The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1899-03-13

ond birth this year. Southern Califor-
mia will soon organize new brigade
for its reinforcement, if signs do not
fail, and several counties north OF
Tehachapi are likely TO organize and
join for the first time. The movement
to extend the organization and make
this strong and effective association a
State society in fact is being vigorous
ly pushed by Secretary E. H. Ben1a-
min. whose recent correspondence with
leading mining men Of the South prom
Uses success there.
One of the leaders in the movement
down there is o. S. Bresse of the Min
ing and Metallurgical Journal, who re-
Gently wrote: Through persistent in
terviews with leading mining men
have discovered a surprising ignorance
as to the purposes of the ASSOCIATION
When these purposes are properly eX-
planned they take hold of the PROPOSE
ton with considerable enthusiasm
With the advances made by your OF
ganization there is no reason now why
there should not be an organization III
every county of Southern California
The idea of one organization Win
headquarters in Los Angeles is also du-
vanced. A preliminary meeting VIII
soon be held and when the Legislature
adjourns President Neff and Secretary
Benjamin will make an organlzlhS Iilp
through the Southern region. In L ol-
umne County many leading mine q" II
ers and superintendent are lnteresIeu
in organization which Will soon DC el
fected. The plan is being urged there
of letting every miner employed Kho"
that he is expected to join the county
organization at a cost of 81 year.
CALIFORNIA ANTHONY, ITS BOOM
AND PECULIAR MARKET.
The price of anthony has recently ad-
yanced. partly in sympathy with the gen
era1 rise in the metal market, and TINS
and a wider and more lively interest. III
the metal among prospectors and miners
promises an increase in the California
product Last year but forty tons were
produced in the State, while in former
years the amount has been $50 tons. The
metal cuts a small figure in the mineral
industry of the State, but there are
good many interesting things 10 De kho"h
about it.
One thing not generally known is that
owing to the metallurgical diftlcultieS OF
working antimony ores none OF the DlS
custom smelterS anywhere produce anti
mony or want anything to do with ores IN
which IT is an element. Penalties are
charged for its presence. There are put
seven anthony smelters in the world;
and the special plants and processes re-
quired are used for nothing else. one IS
in San Francisco, two are in London and
there is one each in Japan, France, Aus
tria ard New York. The San Francisco
Smelter is one of San Francisco'S unob-
served industries 1t is a little institution
at Ninth and Division streets, operating
secret processes and working twenty-four
hours day with II men divided into two
shifts. During 1898 this smelter produced
.l0 of the commercial metal
coming from Nevada. Utah. Idaho and
elsewhere on the coast, California con-
tributing but forty TONS This pr product
of ore. The ore is stibnite, or sulpnide Of
anthony. Stibnite is found in many
counties of the State, but especially in an
County, where it is associated with Gin
nabar, and in Kern County. A good many
anthony claims have been located, and
there are many listed antimony mines in
the state, but only two or three are pro-
ducing, and that fftfully. Many others are
being chung. to, exploited and offered for
sale, but the peculiaritieS of antimony
mining keep the mine owners from doing
much besides wondering why they can't
make a little money.
Chemically pure anthony is worth So
a pound, or $4,000 ton, but in it's CONNER
clai forms its price ranges from to 40
cents The common form of metallic an
umony has risen here from $0S5 to 095
since December The price is made by
the Pacing Coast monopoly, the Chap
4iie1L1 olACIlluS WOIhS Company, winch
regulates its figures by New York and
London prices The Japanese product is
the only thorn in it's side. and when
shipment from Japan is risked prices are
cut and it is announced that no Japanese
anthony will be allowed to net ANYBODY
a dollar over here. Some time ago ten
tons We're imported from Japan for sale,
and it was sold last Friday at $.075 The
Chapman company succeeded three years
ago to the plant and business of the com
pany now. operating in New York. A
~ M inc - Ii
about the business the other day by c.
Solomon Jr., the head of the Pacific Coast
concern.
1.-THE product of the coast is vet. small"
he said. ut supplies the coast demand
and leaves some for shipment East San
francisco consumes about sixty tons a
Rabbit metal, for chilled shot, by type
founders and Stereotypers and for the
work of type setting machines. We ship
ped a carload of sixteen tons to ST Louis
the other day, and have sent several car
loads there in the past few months. Cali
fornia could and will produce a great deal
more, but there is so much about the
business that the miners don't under
stand. There are plenty of antimony
mines in the State, but only a few will
pay to work, because the ore is not rich
enough. We refuse to buy ore that car
ries less than 40 per cent antimOny. Pure
stibnite carries IA of anthony and
2S.6 of sulphur. Other metals are always
in the ore, and working is costly pro-
cess. Only forty pounds of ore are
used at a charge, and it goes through the
fire three times. Our commercially pure
product gives this analysis Anthony,
99.47 arsenic, 1872; lead, .042; copper, .015,
and iron, %, together with some other
impurities The smelling processes used
are secret, and, of course, not patented.
The metallurgical methods of refining an
timony are well known, but by following
the books the cost would be from 81 to
81 so a pound. The improvements are kept
as business secrets. We use the Hallett
process used by one of the London smelt-
ers, and the Cookson process is used in
New York and by the other London firm,
the two American firms having secured
pupils of the originators of the pro-
ceSseS.
Zone feature Of the business is that the
anthony miners are always kicking and
thinking that they are being robbed.
They can't understand some things. They
expect returns on the assay value of their
ores, as with other ores, but some of the
anthony is always lost, and antimonv
ores are always paid for by quality and
produce only. Another mystery to them
is that they get nothing for the gold and
silver in their ores. All the ore we get
carries gold and silver, but it is disre-
garded and thrown away. The ore will
carry from 81 to $40 a ton in gold and from
five to fifty ounces of silver, but it would
cost from 5000 to $500 ton to get it out. l
have received so many kicks about this
that I wrote recently to Vivian Younger