The weekly tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1891-1894, 1894-01-12
A CUSTOM SMELTER
A Strong Plea for the Establishment
of a Custom Plant at Great ,
Falls.
Ores Can Be Treated Here Cheaper
Than at Any Point in the
West.
1t Would Be a Paying Investment
From the Start-SOme Reasons
Therefor.

1t is remarkable that though Nor
tana leads all other states in the cope
product-from smelters land soon to be
from refineries-only a fraction of l pc
cent of the copper properties are nov
worked and developed. The cause il
not far to seek. 1t is in the scientific
methods and costly plants now used fol
the production OF copper, which involve
30 vast an outlay for smelters and re-
~tinsries. This sun is not always at the
command of the average mine owner OF
mining company. Thus mining prop.
critics almost innumerable lie idle year
by year, some patented, some having an.
nual assessment work done, but all un-
productive, because why? Because there
is no custom copper smelter 10 Montana,
and the majority Of claims will not yield
a profit if long and costly transportation
has to be used.
In Colorado this is obviated by a Gus
Tor smelter at Denver, which l have
visited, and there | found the identical
character of ores were treated which are
here laying idle and unproductive; and
yet at Denver | saw ores which had been
AubEPo ~ wi "AA thS "oy
from New Mexico and Arizona.
On the other hand Montana with in
numberable copper properties lying idle,
has not within her boundaries a single
custom smelter to supply a long.felt
want, and which if in existence would
find it imperative to constantly enlarge
its works year by year to treat the ores
offered.
Taking Butte and vicinity, can it be
said that the Anaconda. Boston Il Mon
tana, Butte IL Boston, and the Parrot
companies comprise the sum total of the
copper mines of Butte? Most emphat-
ically no? There are plenty of copper
mines there, which, with Il liberal rail
way rate, would gladly ship to a home
market opened up to them by a custom
smelter.
In the question of a home market,
however, the first question arising with
the miners will be: Where can we
get the highest price for our ores?" The
answer is: wherever your ores can be
treated the cheapest" This can only be
done where there is abundance of water
for concentration, the cost Of power for
crushing and electricity reduced to a
minimum, and the site of such smelter
to be at or near some railroad center.
- HA-StAJA 10 CoSii CoifSos ~ thOiC |
is only one such place in Montana, and
that is Great FaIis.
At Great Falls is unlimited room for
expansion OF any works to be erected, a
water power Of such unlimited vastness, ,
that it is only a question Of development
to supply any amount of power required,
coal CT the best quality for smelling pur-
poses within a few miles, and abundance
IT the best tiuxing materials close at
hand.
Now, the foregoing is not theory nor
is it superstition, the gigantic copper
plant Of the Boston & Montana company
fthe cost of which is in the millions) was
not built here, and now in running order,
on supposition. 1t was built after an
exhaustive examination of the merits of
various localities, and the site was chosen
because at that point copper ore can be
treated at the minimum cost. This DEM
onstrates the fact that Great Falls fills
the bill as being the objective point for
treating copper ores. Otherwise those
works would never have been built.
At Great Falls pure copper can be
produced from the raw material at a re-
duction of IL to- cents per pound at
least over any other point 1t the state of
Montana.
But Butte is not the only copper camp
in Montana. Let us look around at
some others, many of which are nearer
home, some only being two hours ride
by railroad from Great Falls, and we
shall find that the amount of available
production is not known because OF Ion
development,
Adjacent 20 the Montana Central rail
way in the P-ickly Pear canyon are
wonderful veins of copper ore, consisting
Of glance, oxides, pyrite, etc many OF
them being within one mile Of the track.
Some of these assay high in silver and
nearly all go heavy in copper.
At the head of the South fork OF Sun
river large copper deposits have been
long known to exist.
10 the East butte OF the Sweet Grass
hills Is a>copper property consisting of
biance which assays % per cent copper
and from 125 to 1000 ounces of silver to
the ton.
In .ho North Moccassin mountains gi.
gantic veins Of copper pyrite are found
carrying gold.
In the Belt mountains Barker is pre-
eminently the copper camp. can name
SIX mining properties which without fur
Their development will weld from 10 to
81 per cent in copper and carrying sill
YER. One vein at least is Of gigantic size,
as at two places half a mile apart / OBJ
served it wss over thirty feet in diane
ter, being ore from wall to wall.
Dry Wolf creek has numerous prop
critics showing copper, and at one place
l observed that even the porphyry con-
tanned veins carrying copper. South OF
Wolf butte are the properties OF the Wolf
Butte Mining company, which are essen.
TALLY copper. carrying glance, carbon
ates, and oxides, with silver.
Running Wolf creek has at least two
cooper properties, with others in view
with development.
Yogo is we'll know for its copper ores
carrying gold. They occur in the form
of pyrite, ~carbonatee, and oxides. y
will be a wonderful cop camp
developed. a.. -
st discov~
y