Gilpin observer., 1911-05-18
ELEcrRIclrvs LATEST TRIUMPH
Marks New Era In smeitIns and
Refining Ores.
Denver, Colo, May 1Oth, 1s1

Denver, Colo, May 10th, 1911.
The Gilpin Observer,
Central City, Colorado,
Gentlemen:
In reading through the columns of
the Observer under date of Feb
ruary 9th, noticed an article under
the heading of "In the Way of Sug-
gestive" in which you point out the
conditions under which our mine op-
orators have been laboring through
out the history of mining in not only
our own state, but all over the coun-
try wherever mining Is carried on.
There certainly is more truth
than poetry" in what you have said
in the article referred to and l read
it with much interest, and now that
you have offered 1t "in the way Of
suggestive" beg leave to submit
the article enclosed, which will speak
for itself, and you are at liberty to
use it for the benefit Of our local
operators or any others who may be
interested therein.
From the information that I have
CLEANED from personal and painstak-
ing investigation, l fancy that I can
see a ray Of light ahead for us in
the conduct of our mining operations
and the possible solution OF the very
problem Of which you speak in tho
aforesaid article, and l believe it
will be we'll for we operators to delvo
into this subject thoroughly, for in
it We evidently have the key" to
the situation.
i shall be pleased to take up the
matter with you personally when
come up to Central City and will
give you a more comprehensive idea
OF what this system consists.
Yours very respectfully.
E. D. PAYNE.
The article referred to follows:
six years ago, at Newark, N. j.,
James H. Reid-of lifetime exper-
ience as electrical and managing en-
gineer all over the world for the Edi-
son, Westinghouse and General Ell
ectric companies-with Brush in per-
fecting the first arc light-with
Thomas A. Edison in his early strug-
giles to make people believe electric
lighting was commercially practicable
with Vanderpool In the early de-
velopment Of the trolly car-the man
who built the first electric light
plant in CHINA pioneer always. in
the electrical field-turned his atten-
tion to another of the greatest Of
human industries, the smelling and
refining Of ores. which, some exper-
iments led him to believe, electricity
would also revolutionize
what smelling means. is that tho
mineral as 1t comes from the earth
must first be fused or melted, be-
fore 1t can be made of any CONNER
cial value. Up to the present time
this has been done through the use
OF the blast furnace, method that
has proven itself so slow. wasteful
and expensive that about half of the
profits in the business have been
lost-and yet. 1t has made many mil
lionaires. practical demonstrations
Oh OOcoit OASo dt thS INSlu pidHt at
Newark, N. j.. show loss Of but
1-10 Of 10 Of the metallic content in
the slags).
Smelling and refining is the one
branch of the mining industry in
which the profits are practically safe
and sure and usually much greater in
proportion to the amount OF capital
invested. Mine operators must have
the ores from their mines treated.
before they receive one dollar Of in
come-a fact which capital has not
been slow to take advantage Of
and in fully 1870 to 900 OF cases.
the excessive freight, transportation
and smelling charges. has made 1t
prohibitive for the miner to operate
Take Cobalt for instance-this
region produces about one-third OF
the worlds supply Of silver and has
been absolutely without custom faci-
lities Of any kind and there is not a
metal refining plant in the whole of
Canada. The operation of the Blast
Furnace smelter at Cobalt has been
a financial failure, owing to the cost
of raw materials. (the Reid system
uses none,) and the duties and
freight charges thereon. The ores
are now shipped to distant points
at the heavy freight rate Of $1,000
per ton and upward. and to which
must be added the smelling charges
and penalties amounting in some
cases to as high as $4,000 per ton
on Cobalt ores. which are said to be
the most refractory known.
"Users of the Reid system will not
have to pay penalties for refractories