The copper era., 1911-01-27
CLIFTON-MORENCI MINING DISTRICT
 IS AT THE TOP
Companies Here Are Making Copper At as Good Pro- fit As Many Employ
 ing Modern Methods
CHEAPER THAN VAST NUMBER
Chas. A Dinsmore Talks To Copper Era Of His Visit
 To Mines and Shelters.

Chas. A. Dinsmore, editor of the Fl Paso Mining Journal, who was 1T Clifton a week visiting the smelters concentrators and the Coronado mine left here with the utmost enthusiasm and stated that he would certainly in the future class the Clifton-Moren ci mining district very near the head of the first class producers and he also said that in future he should put the heads of the mining companies operating here right in the first clas: because, he said, while in many in. stances they were using rather anti. quated methods, because their ap- pliances were--such, they were mak- ing copper at as good profit as many having the most modern methods and were making it cheaper than the vast majority.
 "When one considers," said MT Dinsmore. "that the cost of produc- ing the copper in this district is re. duced to such a minimum it fasteus itself in the mind at once that here are the masters of the business. There is surely a vast diversity of practice here-at .he A. c. with a rather coarse concentration and teaching; with theD.C., with fne,con- centration on large scale; with the s. O., with it's dry crushing and wet process following. The smelteries are 'antiquated-there' no getting around that. I I'suppose the A. c. plant has been added to and practi- cally rebuilt half dozen times-and while they see the necessity for a newer plant, they haven't the time to go about it just now, nor the incli- nation till they shall be decided upon the "last thing" in perfect practice. The Detroit Copper smeltery, too, is of the oldest. Why when that plant was built the furnace which is p fit. long by 3 l-2 fit. across at the tuyeres was the largest in existence; and yet with it, last year, they produced 22.- 000,000 pounds, and at that using con- centrates in a blast furnace with only about ten tons of lump ore to 200 of concentrate. The Shannon is, too, an old plant; but it has been kept up very we'll, and the output is excellent. But it is in the manner of handling of the raw ores that one is most im- pressed hereafter the mining me thods. At the Arizona Copper Co.'S works the acid plant, in connection of the most interesting of studies. Here they use a silver sulphide rich in sulphur for the making of sulphu- ric acid, and then in turn use this latter makes a fine extraction from the oxide ores without excessive fine grinding. At their Longfellow, or Morenci plant, they do not use the teaching process and when they have the new unit working I feel sure the practice will be quite modern in every way. The use of the Hancock jigs in the mills on this property is interesting, too; and especially as this jig is not generally known. How ever from the record made, I am as sured that it does its work well. At the Morenci plant they are trying out MT. Porter's patented deck can vass slime tables mith excellent re- suits. This is new in concentration: but its simplicity appeals to one at once. It is in reality the old-time canvass slime table, but put one on top of the other, with l2 in battery. There is an automatic washing me chanism, and it is said the twelve deck machine does the work of 36 vanners. It saves much floor space, too, that if it shall prove as effective as now promises, it will be well re- ceived.
 "The concentrator plant of the Detroit Copper Go. is as complete as any I ever saw, and it is doing fine work. Here they believe in fine grinding, and as they get best results from their ores in this manner, they certainly have a right to their method. MT. Mills watches this plant very closely and Or Coll is all the time making experiments looking to- ward betterment. The flow sheet of this plant is exceptionally simple, and yet complete, with no unneces- sary lifts or methods. Here, too, we find science. The water they get contains sufficient acid to be a detri- ment, so they have installed and use what they call lime amalgamation, which eliminates the acids. For the water used in the mill, ton of lime is used, this being ground to impal- pablo powder and forced into the wa ter through seven l and l-2 inch hose lines connected with as many circula- ting water systems, and this thorough ly counteracts the acidity in the wa ter. To the man who looks without thinking there would be little in this-.but of course you know it took