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

must judge its fairness by circum-
tanees. 1t is, however. not a dishon-
est deduction in principle--it is a
question of amount.
Marketing Charges.
What Is a fair marketing charge
This Is rather a knotty question to
answer. Let us see what marketing
charges consist of. Refining either
lead or copper is usually considered
as part OF the marketing. Copper re-
fning probably costs about hc per
pound in the east, and somewhat
higher In the west, depending on la
Dor and electric power costs largely,
as we'll as the scale of operations, say,
not over Nc. Freight from the west
to New York would account for an
other u to &c. Three months inter-
est brokerage and commissions bring
the total up to " to nc for the big
fellows. while the smaller smelter
might be out &c or even more. On
custom ores the deduction Is usually
from 3 to &c per pound. In general,
the smelter probably plays safe on
this and makes from We to 1c per
pound, equivalent to from soc to soc
per ton on 3 per cent ore. high
deduction on this account is all right
II the treatment charge is low by a
corresponding amount.
In the case of lead, refining is less
costly, being a minimum of O.2c per
pound under favorable conditions of
cheap fuel and labor In the west IL
might run up to 0.5c. Freight would
be to the east, where the chief market
is. another 05c or 0.6c, besides selling
expenses. The Trail smelter deducts
1c per pound for marketing, on which
II evidently makes no profit. Ameri-
can shelters usually deduct 1Ac to
| Nc on which, with better market
they should make con-
siderable profit, and can make appar-
entity low treatment charges on ore in
consequence. There Is a mutual tar
n wall between Canada and the
United States on lead; hence market
ng conditions are somewhat artificial
whereas In copper there is free in |
exchange. Lead ores as shipped usu-
lily contain from rs to 70 per cent
cad, whereas copper ores run from
r per cent up to not over 10 or Is
er cent, hence the marketing charge
n lead usually figures out much
igher per ton of ore, even though
ass per pound of metal 1t therefore
'oks much worse than 1t Is. In fact,
Is surprising that miners will
heerully pay &c per pound on cop <
err and yet make vigorous objection
lie per pound on lead, which Is q I
luch more favorable charge. The
JASON is probably because 1t looks /
orse per ton of ore. The difference I
plain. S
Metal Deductions.
Shelters usually make deductions /
ON the metal assay to cover losses
smelling. In the case of copper,
sses are chiefly in the Stag, and
lrtly mechanical, handling, flue dust,
c. Stag in the furnace seems to hold I
certain minimum amount of copper
trying to some extent with the grade
the ore Considering all the opera n
pms, the loss seldom runs much be- t
W O3 per cent, and be considerably !
ore on high grade ores. We may /,
Ike O.S per cent as a fair average de- 5
Iction on which the smelter Is not Z
aking much, If any, profit Except -
high grade ores, 20 to 80 per cent +
PIPER or more, any deduction over o
out O.S per cent, represents a profit 8
the smelter. In many cases it will -
found that the smelter is making a O,
duction Of to 1.3 per cent, usually az
tn a low treatment charge to cor az
'pond, since few smelters would it
We the nerve to make this deduction OF
d full treatment charge as well. "
rhe reason for making this high a.
iuction is three fold: First, 1.3 per %
1t is an old standard deduction that
) been adhered to, and the differ 80
'e made up by reducing the treat
mt charges.
'econd, low treatment charge
ks attractive, many miners scan
g that more closely than the de-
tions; the treatment charge may an
n be zero, which looks very fine. tol
bird, the price of copper. The n,
'iter is evidently making a profit da
per cent copper, or 20 pounds. At lin
net per pound the smelter is get ~. .te
$2.4O per ton Of ore, and at 24c sa,
s getting $3.50 per ton. Your
tment charge is automatically ris- sc.
with the price of copper. Fine for !
smelter on a rising market, and =
versa. On the 24c price 0.3 per 1
deduction and $3.50 treatment is WE
valent to 1.3 per cent deduction --
zero treatment. In the latter
you are getting your ore treated
nothing, 1 don't think The cathode II
is hc less than electrolytic. W
'ad deductions are on quite a diff &
ut basis, chiefly because lead and
compounds, unlike copper, are
tile at the usual furnace and
ting heats. Lead shelters make
'us rates. The Trail smelter pays