Weekly Arizona journal-miner., 1904-05-18
BRADSHAW MOUNTAIN COPPER
MINING And SMELLING COMPANY
Takes Possession of the Val Verde Smelter
Plant to Be Enlarged at Once The
Properties Of the Company.

There was placed on record in tn
county recorders office yesterday th,
deeds for the Val Verde smelter anC
all the property and rights belonging
thereto, the purchasers being thu
Bradshaw Mountain Copper MininI
and Smelling company. This is on'
of the most important transactions IL
the mining industry that has evel
taken place in the history of thii
county, aud marks the beginning of al
era of greater activity and prosperity
in the mining districts of Big Bug
and the Bradshaws, especially, but
the good effects are bound to be felt
all over this part of Arizona.
The transfer which was made yester-
day has been in course of consumma-
tion for the past four months. The
consideration for the smelling plant,
all the buildings and equipment and
the land and water rights embraced in
what is known as the Bowers ranch,
on which the smelter and town of Val
Verde is located, amounting in all to
about 1000 acres of land, was sl75, 600.
The Val Verde smelter has been in
active and successful operation for
the past three years. 1t now has a ca
pacity of $50 tons per day and is what
is known as a semi pyritic plant, be-
ing equipped with Bretherton hot
blast, and is a modern Plant in every
respect. 1t is located about twenty
three miles south east of Prescott on
the banks of the Aqua Fria and has an
of water. There IS a spur
of thesP. & E. railroad about a half
a mile in length that runs right up to
the plant thus allowing the ore to be
unloaded from the cars into the bins
of the smelter.
Geo. W. Middleton, vice president
and generalimanager of the Bradshaw
Mountain Copper Mining and Smelt-
ing company, and who has personally
carried on the negotiations for this
left this morning for the
property and a force of men. will be
put to work at once grading for addi-
tional railroad trackage at the smelter
and to make arrangements for the en-
Iarging of the smelter to GOO tons per
day which will be done at once. He
then goes on to the mines in the
and will put on an addi-
tional force there of about 100 men,
who will begin taking out ore for the
smelter. As soon as the work of en-
IaTging the smelter is complete there
will be between $50 and 200 men en-
ployed at that institution and it will
be run day and night.
Custom work will be done and the
ore will be run when the
custom work does not occupy the time
Of the smelter. The present plant
will be started up, however, and run
light along while the addition to the
3melter is being made. 1t is further
by the company within
he next year or eighteen months to
build new steel smelter of not less
han 1000 and probably 1900 tons per
lay. The company alone has almost
enough ore at present development,
% keep such plant in constant oper-
ltion, and it is confidently expected
hat the completion of the railroad to
he Bradshaws, together with the
of mining properties that
ire now being opened up in this
county, will make such a plant nee
,ssary.
There never has been a time when
rood legitimate mining looked os
rood as it does at this time, and in
act real mining seems only to have
ust begun. Being observers of this
act the company will be prepared to
meet the demand that seems sure to
tome.
But the Bradshaw Mountain Copper
Mining and Smelling company did
lot purchase the smelter for the prim-
Try purpose of conducting a custom
imelter, but their real object was to
nave large plant where they could
reduce their own ores without long
shipments.
While development work has been
going on steadily on the property be-
longing to the above company for the
past five years, very little has been
iaid in this section of the results that
have been attained, but it will not be
put of place at this time to give a
brief account of what has been done
and what is anticipated by the COM
Dany, and when 1t is known, that out
,ide of the great United Verde mine,
The properties of the Bradshaw Noun
ain Copper Mining and Smelling Co.
mas no equal in northern Arizona, it
will be seen that there has been some
good work going on quietly.
The property is located about forty