Great Falls tribune., 1890-01-11
GREAT FALLS SILVER SHELTER,
The Largest Industrial Establishment Of the
Kind in the Northwest,

"ieat ais ~ Justly PROUD OF the Smelt-
er as the extensive works of the Montana
Smelling company are called. This large
establishment was begun and completed
in 1888. 1t stands beside the broad
Missouri, about four miles from the bust
ness center Of the city with which 1t is
connected by railroad. The Giant spring
and the Rainbow falls are near the works
and buildings which cover large area.
These works may be described by ex-
planning in popular terms how the lead
and silver are extracted from the ores.
Nature does her part in providing that
chemical compound called ore which
hardy miners find in the depths nf the
earth in the far of CGur d'Alenes or the
much nearer mines in Red mountain,
Neihnrt and Barker
The ore comes direct from tie mines
TO the door Of the sampling works at the
Smelter. Here it is uuloaded in order
that its value and quality may be asc.r.
tanned, the purpose Of these works being
70 provide an absolutely accurate sample
that will give the average value per ton
Of the entire shipment. The motive pow
er Is supplied by an engine Of 80 horse
power. The ore is crushed and an ali
quot portion is taken from it IN Il certain
systematic way. This "quartering" AS it
is called alternAtes with successive de-
grees Of fineness 50 that finally only
few pounds Of very fine powder are left.
Every grain III this powder represents u
large proporti"nate quantity in the entire
shipment. An automatic mill Of an
ingenious design is used to sample and
grind such ores as require roasting, but
the oNydize,l ores are sampled by manual
labor, in combination with the crlsher
and Cornish rollers.
The final sample provides the a>sayers
and the chemist with material for their
analyses which are carried on in the
laboratory. The value Of the ore is de-
termined by these assays which are con
Quoted with SO much care that the guam
tity OF lead, silver and gold in the ore can
be computed with absolute accuracy.
Roasting ores. that have been ground
during the sampling process are removed
on tram cars to the bins where they are
bedded in proper proportions to prepare
them for puritication by fire.
The ore isconveyed from these storage
bins to the roasting furnaces where un-
der the influence of intense heat the
sulphur or arsenic takes wing into space,
leaving these ores ia condition adapted
for treatment in the blast furnaces-a
condition like that which the oxydized
ores possess naturally.
This roasted ore is stored in IN enten-
sive series of bins. The oxydized ores
which do not require the preparatory
are Immediately unloaded ut
these bins upon arrival. From these
bins I'LL ores are taken to undergo final
treatment in the blast furnaces, the pur-
pose being to reduce the lead, silver and
gold under the influence of proper
huNes and fuel to IN alloy-the so-called
bullion. The impurities in the ore fuse
together in the combination with iron
ore and limestone which are Intentional
" added for that purpose and yield a
waste product-the Stag. The separation
If Stag and bullion takes place in the
furnace itself as both are independently
withdrawn from different levels of the
lower part OF the furnace where tile fu.
sion takes place. This tapping of Stag
md lead goes on without interruption so
ong as the furnace is running, the Stag
being caught in large pots mounted on
wheels and run outside Of the furnace
building where it is thrown away while
The bullion is ladled into moulds bearing
The stamp of the company. These are
loaded into railroad cars and shipped
.ast to the refiners whose business it is
TO separate the gold and silver from the
ead.
The reduction process just described is
conducted on an extensive scale at the
;melter, which will be four times larger
han now when the original plan is car
led out. As it is this is the largest silver
melter in the northwest. Its extent may
,e estimated from the following details