The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1916-07-27


by request, for the information o
prospectors and small mine owners
and was published In the Mining En-
cheering and Electrical Record, O
Vancouver:
The average prospeetor, mine own
er or manager, and others interested
In mining on small scale, have usu
ally vague ideas in regard to the OPP
erations of smelter. Their idea.
concerning the value of an ore, as 6
rule are based on the gross returns. Il
the gross value of the ore, figured or
q full assay at market prices of met
ais. Is, say $50, and the smelter treat
ment rate Is SIS, one would at first
sight expect TO get net of SIS, and
natural to feel that there is some
thing wrong, and that all the deduc-
lions made by the smelter, which ac-
count for the difference, cover large
hidden profit-in fact that one has
been robbed. II, however, one knew
how these deductions were arrived at,
and had an idea as to what deductions
were reasonable and justified, and
what were not, he would be In bet
ter position to see what kind of deal
he was getting, and Judge its fairness
for himself
In answer first to the broad ques-
ton: Do smelters of custom ores
make exorbitant charges, or rob the
miner? l have no hesitation what
ever in answering mo" In the great
majority of cases where the charges
seem excessive there Is a good reason
back of them. This is partly due to
competition, and partly, in common
with other large business, to the fact
that In the long run 1t pays to be rea-
sonably honest In exceptional cases
exorbitant charges may be made, but
eventually they discourage production
on which the life of the smelter de. !
Ponds, and the modern policy is to en-
courage the producer with fair rates |
and so build up permanent business,
In return for the large capital invest
ment involved. While not usually
guilty of robbery and extortion, smell
ters are In business to make q profit,
and endeavor to sell to the best ad-
vantage. The small miner can hardly
expect as good rates as the large
steady producer but by knowing
about the business he can
often market his ore to better advan-
tage, and get the best contract posi-
BILE.
Smeiter Profits.
The A. 8. & r. Co, the so-called !
trust, did a volume of business in 1915
to $225,0O0,000, in which |,
heir net profit was some $4,000, 900, |,
n per cent on the turn over. OF this, +
However, nearly $400O,000 was put J
back In the form of new construction :
or 1916. The year 1915 was good .
,ear, and the profits do not look big +,
with some of the "war +
ably" stocks, The profits were very
God, much better than in many for
ner years, but they hardly look like g
Xtortion or robbery.
On over 100000 tons the average II
ct profit was about 1925 per ton. In n
british Columbia our smelters are
lrgely engaged in smelling ores from ~
heir own mines, and their total pro-
Is are from both mine and shelter,
nd the smelling profits are not sep 2,
rately given in annual reports. In n
he case of the Trail smelter, which m
eats the largest tonnage of custom a,
re- In British Columbia, this repre- n
'nts from II to Is per cent of their tr
tai only. happen to know positive ~
, from my past connection with this N
nelter that their rates are not ex- ct
rtionate on custom ores. VI
Having given the smelters fairly oh
'od character, / shall now take up
rtain points in connection with FIR,
cir operations and charges in de- IN
II. While there is no big Niger in ge
= NNNNt NhSAS aiS u lew Stldll mig Tim
RS, a knowledge of whom may be of or,
me benefit to you. he
Settlement. Fo
theoretically a smelter operates on II
idea that he takes your ore, ex- tn,
lets the pure metals from 1t, and so,
nds them back to you, charging you ces
fair price for the work of doing so. for
practice this is found to be impos- sor
le Each lot of ore can not be ext
cited separately and it's contents ces
ot separate. For economical smelt- {
an average constant mixture must las
maintained, so that before the ore of
II sees the furnace it is mixed up ma
n other ores, and since ores are but
eived irregularly, some are smelted age
ckly and others may be delayed gra
ne time In order to keep the fur is
q mixture reasonably constant. A frol
EN- different ores may be in the fit
mace at once and the metal produc- are
Is merely an average; the average O
les can be determined, but no one rail
tell what the exact loss Is on any the
ticular one of them. What the thr,
liter does is to put each lot separ- cru,
y through the sampling mill and the
W the sample, determining the exte
al content by this assay. The II Il
es can only be assumed In oanb lana