Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1888-03-03
THE QUESTION OF ORES.
A STRONG PROPOSITION TO SMELT
THEN AT THE MINES.
Disposal Of the Shipping-A New Form
Of Treatment Valid Reasons for

Disposal Of the Shipping-A New Form
Of Treatment - Valid Reasons for
Using the Reverberatory Furnace.
By Herbert Lang. Member Am Inst. Mining Eng ]
In the holiday edition of the Ore.
gonian, article "Mining," suggested
that the miners of Wood River, Col.
Vile, and especially Ceur d'Alene,
who are VIGOROUSLY at the mercy Of
rapacious and Unsuitable railway or.
CARNATIONS and smelling companies,
as regards the transportation and
treatment of their ores, should as a
means of checking their aggressions,
bring into use the old-fashioned and
well-tried principles Of smelling ores
in reverberatory furnaces, at the
mines. proposed this method first
because it is possible by its use to
control the quantity and richness of
the bullion produced; and, second, it
would reduce the now immense and
still rapidly increasing quantity of ore
frelghts to the comparatively small
weights of the rich bullion which
would be made. The result of the
decrease of freights would be two
fold-it would stop the immense drain,
now amounting to over one-third of
the gross value of all smelling ores
mined, which money comes from the
pockets of generally poor and fire.
quently industrious miners, and it
would operate as boycott to compel
the railways to reduce their charges
to q reasonable figure. These things
are practicable, the means-which /
will set forth-being such that child
can understand their description.
THE SYSTEM THAT 1 ADVOCATE
is suited to the reduction of any lead
ores whatever, and as it will treat ga
lena without the use of metallic iron,
it is even better adapted to lead
smelling than the blast furnace. 1t
is also cheaper. Its other special ad-
are: The formation of little
or 40 fluedust; the production of
slags with the minimum of fux, or
with none at all; the use of wood as
fuel; the production of pure lead
bullion, and the power to treat all
classes of ores indifferently. 1t is
more particularly advantageous in the
surrounding the miners
of the districts named. because the
ores can be treated in it without add
ing Aux, care simply being taken to
proportion the charge 80 as to include
given percentages OF lead and silica.
1t will, therefore, be of the utmost use
in the great camps named, as may be
easily and cheaply demonstrated, the
cost of a reasonably complete and
efficient plant reaching to but a few
thousand dollars.
THE CONDITIONS PREVAILING
at Cnur d'Alene are such as to make
ordinary forms of ore treatment, such
as blast furnace smelling, entirely |
The reasons for this
have often been stated, and chiefly
lie in the great cost of the fuel and
Ruxes necessary, and in the exsortion-
ate railway charges on fuel, etc. 1t
req uires no more than a passing &C
auaintance with the art of blast fur
mace smelling, wherein such a guam
tity of costly fuxes and expensive
coke and charcoal require to be used,
to see at once that very few localities
admit of profitable application OF
this art. In the C1ur dAlene ores
galena predominates, which, IN the
blast furnace, requires to be desul-
phurized with iron, for which purpose
iron ore is added in large quantities