The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1914-01-30
QUICKSILVER PLANT
ABOUT READY TO RUN
Nevada Cinnabar Company's
New Works Are Best In
the Country.
OWNED BY SALT LAKERS
Cost Over 100000; Opera
tons VIII Begin About
First Of March.
OWNED BY SALT LAKERS

Fifry-dve miles southwest Of Austin
New, at lone, Nye county. the nrisNi.s
touches are being put on what ID prov
aoly the finest and most complete os
cause the latest, quicksilver furnace IN
the country. II is the property OF 'iie
Nevada Cinnabar company. composed
chiefly Of Salt Lake people. E. A. sweet
heIns one Of the prime movers IN the
.n,s-nr3se and president OF the COM
pany.
This furnace IS OF the SCOTT pattern,
haffle plate type. and IS consuue'eu VI
steel and brick. or the latter more tii"' u
400. 600 made on the ground, were uSeo'
and the furnace and accessories colnp'e'0
will cost a llttio over 100000 Every
thing In the handling of the ore, from
the time II leaves the mine, is auto
matte and operated by electricity, wntcn
is eenerated In a power plant using
crude oil for fuel. Each piece OF ma
chlnery operating independents
driven by an individual motor: Inc Si,, .u,
mace vii! handle fifty TONS OF ore 49,
roasting 1t and EXTRACTING LAG
Tho process of separating the quick
si,yer from the ore In which IL Us fouiln
disseminated Is an interesting on ere 10
q Temperature of about 900 degrees;
when the quicksilver is vepori5ed ana
rises Iike steam or heated air, In ptacl
tIce, the problem is 10 catcn ai'u ,,,fcT.
silver. or mercury. In the same way
that steam condenses Into water. ana 10
do the roasting and condensinS III 49,
sufficiently economical tha, o,,i,SeiIver
ing only or, : per cent. cent OF qui0'''
can be treated at a profit 49,,
The old plan was TO use retor'' tne
ore being roasted III pan IN an oven
that in general ,v;rs way en,"sS" eIoseS top.
into which the quicksilver yapor as
cended. thence passing through a H,eu5
coil In a cooling tank, from WaicI -
emerged the liquid quicks!lyer ,,9 1I con roar-
cur all right, but It was so expensive.
cumbersome and slow that only ores
running 10 10 per cent quicssilNer anu
higher could be handled proflta ply.
The new furnace consists oi an up,
right compartment, in which are placeo
obliaue alterna ting wings OF hre orlck
known as battle plates. around ana
among which circuls ties the neat lIoIn
as II does around the coils OF a COM
mon IA burning water heater. from a
bin above the furnace A nNed cnatse
Of the ore is dropped 10 thsse paa'es >
has been there long enough TO extract
the quicksilver passes out below ana
the operation Is repeated rhe ore
contains good deal OF sulphur ana 5I
Itself contributes much OF the tuel tor
its own burning. In tins type OF fuT-
mace the vaporized quicksilver passes
Into a series Of cooling cha nlbers' where
Il is condensed and deposited
land containing these deposits; The
quicksilver is found disseminated in
great intensive area OF rhyoite gen
erallv pale yellow in color with occa
,,,I ad
of all sizes and varying In color from a
pale pink 20 n brilliant rermilion- IL
is soft and easily mined and lies so near
the surface that II will be taken OUT
Lake City by merely shooting II oown
In open cuts and hauling 1t out. Be-
fore going TO the furnace ii goes through
crusher, which leaves no pieces larger
Sir Sweet says there is now ore enough
blocked out in the mine to run the mill
steadily for two years, and that their
territory Is as yet only scratched
property about ten months. which time
has been devoted 10 development work
md TO the building. OF the reduction
plant above described. The former
with the more primitive methods. had
taken out a considerable amount Of
quicksilver. but could work at a profit
only the small streaks OF high-grade
ore "!isie cas- Win tlie iS" iul nae anu
equipment. ore carrying only. half OF
ner. cent quicksilver can be worked
profiiably-
The furnace is practically completed.
the ore bins are done. the ore dryer and
mine cars are ready. and all that re-
mains 20 be done before the plant can
he started Is some electric installation.
which will be finished In q short time.
II is expected everything VIII be In
readiness 10 run hy the first OF March.
The expense Of running the plant will be
only about s75 day and trea ting 7
per cent ore should yield large and GER
tain profits. The present selling price
NJ quicksilver is $40 q flask OF seventy
five pounds.
In addition 10 the many uses TO which
quicksilver IS put In this country and
Europe, the japanese use IL In the maxi
ing, by q process known only 10 them OF
a high explosive which enters into the
manufacture Of a gunpowder made I'm
lnf