The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1893-05-07
A CoPPERoPoLIs.
Admiral Selwyn Says Salt Lake Will BE
Known as a Copper Town.

Admiral Selwyn Says Salt Lake Will BE
Known as a Copper Town.
s'Salt Lake will some day be known as
the copper town." said Admiral Selwyn,
who has been in this city for five months
and all the time keeping very close
watch over the samples of copper ore that
have been brought in by the prospectors.
He is convinced of this, not from the re-
ports of assayers, but by actual tests of
his own.
"Copperopolis, - will not sound bad i,
will it? And especially after 1t is remem-
bered that when it was first suggested to
build copper smelter here the questio n
was asked on all sides, s'Where will W g
get the copper?''
who has travelled extensively in both
hemispheres, "has the richest copper
mines in the world, with one ex-
ception. The exception is in
Canada, where a body of copper
ore was found so rich that it did not pay
to work it. This may sound like para
dox, but it is not. The pocket of ore is
SO rich that it cannot be broken. Powder
has no effect on it, as it simply discharges
itself as out of a gun. Neither can the
copper be sawed to advantage. SO it can
De seen that copper ore has been discov-
cred too rich to work at a profit
The admiral has no fears that the Deep
creek mines will turn out to be of this
obstreperous character, but when they
are compared with some of the great cop
per mines of the world they are fabu-
lousy rich.
The admiral handed the following ex-
tract from foreign financial journal
describing one of the greatest copper
mines in the world, the Rio Tinto, of
| Spain. 1t will be seen that the average
| percentage of copper per ton in this great
dividend payer is less than 8 per cent.
| The available net profits of the Rio Tinto
company for the last year amounted TO 30l 38lL..
| including Sc 1871. brought down. After paying
two half-yesrly dividends OF 7s. each, the bal
ance left to be carried forward is 73.SS1t. The
output for the year amounted to ,4O2, 623 tons,
containing an average Of Z. $40 per cent. of cop
per, as compared with 2. 649 per cent in 1891
| OF this quantity 4069l2 tons were selected for
shipment, and 995, Isl tons for local treatment.
| The deliveries invoiced to consumers in the
! United Kingdom. Germany and the United
States reached 49, 758 tons, which is slightly in
excess OF the deliveries Of 1891. The demands
| for 1893 between the United Kingdom and Ger
many represent from $4,000 to 80, 600 tons In ex-
cess of the deliveries OF 1892 and this increase
has also been arranged for during the three fol-
! lowing years. The amount written off for re-
duction in the value OF copper in the reserve
heaps and for development is 3S,677l.
| If a mine with less than per cent.
copper will pay over million and a half
| dollars year, what Will the Deep Greek
mines that run from 10 to 40 per cent.
pay when they are worked for all there Is
in them? Even our assayers never think
| it worth while mentioning anything of
copper unless the showing is greater than
5 per cent.
The pride of Montana, the Anaconda,
earned enough to pay $40, 600, 900 in
wages and make its principal owner
''the copper king' in ten years and is
easily worth $50, ZOO, 900 today.
The Anaconda, however, according to
the most reliable estimates, is very low
grade, not over per cent.
''Ten years from now" continued Adj
miral Selwyn with a prophetic eye, sit
will be a common thing to see bars of
copper stacked up about your streets"