The Clifton clarion., 1889-05-29
Tho Arizona Copper Industry.

actlVlty m the copper camps or Cilf-
 ton and Morenci. Arizona, not only
 in tho mining of copper but in other
 respects, the generally bright out
 look and expectations Of the copper
 interests probably ten 1ing to attract
 attention to the promising prospects
 of both gold and silver. It may be
 interesting 10 note some of the altera-
 lions which have taken place in the
 fIetallurgical operations of the two companies which have sent forth 30 many tons of black copper from this point.
 At the AriZona Copper Company Superintendent Colquhoun has effect ed by thA very simple means ofgranu- lating and sluicing the slag, as already noted in the Engineering and Mining Journal, January 18th, g solution of vexing problem in manner at once novel end economical. Some serious mistakes were made in the construc- ton of the large and costly plant of this company. (which one of the most singular and apparently inexcusable was the failure to provide an adequate s!ag dump. This blunder in the orig inal plans has cost the Arizona Cop per company in labor alone fully $lQ,- 900 annually, besides much annoyance and the constant exercise of ap amount of ingenuity quite wearing in this climate. The slag dump nowhere ex- ceeds IS feet in depth, and has extend ed gradually until q car drawn by mules became necessary. The practice was to make huge ~bricks" byS by
 feet in dimensions, which were then
 hauled to the river side. These bricks make much less compact dump than the molten s!ag and consequently the dUnr grew vcry rapidly. An idea of >he magnitude of these dumps is gain ed from the statement that ail of the
 available space has been filled for more than quarter of q mile. The further extension of this dyke is like wise a nensnce D the lower part of the town of Clifton, as, in the event of 9 sudden rise in the San Francisco River the embaIkmcnt tends 10 throw the current against the town, AGr. Colquhoun's device not only settles the ycX3tious question of the dispoai- ton of tha slag nicely. by casting ii iuto the river in a condition amCnable to the force oi tl," current, but it ct- fleets another economy to which little attention has been directed, viz: by riiiic6 iu the s,uice shot copper is sav- rd from the siag. Of the amount of this can learn rotbing definite, but, ii rumor is correct concerning the amount of this shot copper, it may prove profitable some day to crush !, and concentrate the copper smelter slag dumps throughout this territory. !
 Another troublesome question is ! thas oftha fine Aue dust. \ !all ,'i'im- | ney with series of dus; chambers, is i part of the plant now long idle. f'iue i dust i. abundant. but. somehow, the l chimney and chambers have never ! been regarded with favor. Huge piles Of fiue dust have accumulated both st ! Clifton and Norenci, and left to the ! mercy of the elements, have been washed away and blown away, but | with no profit from them for tine com | pauics. One trouble with them is | their small value per tor. and on this point there is the usual eEaggcration ill the popular idea. Concentration | has been tried without success, as the valuable portions seem to be the li2htcst "Bricking" these ''liues" has proven eXpensively unsatisfactory. The latest craze i> teaching. The managemeuts are anxious to be rid of the unsIghtly heaps, which seem like monuments of metallurgical incompc- tcncy, if this can De accomplished st Il less cost than the gross value of the material. Chase creek has disposed of part of the "qucstion' for the Ari- zonr Copper conpany by q frcshet. With q view of lcs>cnin9 the percent ace of the 1uc dust one of the fur naccs wae built from tine jackets up of . stone and brick instead of the usual iron stack, and of much larger area internally, with the expectation that . some of the dust would fall back be cause of tue lessencd ,lrausht current. ihc furnace is effective in thi- respect to ,l'ght degree.
 Iu the concentrating mill sevcra! changes hay" taken place: The crush