Valdez weekly prospector., 1909-01-21
NEW SMEL.TERPLANT
 INTERESTS MINERS
Local Copper Magnates Hope Recent Invention Will
 Solve Difficulties


 greatly interested in new smclting project. Several mining men, now in Seattle, are inspecting the propo- sitlon with view of utilizing it on their own property. The plant is comparatively inexpensive, and ac- cerding to the following description published in the Seattle Times of re- cent date is successful of operation:
 If d new process cf smcIting ore which was exhibited publicly for the first time yesterday afternoon at West Seattle proves as successful commer- clally as it appeared to be at the dem onstration, it will rcvolutionize the mining industry of the world, in the opinion of several of the mining men who saw it.
 "Ihe demonstration took place at a small shelter erected for the purpose on the west side of the bay, by the Gold Creek Mining x Smelling Co.,. which owns the patent to the process.
 Copper ore Was dumped into the top of the furnace. and half an hour later vas taken out in what thc in- ventor asserts is much purer form than that in which it comes from any other smelJcr in the country. The emcIting is done by what is called a hydro-oXygen-carbon process. The heat, instead of being generated by coke and charcoo. which ale cxpen sivc as fuel, is ma by the union of crude oil with stca and air, produc- ing a temperature of 5,2C0 degrees Farenhcit, or twice that in an ordi- nary shelter The heat comes in from the top, and passes ovcrthc heap of ore in one end of the furnace and then over another pile in the other end. It is in the utilization of the heat wasted in smelting the ore in roasting it at tho other end, where much of the economy of the process is said to be.
 "According to Cation. the inventor, 90 per cent of the valuable mineral in this country cannot be touched be- cause of the expense of handling it by the present process of smelting. One drawback of the process in Use is that only the highest grade ore can be handled profitabIy by it. Besides, the cost of erecting smcltcr runs from 3IOO,OOo to S5,0Oo,CoO.
 "As compared to this, one of the new smcltcrs, with a capacity of 50 tons, can be erected for $6,OOO. All the material required for it's cOnstruc- tion can be hauled to the most inac- ccssiblc mine without much cost, and be erected at the spot. Then the re- fined ore may be shipped at compara- lively little oXpeuse. If necessary, it can be taken out on pack horses. At the present time it is impracticable, except in q few instances, to erect a smeltcr on the ground, owing to the great expense, and to transport the ore by railroad or steamship is costly. Often 1t is impracticablc to build q railroad to q mine.
 "It is said, for instance, that the Tubal Cain property in the Olympic mountains, owned by Frank Han ford, Samuel Hill and associates, and rich with very high grade ore, is valueless as it now stands, owing to the impossibiity of reaching it with present transportation facilities, If the new smelting process is all that the inventor claims for it., this dihi- culty could be obviated, and this mine, Ike thousands of others all over the country, will be made avail able.
 Sherwood Gillespie q local insur- ance broker, Is so interested in the new process that ho intends to erect one of the smelters on some mining property he has in the Methow dis trict. He says he recently received a letter from mining man telling of 7o,0OO tons of copper ore, which could be smelted by the new process, that now lies yalucless on the dump of one Denver mine"