New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-08-01

A COLOSSAL rLANT At PERTH ANNOY, WHERE
GOLD AID SILVER ARE SEPARATED FROM
HUGE MASSES or COPPER AND LEAD.
The excitement caused ly the discovery Of gold
I'm Alaska has made all processes through when
the metal passes from the mine to the mint
interesting to the general public and for that
reason the smelling works in the vicinity of New
York where gold and silver are separated from
bascr metals. have become an object Of interest.
The plant is situated ut Maurer's station near
Perth Amboy. n J.. and is owned and operated
10y the firm Of NJ Guggenheim's Sons. The
smelling works are only part Of the concerns
property of that kind. but the plant is important
because the product Of the mines and :smelting
establishments belonging to the corporation IN
the EAR West, South and Southwest all goes
there to be converted into the marketable ma
teraI and the plant is therefore the final sta
ton between the miner and the consumer. The
similar plants from which this one draws are
distributed through Colorado and Mexico. the
works IN Colorado employ about one thousand
men and have a daily capacity Of one thousand
tons or material in the form Of silver-lead bull
lon which, together with great quantities or
conner is sent to the Perth Amboy plant there
to he refined. The works at Monterey, Mexico,
and Aeuas Caliantes also furnish raw material
figures furnished by the owners each of these
establishments has capacity OF one thousand
tons a day With these feeders it is natural that
The nnal station should be Of colossal size. The
Cuggenheim works at Perth Amboy cover about
one hundred acres Of ground, and give employ
mcnt to three hundred skilled and ordinary Ia
borers Labor-saVing machinery has been in
PRODUCED at every possible point, and by that
means tho force of help is less than in places OF
a similar kind where the output is not so great
The product of the plant in refined metal Is
said to be about S5o00o,o00 year.
TRANSFORMATION OF THE METALS.
The material which comes to the works from
Colorado and New Mexico in crude pigs and
in ore leaves tie place in commercial form OF
various types; thus. the gold and silver III bars,
the copper in sheets known as catholics, and the
Iced as pig lead All the work Of separating and
refining is done in a group Of buildings which
are bare Of ornament or fancy work, but bear
instead The stamp of business and scientific &C
tivity.
In going over the plant the layman learns
before many turns have been made, that objects
connected with the place should be handled with
asbestos gloves or # alone. Everything is hot
or cooling Off and nnccont-lOoking pieces OF
drab stone when touched, are found TO be cool
Ing Stag; old kettles which look harmless enough
to the uututorcd eye are really cruciblcs out OF
the fiery furnace for short airing, and vars-
colored masses in large pots are molten metal
Among the buildings the most important are
the casting furnace, where the pig copper is cast
into form for handling; the building devoted to
separating gold and silver from the copper,
known as the copper refinery; large building
where lead is similarly treated; the parting
plant where the gold and silver mass which has
been recovered from the copper and lead is sepa-
rated into the two metals and the smelling fur
nacos where dross and ore are reduced to bullion
by the same methods as are employed in the
Western mining districts The metal comes