The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-03-09

Gold maintains its high value in spite
of the cheapness of production because
ii is admitted to the minis for coinage
free. Its market is the mints of the
world and the stamp indicates the
measure of value. 1t everywhere en-
joys government patronage and pro-
lection without yielding anything like
the general benefit that would come
from the coinage of silver to the entire
world in the interest of labor.
ITO verify this statement let me out
line silver mining and the reduction OF
this ore to metallic silver. The country
is misled by every false statement the
ingenuity of selfish interest can In
vent to deceive the people.
1t is urged that silver mining is sole
1y for the interest of the. silver baron
or is only local in its benefits. Let US
look into the reports of the Alice Gold
& Silver Mining company of Butte and
see how far this charge is borne out,
as most likely this will represent a fair
average of the cost of operating most
of the successful silver mines. This
one is most ably managed by owners
who have grown up with the silver
mining industry and are familiar with
the details of all operations to make
IL a success.
1T is very important in the interest
of the country that the people be given
some idea of the vast interest this in
dustry is in the employment of labor.
Here is the great dividing line of in
terest over gold production-employ-
ment to honest toll. In the first place
silver mining to be profitable must be
carried on on a large scale. Deep
shafts have to be sunk and they must
be large; prosecuting through barren
rock to the veins of ore, then drifting
along the vein with long levels to open
up the mine for stopping out the ore.
Heavy machinery is required. hosting
! engines and pumps, large water col
umns and cables, cages and cars and
rails, picks, shovels, drills and drilling
machines. candles, powder, fuse and
caps, tons of steel and millions of feet
of lumber to timber the mine. All
these supplies furnish a market for in
dustries tributary to mining and most
ly manufactured in the East. Silver
quartz is mostly hard rock and there
fore ii is expensive mining. A miner
ranks among skilled labor, as the
genius OF engineering skill is evidenced
/ in the wonderful work of deep silver
mining.
! This is simply an outline of the
mine ready for breaking down the ore.
Let us now point out the mill for re-
ducing the ore when mined. A building
252 feet in length and LA feet wide con-
tanning a $50 horse power engine with
three batteries or six tubular boilers of
"a inch diameter and 16 feet long to
furnish power for the so stamp mill,
having is pans and nine settlers and
two 60-inch White Howell chloradizing
furnaces. Within the building is a
storeroom for salt. used in chloradiz-
/ ing, 92 feet long by 32 feet wide. The
2o-stamp mill is 127 feet long by III
/ feet wide, having an 80 horse power
engine and three tubular boilers to fur
nish power for the Blakerock crusher
and the pans and settlers. We briefly
/ outlined the process of reducing gold
! ores and now we will trace the silver
ore into the ingot of silver. The ore
as mined is filled into a car run over
! a steel rail track and hoisted to the
surface and run to the crushing room.
where the rock is broken to about the
/ size of large hens eggs, after which IL
| is spread on the drying fioor-a floor
having furnaces under it furnishing
moderate degree of heat. Salt is here
mixed with the ore for chloradizing
purposes. When the ore is dried
| enough II is taken to the battery
I stamps and fed in. The stamps drop
ping on the ore brushes il to an impal-
pable dust which, by the force OF per-
cussion, is thrown up against a screen
and is sifted through into a trough be-
low. The ore is now carried forward
by a large Hanged screen operating In
the trough to a furnace, and heated TO
a red heat This is known as the cal
/ CHING anu pTOCtSS. AIlST
| this IL is drawn Off to the cooling floor.
The cooling is done by turning on wa
ter. From here II is loaded on cars
| and run to the pans. The pans look
very much like a large vat at the brew
er's, which is filled with water up to
the let out of the sluice box. and into
which water is constantly running
while the mill is in operation. There
is a spindle operating in the pan hav-
ing flukes at points of elevation in the
pan, and large iron disc at the bot
tom of the spindle. This is known as
the muller, which makes about 120 rev.
| olutions a minute. The chloradized ore
is thrown into this pan. a shovelful at
a time and is stirred up by the mullers
in the water. The ore being heavier than
the waste settles more or less to the
bottom, while the waste is carried off
by the water and is known as tailings.
OF course more or less of the lighter
particles of silver ore is washed off
with the waste, and for time at least
is a loss. The settler is constructed
very much like the pan, but the null
lers revolve at only about half the
speed, giving the ore a chance to set
tie. Quicksilver Is put in the settlers in
large quantities, which takes up the
J silver released from the ore. by affinity
The lively quicksilver charged with sill
f, yer becomes as thick as mud In a re-
ceptacle prepared to receive it.
This is known now as silver ANAL
gam. The amalgam is taken up and
what quicksilver that can be made TO
escape by pressure is drained out and
the silver amalgam taken to the retort
oven. This oven is made of heavy
cast-iron cylinder with furnace below
and a vent pipe running from the oven
into a water trough to carry off the
fumes of the quicksilver as II evapor-
ates under the heat of the oven. The
amalgam is placed in this oven, the
door being fastened tight by pressure
screws to keep the fumes from escap-
ing except through the vent. When the
quicksilver is all evaporated the con-
tents of the oven is known as retort
silver. This is taken out, broken up
and put in a large crucible and melted
down into silver ingots or bricks. The
product of the mine is now ready to be