The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1876-03-24
COPPER ORE.
How it is Produced by the Mindeleff
.a ffn t,sa a5,.s, Process. +,.s.,S5. ...fs

| The Mindeieff process for reducing ores
of copper appears to be successfully dem
| onstrated by open exhibition to competent
/ judges. The company is now actively pre-.
pairing to put up reduction works on King
street, near Mission Creek, at a cost Of
/ $4,000. This is but a nucleus around
| which other similar works are contemplated
on very large scale hereafter. This first
one will reduce len tons. daily. But it is
/ intended that, at the principal copper
mines, primary works viii be built where
the ores will be, lough-melted and trans
4 mitted to the mother works at San Fran
/ cisco. Here the crude metal, deprived OF
all base ingredients, and reduced to much
less than onelhalf the weight of the ore,
viii be smelted and refined. Copper is one
of the most abundant minerals on this coast,
| including Nevada. But
| WORKING THE ORES - =
| Has been so costly, involving ten landings
and very laborious process, that we have
| found it necessary to send them on six
months voyage to Swansea, Wales, for re-
| duction, where fuel and labor are cheap.
| The Mindeleff system simplifies the re-
duction to three landings instead of ten,
in the case Of carbonate ores. Very sui
| phury ores need another handling. For
pOpttIdI lu6bLu VIC Will oCoOAlOO
the new process and the chemical principles
involved.n It is a dry process, dispensing
with water, The wet ore, as it comes
from the mines, is broken into Jumps and
dumped into kiln to be. dried. Then it
is put into retort with an inclined floor.
The ore is here
sttot9Ht"F HEATED TO REDNEsS.
From the city mains gas will bo taken
and deprived of part of its carbon. 1t is
then light carburetted hydrogen, the use of
which constitutes the novelty of the inven-
ton. Pure hydrogen has long been known
to chemists for its searching action on
metalliferous ores in the laboratory. But
its production is too expensive for practical
use. Carbon, hitherto considered object
ionable, is found to aid the reduction when
in the proportion here used, and this mixed
gas is cheap. Now, the lump ore being
brought to low red heat in the retort, the
street gas (passing throu gh the decomposer,
which extracts the excess Of carbon), enters
the ore chamber and slH Ei 5g5,H =
PENETRATEs THE MASS ORE, ..i
Afiia5ing with the baser elements, elimina-
ting them through escape valves and leav-
ing the copper ore in purity. In this state
it is afterwards easy to smelt it, for it is
free from the base combinations which
hitherto involve expensive manipulation.
The ore, when it is taken from the retort,
is in light, spung-form Jumps easily erum-
bled into powder. hydrogen combines
irresistibly with sulp and with oxygen ;
with carbon--as bisulphides OF carbon.
Arsenic, antimony and other base elements
are SO far affected by partial elimination
that they offer no obstacle to smelling.
The chemistry is correct, and if the praeti-
cal working be equally effective, copper
will soon take high rank as leading pro-
duct of California and Nevada, and it will
be no small accession to H+S" %+" ".
aal y. THE INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES sa
OF San Francisco. Between the MindeaeH
process in copper, and the Paul process,
that saves most of the fifty per cent. we
lose from our gold ores by defective redue-
ton, mining in California is about to
become as popular and as safe q business
as can be found any where in the world.
Copper has been subject to over-stock, but
thus cheapened, it's uses will be extended
and that danger averted for years to come.
An overstock of gold or dull market is
not {asssisllessa8 rlan4 @hapflar sthes times and
the tighter the money market the more tne
gold miners goods are in demand.
He makes no bad debts. This is a weighty
counterbalance to all he risks of the mine,
which are yearly being reduced by expert
ence to smaller proportions.