El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-05
ARIZONA
COPPER.
Detailed Description of the
Exhibit at Paris.
STATISTICS GIVE N
of the Output of the Great phelps
Dodge p. operties, and expert
Reports on the Character OF the
Ores Produced.


cription of the exhibit of the Copper
Queen. Detroit. and United Globe cop
nor mines at the Paris exposition,
which is reprinted from the official
guide to the exhibit. as follows:
The Copper Queen Consolidated
The most prominent OF the three Is the
Bisbee group. The ore occurs In IT.
regular masses of carboniferous lime
stone. The profitable ore. as yet. dis
covered are confined to series OF
beds, which do not exceed 600 feet In
thickness. The ore masses are not
only very variable in size, but follow
no appreciable order in thier deposi-
ton. Oxidation has converted all the
surface ore into oXidized COMPOUNDS
In parts of the mine alteration from
suiphides to oxidiZed compounds have
taken place to a depth of nearly tOO
feet: but in other sections heavy I'M
altered sulphides of iron and copper
are met with at go feet from the
surface
The oxidized ores. in the only large
outcrop. which revealed the hidden
wealth of the mine were associated
with calcite but the deeper oxides or
copper are generally associated with
limonite and occur sporadically In
very large masses of ferrugineous clay,
itself a product of alteration, known
as ledge matter. The richest mala-
contact with or near the limestone.
The intermediate product. between I'M
altered suIphide and oxidiZed ore, is
"A black OXy-Sulphide- This occurs IN
large quantities as shell. surround
ing extensive masses of almost pure
sulphide of iron and copper But,
some smaller bodies in which altera-
ton is still progressing. are wholly
converted into it.
The suite of ores exhibited on the
second stage of the trophy illustrates
the association of the oxidized copper
with the oxides of iron and manganese
with the oxides of iron and manganese
and with clay and calcite. and shows
the progress of alteration from pure
sulphides of iron and copper. through
black Oxy-sulphideS, to completely OK
idized compounds.
The ores which supply the furnaces
with 700 tons daily, and yield 10000
eco pounds of copper annually. are
drawn from over twenty claims and
from 4 subterranean area of about one
mile by "a of a mile. The ores by jul
diciouS selection yield Self-huXing
furnace charge. which by rough sort
ing is brought up to per cent copper;
though the average run OF the ore IN
the mine is less than per cent
BY mixing in proper proportion oxld-
lied and sulphide ore matte of about
80 per cent of copper can be obtained
from the cupola furnaces without pre-
Iiminary calcination of the ores This
is the grade fmatte which. consid-
ering the lowest cost of converter lin
ing can be most economically cOncen-
trated in the BeSsemer converter The
matte from each of the four cupola
furnaces is collected in large fitting
wells placed in series of two to each
furnace. from which ii is poured into
a Iadel operated by an electric crane
This transfers the still molten matte
from any one of the four furnaces to
any one of the four Besemer convert |
ers The charge of matte is blown I'M
der a pressure of s pounds to the inch
to- metallic copper of about 80 per cent. |
The operation is conducted in two
stages. During the first the matte Is |
concentrated to white metal of about |
rs per cent through the oxidation of
the iron and part OF the sulphur. The |
converter is then tilted: the blast is |
turned off. the Stag formed from the |
oxidation of the iron and the SiliciouS
lining, is skinned: the blast is turned |
on the converter is restored to posi- |
ton and the charge is rapidly and |
completely reduced to metal. The lin |
ing material for the converter, usual |
" available. is valueless; but Mexico |
supplies certain amount of auriferous |
and argentiferous ore, with the re-
quisite proportions of silica and alu-
nina
The samples on the third platform |
of the trophy exhibit the valuable and |
waste products of these metallurgical |
changes: and the analyses on the cards |
explain the progress of elimination of |
isome of the metals and the concentra-
'tion of others at the critical periods of |
the blow. The coarse copper as il |
comes from the converter contains |
about 80 per cent of copper II ounces |
of silver and s. in gold value. The |
precious metals are recovered during |
the refining of the copper by electro
lysis The quantity of copper and of |
gold and silver. recovered from Is tons |
of ore, concentrated into one ton of |
copper is shown in the inches in the |
center of the trophy.
The wire bars and cakes out of |
which the trophy is built were refin-
ed by the Nichols Chemical company.
The purity and high conductivity of
the coppG thus refined are shown in
the wire tubes and other articles made
from it by the Ansonia Copper COM
pany. which are exhibited in cases in
the gallery
The Detroit Copper Company-For
some years the supply of copper from
the Clifton district of Arizona. in
which the mines of the Detroit Cop
per company are situated. was de-
rived from oxidlzed ores in or in con-
tact with limestone; which were inter
calated between beds of feldspathic
rock. But these rich ores were long
ago exhausted and today the product
of the district. drawn from the mines
of the Arizona Copper company.
amounting to about 10000. 900 pounds
of copper annually. is mined from ex-
tensive beds of feldspathic rock Some
of these beds. the rock of which is it
dpcaXed Whara vol 10