The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-06-17
THAT NEW CONCENTRATOR
1t Will Prove Blessing to Cas-
cade County.
TO DEVELOP MORE MINES
The Daily Capacity Will Be About 800
Tons and There Will Be Facilities
to Increase the Output
to 500 Tons.

Great Falls, June 16.-NeXt to the en-
larging of the Boston & Montana plant
and the persistent knocking of this
city by Helena papers nothing of SO
great profit to Great Falls has occurred
for several years as the building. of the
concentrator by the Diamond r. people
Like the increase In the B. & M. works
and like the knocking, private gain
Is sought, but, like the other two, the
results of the Neihart concentrator, If
successful, will prove a blessing TO
every citizen in Great Falls and in Cas-
cade county for that matter. There are
in the Little Belt mountains vast de-
posits of silver-lead ores, low in grade,
vet profitable were the cost of transpor-
tation reduced. The Great Northern
railway several years ago made every
possible concession in this direction,
and now the only further reduction
must come by increasing the returns
from the ore per carload If the con-
centrator+ proves a success, and there
is every reason to believe that 1T will,
its success means the opening up and
the working of innumerable mines IN
that district and the shipment of The
ore to this city for smelling. The fol-
lowing detailed description of the plant
Which means so much to Cascade coun-
ty is furnished to this office through the
kindness of i. K. Abbott, editor of the
Herald. the paper which has stood by
the camp in all of its adversity:
All preliminary steps regarding the
proposed Diamond r. concentration We're
completed last Friday evening, when
the town council of Neihart passed the
ordinances abandoning certain streets
and alleys for the millsite and the
right-of-Way for the f1ume. The feeling
of assurance among the business men
of this town since that date is quite no
ticeable, as already the population be-
gins to see the star of salvation rising.
This is the first public statement of
such stroke of enterprise, but the
movement is so far advanced that ad-
ditional description of the entire plant
by courtesy Of the manager has been
furnished our reporter.
The concentration is to have capa-
city of 300 tons, or Whereabouts, daily,
with facilities to increase as the output
demands to 500 tons. 1t will stand on
the north side of lower Main street,
about 40 feet off the street at the near
est point, part resting on the Frisco
townste and part on the Equator lode.
The building will be $50 feet long, 1856
feet deep and from the lowest floor
to the highest point 102 feet in height.
twill cover the ground now occupied by
the Castle and the Banks cottage,
and extend far above the big red rock
on the hillside.
This building will be constructed as
two mills, all under the same roof. One
side will be for the ores of the Diamond
K. mines, the other being wholly for
custom work. The two divisions will
be approximately of equal capacity. one
motor will drive oil the machinery, but
custom ores will be treated entirely
separate from the company's ores
Ihere will be four foors or steps, iii
the elevation. The lowest floor will con-
tain a, water motor by which the power
is generated. This motor is to be a 6
or 7-foot tangential wheel, played upon
by three streams of water, and capable
or furnishing 600 or 700-horse power
The same floor will be traversed by
railroad spur, running the entire length
of the building.
The main works, with the tables, jigs
and other machinery will be all on one
moor noe, above The machinery of the mill
VIII consist of crushers. rolls elevators,
screens, Jigs, concentrating tables
leechlng tanks, ETC., so built that no
extra handling of ore is required The
ore will leave the mine by gravity;
dump itself into bins, fall to the crush
ers, 60 through the entire plant by
gravity, and SO automatically will ev-
erything move that, it is estimated,
| force of 10 men can run the plant to full
capacity night and day. These will
have nothing to do but to handle levers,
control gates and watch the machinery
The tramWay from the mine to the
mill will be three-track device, with
a switch in the middle. 1t will be 200
| feet long, with a fall of 40 feet and
will operate on a cable by gravity The
cars will dump automatically.
The flume conveying water to the
| mill will be 10000 feet or about two and
one-half miles in length, tapping Belt
creek just below Arthurs mill. 1t will
have an average fall of 10 inches in 100
| feet and will terminate on the hillside
! 1874 feet above the water wheel. To this
| the water will be conveyed by large
cast iron pipe The water will flow
| through a square box flume. 3x2 feet of
| planks, entirely enclosed, and capable
| of carrying approximately 1000 inches
| Contracts for the various construc-
tons will be let in a few days. The
work has been divided in reasonable
| manner in order to expedite matters
| and work will be going all along the
| line at once. One contract is for the
| excavation and masonry at the mill
| site; another is for building the mill; a
| third for the tramway; fourth for the
/ fiume. All this work will move ahead
| at once. l.. S. Mcclure is the manager
| of the entire concern, and G. F. Bartlett
| is the supervising architect and mill
| wright The timbers will be framed on
| the ground and Neihart men will he
| given the preference of employment.
| In the absence of exact calculations,
| It is roughly estimated that the amount
| of lumber necessary to complete this
work will be between 100000 and 600, 900
| feet. 1t will require so or 60 cars to
| haul it. Then to transport the ma
chinery of various kinds will require
about 20 cars. These figures will serve
| to give the public fair estimate of the
| MAGNITUDE of the enterprise.
The intention of the builders is to
| have their mine opened and producing
| ore when the mill is ready to receive it.
To this end the shaft will soon be baled
out and the various levels made ready
| for work on proper scale. The COM
pany, however, has a reserve pump of
| second-class stuff which they may
work. and men capable of judging such
matters estimate the quantity of this
ore at about 10000 tons. No date can
be fixed when the mill will start but it
| is placed at some time this fall, maybe