The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1881-06-09
The Bluehlll Mines.

AVISrEEEsrlNG ACCOUNT OF TIE por GLASS NINE,
AND OF THE REDUCTION OF ORE TO lNGor COPPER.
ICorresp oudcnce Of the journal
The principal mines Of Buehil are situated
about four miles to the southwest Of Bluchil Mt,
and about two and one half miles from the village.
The surface of the country is much broken and
but little soil is upon thu bald, weather Beat
en- knobs of rocks thai seem to have been Thrown
up rregularly by some great couvulsiou Of u&turc,
forming good sized hills, the sides OF Rich are de-
eidedly PERCEPTIONS.
Winding along between these, keeping Ia tine
valley, is carriage road o. each side IT which
lies the mineral belt where the mines are located
Here, where three years ago but two cluslers Of
farm buildings were to be seen. one now beLuds
large substantially built shaft houses and mills
filled with expensive and powerful machiuery,
boarding houses smeltinE works and neat dwell
ings, while here and there scattered Some forty
miners cabins, small rough structures. hnling
about the same capacity as common country
kitchen, the furniture and sleeping arrangements
being Of the most primitive kind. The miners are
for the most part foreigners who have spent the
greater part Of their working lives in mining for
active operatlon: the Douglass employing - men
the Stewart, Is men the Twin Lead, 30 men; the
Bluehill, 20 men the Granger. H. men The
Douglass is by common consent the representa-
tive mine Of this district its development and
works being the most extensive. Its buildings
form quite village, and consist OF a boarding
house, 60xt4, two stories in height, to which is
attached an ell 2lx3O Near by is the stable, .}0xlo
We then come to the shaft houses, one lSx2l. the
other 42xS0 Here is a large engine which does
the hosting and pumping, drives fan for forcing
fresh air into the niue, and furnishes power for
the steam drills &c, &c. The shaft is 49, feet deep
and the levels are run ont each way from tins tor
some 20 feet. The work has been planned in such
a way that large quantities Of ore can be raised
when called for by the smclers. more minute
description of this part Of the mine would proba-
bly, prove embarrassing to Your readers Near the
large shaft house are two commodi9us buildings
in one of which all the business pertaining to the
blacksmith department is carried Oh the other
contains the office of the Superintendent and the
assayers rooms, where assays OF "Ec- HAl OF the
products of the furnaces at different stages OF the
smelling process daily made. An elevated
tramway leads from the shaft house to the con
centratiug mill all irregular shaped building
covering some 1000 square feet Of surface, and
containing over 100 tons Of machinery An
engine connected with three tubular boilers,
furnishes the power. The rock goes INTO the top
OF the building, aud from the weighing room INTO
the Jaws of powerful Blake crnsher thence be
tween Cornish rolls, on and downward through
machine after machine until the powdered ore is
separated from the rock and is put up in barrels
to await the first step i'll the smelling process
The mill was built by contract by Pennsy lyania
firm, who warranted it to concentrate 100 tons Of
rock in "A hours. 1t will satisfactorily treat about
half that quantity. Pending controversy between
the Douglass Co. on the one hand and the ntrac
tors on the other, this mill not in use, but
the matter will doubtless be adj usted and tile mill
put at work it is essential factor in the treat
ment of portion of the All the above men
toned buildings are first class in every respect
clapboarded and painted, and supplied with water
brought some 600 feet through SIX inch pipe
laid below frost The smelling works consist Of
three buildings. The first 40xS0 with ore house
attached }0x40 the second S5xl5 the third 9ox90
These are roughly but strongly made AID are
covered with heavy Slate roof
When the oreis raised from the mine it is broken
into pieces about the size Of the anthracite coal in
common use, and sorted The best is called smelt-
ing ore, the next lower grade milling ore, the re-
mainder is thrown away. The smelling ore is
piled in beds about four feet high and containing
from so to 100 tons Two or three cords Of wood
form the foundation Of each bed The wood is set
on fire and the whole pile becomes asmokug. burn
ing mass combustion being supported BY the large
amount of sulphur which all these ores contain
These beds continue to burn for three or four
weeks thus the sulphur is removed The milling
ores have IN the mean time passed through the
mill and the concentrated product been subjected
to the same process The desul phurized ore is
then taken into large room in the top of the
smelling house. The cupola or smelling furnaces
are about six feet square and about thirty feet in
height. built of fire BRICK two of these connect
with tall chimney. quantity Of ore mixed
with coke and small amount of limestone is
placed in these furnaces the whole ignited and an
engine forces strong blasts of air into The mass
which speedily mets and runs out INTO cast iron
moulds placed to receive it Meantime more ore is
added, the furnaces being kept full through an
aperture at the top. The product of this process
is called cupola or copper matte
The quartz has now been removed together with
the lighter portions of the iron The matte is then
placed in the reverberatory furnaces whose capacity
is about five tons, where it is melted roasted and
purified, until after several days it is turned out as
"blister copper" 1t is next taken to the refining
furnace where after a hours of careful treatment
it becomes ingot copper and is put into bars and
ready for market
There are several thousand tons of ore on the
dumps waiting treatment in the MILL or ready for
the roasting beds. About 1000 tons are desulphur
lied and ready for the smelter There seems to
be no reason why, after the first of July. weekly
shipments of lngot copper cannot be made OF
To Snf
fee it to say that at the Buehil mine there is
large pile Of ore ready for treatment and that work
on the shelters is rapidly approaching completion
Here as at the Twin Lead mine the mining plant is
Lar md