Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-09-20

found In the mountains OF that state.
He conceived the idea that the iron par
ticles could be saved by a powerful mag
net drawing them apart at the proper
stage of handling. He purchased vast
mountains of the rock, built his plant
and made a success. The plant oper-
ates an electric railway which runs into
an open cut in the mountain. Electricity
is used to quarry the stone, load it upon
the cars. dump it, sometimes in blocks
weighing tons, into hoppers, or between
great rollers or c~rushers, from which 1t
descends in smaller particles to other
rollers, several series of them, until the
whole mass Is sifted out in a fine stream
of sand.
Here is where electricity comes In for
saving iron, and air may for gold. AS
the sand makes the last drop, iron is at
tracted to one side by powerful magnet
and drops into a bin by itself. Apparatus
then picks it up, carrying 1t to moulds
where it is mixed with some adhesive
fluid and is turned into the form of
bricks, swept along and loaded upon
cars for shipment. From the time the
stone is started from the quarry the
material is never touched by the hand
of man until the iron bricks reach the
market.
When Mr.. Edison had this iron plant
/ going, he stated that while it was entire
" satisfactory in itself, it was meant to
| be but the f%orerunner of an application
| of the same mechanical methods to
handling vast bodies of mineralized
| earth and rocks in the west and he ex-
pected some day to apply it. While the
magnet may not serve to separate gold
from earth and stone, the same mocha
nical methods of labor saving and OF
preparing the material for separation
may answer as at the iron plant.
An electrical railway may run to Goa
mines of the Cerrillos district a few
miles distant, electrical lines haul the
material after e%xcavating it, electricity
operate the entire plant. By the Edison
method not only should placer ground be
worked, but quartz carrying free gold
may be treated. And where there Is nc
free gold the crushing system may apply
and the output be treated later by con
centration or cyaniding.
But to get back to the statement O.
Mr.. Burn as to what Santa Fe may ex'
pect. The New Mexico Mining com
pany proposes to adopt a liberal policy,
It's managers realize that in the life
time of anyone, but a small part OF theil
"a, 900 acres of mineral ground can be
worked out, and the company will there
fore not act the dog-in-the-manger
Leasers will be given privileges to worl
the gravel beds and the company viii
handle the earth for them upon a royalty
though conducting mining operations
on its W accounts. The managers arr
opposed to establishing a company store
and the hundreds Of men the enterprise
will employ may trade where the.
please. The headquarters will be a
Dolores, in the center of the grant.
The company will do business both a
Cerrillos and in this city, and expects tt
be of substantial benefit to the city ant
county by reason of improvements to b.
made, employment to be given to man.
people, and the development OF collate
raj enterprises. As there is much auri
ferrous land in the vicinity of the Orti
grant belonging to other parties, or opel
to acquisition under the mineral laws O
the United States, the success OF tn
Edison plant may mean the making o
fortunes for other n who wOrl
along the same lines.
Southern Santa Fe county has a pros
pect of becoming among the most note'
gold fields in the world.