcduceA in cEnGblea- Americana, low.
ever, are proserhiAllv always in hurry, and ia
their haste make woful waste, some enter
p1ning man might make fortune hv contract
ing for the condemnation Of the vsHora OF ~
the furnaces in White Pine. and reserving to
Himself all the silver lae would save by tue pro
cess It is pretty certain that bata Of bullion
from 4 given a1uount Of orc arc Tchec tn olls Oh
when produced from , draft fuznnce+ than
when run IRON one with forced blAss- But
our rmelters wish 70 s1nelt Large atno!,ns Of
ore, End produce great weight of bullion. II
| given ti1uc, and they arc determined to do it
even Il tAev d1,se OF half the silver IN the OF
Grafton. Seven tons Of Gro have been rushed
through one Of the large furnaces here il
tventS-fouf houIs; A. = epnsequenee q tti:
to contain bu, els per ton trum ores Whicl
Welded N high As sa5. And then the CON
sumption Of fuel is nucb greater, in proper
ton 10 tho quantity oi ore a1nelted, in Que o
these blast furnaces than N daft furnace.
| FRICD rA1p FUR ORES
The carbonata ore being now most in de
1nand, Is purchased quickly At sl2 md SIS pc
ton. Ore with copper, when Ini1ei with tn
earbcnata Of lead, coau4anda 20. tn
manganese reduces the price per ton to - ALI
. So These prices are given for the orc At tn
ming, the F,oelseyn paving the e1pense Of hA2l
, | ing to the furnaces. There can be no dub
| that competition will increase these pzicea /
tie sprirne, whcn the departure Of the suo'
! wilt iucrr ase the number Of furnaces, ~ we
AZ render transportation Of ore more easy
HIKxr OF KzE- p1atE1cI.
The Nhite Tine Mining DistSict covsrs \ te,
: n.or! Of s:1 niles square. This include. IL
nes ~ nfo1 s;des those n shs H. ~ Isne u
: | acd 1,eas1re Hill. Brt it rauat not be suI
Il 1oeed that .heae Emits comprise the whole
:. tie mineral ground n the %icsuit,
!. | The mineral belt Of Eastern SevAd
Z stretches away son:hs4sdly to Il
= borders Of Utah 1t contsuRes through Uta
| and Arizcra. and aesSe= in the vast .ilye
= bearing regions Of Mexico. Surac1uu. tainin
!. res:ons h.Se beeu organized along this bolt
y AesAda during the past summer and wlute