The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-04-19

bins it is let down onto screens, the
screened matter passing directly into
bins below. The stuff that is too coarse
| to go through the screens passes into a
crusher, where it is broken to the ero-
! per finenesS and is conveyed into the
ore bins with the screenings by push
car on a tramway. From the push car
it is dumped into bins still below, and
from these it is let out into the teaching
tanks-souare bins with conical bot
toms. The solution is turned into
! these tanks and kept running continu-
ously until the solution has dissolved
all the gold values possible Saturdting
the ore, it passes out at the bottom of
the tank into long, square trough
fllled with boxes containing zinc shaw
| lngs. Flowing in a t the bottom of one
box and out at the top it goes down
again to The bottom of the next box,
/ and so under and over the zinc until
/ the gold in the cyanide has been precip-
itated onto the zinc and the shayings
are ready to be taken out and shipped
to the smelter for final treatment for
the recovery of the gold
The cost of the cyanide used is alb
in the process being the row
alties required by the patentees
OF the McArthur-Forrest process. I'm
der which the cyanide solution is held
Obvlating as it does the necessity for
expensive machinery, for labor. or for
any of the other costly factors in the
amalgam and other processes it has
made possible the profitable treatment
OF ores that ten years ago were thrown
on the tail1ngs dump or were neglected
altogether as not worth the trouble
of handling. Indeed, as has been said
already, the ores of the Mercur region
could not be treated at all until the
cyanide process was brought to the
attention Of the owners of the Mercur
mine, and the camp would be worthless
as gold producer today if the process
were not demonstrated success. AS
1t is, the presence of arsenic in the
ores has interfered with the perfect
operation of the solution, so that the
percentage of gold saved from the ore
is not as large as it would be if the ar
senic were not present. 1t is said,
however, that a process has been per
fected to overcome this difficulty, and
that the arsenic will be turned into
source of revenue instead of being a
drawback in the treatment of gold
VIEW OF THE MINING CAMP.
Mercur, the principal town in Camp
Floyd mining district, is southwest of
Salt Lake City fifty-five miles by rail
road and about forty miles on an air
line. Leaving Salt Lake City at 7:4O
in the morning, one goes south to Lehi
Junction, twenty-nine miles on the
Union Pacific, and thence west on the
Eureka branch of the same road. At
Fairchild Junction the Mercur coaches
are attached to the queer little Shay
engine that handles business in and
out of the camp. This engine is of
the regular locomotive pattern, except
that its wheels are very small to hold
the frightful curves of the road. It's
cylinders are coupled to long shaft
running the length of the machine to
which are geared cog wheels which
turn the drivers and truck wheels.
When the train pulls out it looks as
though it were going to go right up and
over the snow-clad mountains, rising
to an altitude of 5000 feet. The maxi
mum speed of the engine is Only twelve
miles an hour, but it's traction power
is enormous; once started, it keeps go
ing. Following the canyon it curves
up in grades and twists that make
the road bed look like mammoth