Arizona republican., 1907-07-10

' | showing in the different work ings 1t will bs only a matter of calcu- lation to determine the amount of cop per in the mines. At present the old concentrating plant at Kelvin Is being overhauled. and new machinery is be- ing placed. so that when finished 1t will serve as a good plant for test purposes.
 Steam boilers will take the place of the old engines. In about two months the mill will be ready for working tests, with a capacity of 300 tons a day This mill will work on the rock that is now being mined, and when the best method of concentration has been determined. and the amount of ore to be handled. Is definitely known. then a concentrating plant built on just the lines required. and of suffi- cient size to handle the ore in a cer- tain period of time, will be built The plant will presumably be built at Kei- win.
 The location. like everything else, depends on conditions. This is also true as regards the building of a smell ter. If some one of the smelter com
 
 the concentrates at less figure than that at which they can be hand led by the company then the offer will be accepted; otherwise a shelter will be erected. Knowing just the amount of ore to be handled by the concentrator and the amount of con- centrates to pass through the shelter. it will again be only matter of cal culation to complete the exact cost of putting the concentrates through the smelter, to which, of course. the pro- rated cost per pound for building the smelter will have to be added
 The interests backing, these com panies have operated mines of the same character-low grade big ton mage propositions in Utah and Nevada and so are not strangers to the task in hand. With copper at the present price most any method of mining and treatment will pay dividends if the copper runs an average of at least two per cent, but with the complete preparations being made by the Ray and Gila Companies they will be in a position to work these mines at any figure at which copper may anywhere be profitably mined from low grade deposits.
 Asked as to the amount that will be spent in getting things into shape for the real work of mining as it will be carried on: the development work cost of mills, machinery. railway from Ray to Kelvin, and the many things that enter into the preparation. Mir Wiseman replied that no one can state the amount as no definite sum has been set aside. As much as is re- quired will be spent and this amount will run into the millions. Then will come the returns. As an instance of cost he stated that the new power house for the Utah Copper Company's mill at Garfield, Utah, is just being completed at a cost of S75O.000. It is likely that the one here will cost as much if not more. As this is the cost of a power house alone it does not take much of an imagination to grasp the idea of total costs.
 At Bingham. Utah. the ore is mined with a steam shovel. To do this 1t Is necessary first to remove one hundred feet of soil and rocks-dead matter as far as the mine is concerned It may be that when all the facts are at hand that the figures will show the advisability of putting such a scheme into operation in certain sections of the property here. But-and here again the importance of knowing con- ditions-if it should be found that the cost per ton of removing the waste matter added to the cost per ton of handling the ore with steam shovels would exceed the cost of running tun- nels and sinking shafts. then. of course, the cheaper way will prevail
 The question as to how long it will probably be before the work is at it's height does not admit of a positive answer. The work in every depart ment is being pushed as fast as pos sible and to say that the work will not be in, full blast until the big con- centrator and the possible smelter are built would not be true as the build ing of such mills requires larger force than their operation. On the other hand possibly not as many men will be employed in the mines during the construction period as after the mills are read- for the ore. The building of a 5000 ton concentrator is in itself an undertaking. Such a mill covers about six hundred feet square of ground.
 These two companies are now em- ploying about 300 men nthe regular work of the mines and mill and about 75 in the rebuilding of the narrow gauge railroad from Kelvin to Ray.
 The Big Lead Mining and Smelling Company was originally organized for the purpose of working, in lead and this explains why it is correctly called the Big Lead" when one would ex- pect it to be the Big Leed." The pos abilities in the copper deposit ap- pealed to MT. w. B. TwitcheIl. super intendent of the company and he per suaded the board of directors to dis pose of the original holdings and to purchase about 100 acres adjoining the Ray mines. This company. figur- ing on treating the ore with as little handling as possible. built ten stamp mill on the side of a gulch that runs west from Ray. A little higher up the side of the mountain shaft was started down. At first the ore was