Bisbee daily review. [volume] (Bisbee, Ariz.) 1901-1971, 1908-08-28
fsx Charles A. pInsmarel


more than u. This smelter is not
| standard-that is, it is not any kind
of smelter, but is rather an aggregate
of smelters, IL one may be permitted
the expression. Charles F. Shelby, su-
perintendent of the smelter, has given
years of work and thought and atten-
ton to the production of copper in the
greatest possible quantity for the
least possible money. Prior to gong
to Cananea he was in charge of the
Old Dominion smelter at Globe, Ariz.,
| where he revised the practice TO a
large extent and effected material
economies. The new Cananea reduc-
| ton plant embraces all his former
feasible ideas as well as those of many
others, he getting the latter from an
| extensive trip OF investigation, wnen
he gave every moment of time TO as
certaining why"
But there must be continuity in or
der to get the result. So, in writing
or speaking of the Cananea smeltery
one must of necessity also have in
mind the exceptionally effective and
economical methods of handling the
! ore and furnace charges. The ore is
dumped from the mine cars (this is
| the smelling ore that is not concen.
tratedD into great receiving bins and
delivered through these automatically
onto conveyor belts running into the
crusher building and past the sam
piers, this belt being of 5000 tons cafly
! capacity. The sampling mill is an
ideal plant, with every appliance that
practice has proven effective, and
there is also an ideal sampler invented
/ by David Cole, the assistant general
| mo If h.
| sampling plant the ore goes again on
to belt conyeyors TALL the conveyors
are of the Robins type) and forwarded
to the ore beds. This in its entirety
! is the essence of economy and perfec.
ton in handling ore. Each bed has a
capacity of 10000 tons, and the proper
! furnace charges are distributed
| throughout That is, there are three
of these beds. and from each the ma
terial is taken properly made up for
! the furnaces. The ore and fiuxes are
distributed to these beds by means
| of travelling belts attached to a Garner
moving from one end of the bed to the
other and the moving belt passes
along and through the carrier all the
time. There is, thus, an exact and per-
fectly uniform distribution of the ma
terials. Each bed is fifty feet wide
and $50 feet long. This manner of
bedding and making the charge has
been quite generally criticised, but aft
er seeing it operate all skeptics be-
come enthusiastic.
There is a trench at each side OF
these beds, in which is another trav-
cling belt. There is a machine called
Robins retaining machine, which
looks for all the world like tremen-
dous big rake up on end, and the my
Rad of teeth CLAW down" the material
in the bed onto the belt conyeyor in
the trench. The conveyor is started
at one end of the bed TO be used and
travels to the other end, taking exact
proportions of the entire face or the
bed from the floor to the top and thus
making a positively correct mixing of
the charge. The bedS are made up,
Of course, in layers; that Is the ore
will be distributed in layer, then the
fiuXing materials in layers, and thus,
with the retaining mechanism this is
perfectly mixed. The conyeyor belts
carry the ore to and dump It into the
furnace bins. These are above the
charging floor, and are equipped with
steel measuring chutes and gates,
through which the charge is automati-
GGlly uulDSu IlEECb 4lLJ JnE &
This whole process, and some of it
necessarily more or less intricate, is
done mechanically, and the great
quantity Of manual labor hitherto en-
pIoyed is eliminated. The coke used
in the ovens is yet brought to the
charging floor in barrows and shOveled
in by hand but this necessitates the
employment of only few men and, of
course, If there were nothing at all to
do in labor there would be necessity
for a certain number of men at the
furnaces to see that they were work
ing right.
The four furnaces now in blast dem
onstrate in the best way if the new
methods are successful, and it will be
remembered that just few days ago
Dr. L. d. Ricketts,, general manager
of the concern, stated that there was
not a better, more effective, or d
more economical .smeltery anywhere
than the one IL operation at Cananea.
| There is no question Of this. The fur
naees are familiar to all. The convert
ers are exceptionally large, possibly
/ the largest in use. They are electrical
! Is driven, handled from a central sta
! ton but of course there is travel
! ing electric crane 10 move them from
I one place 10 another. lift the top, &c.
/ Trains OF bullion moulds are run OIL
/ rectly under the converters, and the
/ bullion Is poured in the usual way
each bar weighing approximately 800
pounds n the furnace room there
are many eOnVeniences spelling econ
oBly. and this fact obtains on both
floors. They are now making about
| fIfty tons of bullion daily. This car
ries a very apDreciabIe percentage Of
gold and silver and must be shipped to
! the fefneEs Sho extract all the values.
The reyefberstOry Is doing won-sr-
I ful work n Il operated ~ fuel OH,
Z which proves emlnently satisfactory
Z The iine Gust fine concentrates. e:c.,
are being smslted IN this portion Of
/ the plant az q greater economy 1nan
{ would be believed bc-S-e Eho had not
seen the operations The materials
1 for smelling are brought 10 the reVer-
I beratorY 81 electric tram. where the
cars are transferred 10 a liff which
takes them ~ the dumping platform,
and here Il the only place where a
men - needed ID this portion 81 the
/ operation The furnace n not me
] chemically stirred, il being conceded
better practice 10 use the old method
: ~ men ard iron rpOkersi' From the
qlfes 81 The furnace there are gsais
FOL he a9Wlne cf the slage, aud - the
end Is fhe bailion spout The arrange
ments here are saeh that the slags o.
the bullion foW By gravity directly in'
TO the ears beneath, and which are