The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-11-01


signs fail, the copper metallurgist will
be replaced by the industrial chemist
or the chemical engineer. A great ad-
vance has been recorded in copper
metallurgy during the last 80 years,
but still greater achievements will
soon be chronicled.
The first great change that will take
place will be the substitution of cleo
tricity for all other forms of power
and also for carbaaceous fuel in the
smelling of the ore except in those
cases where carbon reduction Is ne
cessary The electricity will be gem
Grated either at hydro electric plants
or at the coal mines.
The identification of the Butte, An
aconda & Pacific railway and the Chi
cago, Milwaukee & ST. Paul railway,
in Montana, has been accompanied by
such a great financial saving that as
the great war is over the attention of
the whole world will be called to the
electrifcation of its railroads. In the
east there are several examples of
electrified railway terminals, Coal
mines even now would be used as
generating stations for electrical pow
er. Electricity is transmitted 800
miles in any direction without great
line loss, so that generating stations
at mines 800 miles apart would solve
the problem. 1t is not too much to
expect that electricity will be trans
mitted 1000 miles without serious loss.
Today there are known coal deposits
at sufficiently frequent intervals across
the American continent to permit the
above scheme to be carried out.
Another important discovery will
doubtless be made. namely, method
of converting heat directly into cleo
tricity. Then electricity will be by
far the cheapest source of power and
will be applied in all branches of cop
per metallurgy.
The advocates of conservation Will
soon put stop to the present waste
full system of hauling coal to haul
coal All railroads will be electrified.
The next step will be to discover the
method Of really Harvesting the light
ming. The apparatus required will be
simple and the amount of power avail
able tremendous.
In metallurgy proper the complica-
ton of processes now in use will be
discarded and the model smeltery of
today will soon be regarded as crude
and wasteful affair One simple OPP
GRAFTON will extract the metal from the
ore and put 1t in the form of matte
which will then be treated chemically
for the extraction of all its constitu-
ents. OF course, in many localities
even the smelling operation will be
omitted and the ore treated chemical
ly from the start. In very favored in
stances the ore will be treated in
place.
The wire rope tramway will disap-
pear and ore will be transferred from
side to smeltery by giant
aeroplanes that will act like enorm
ous hawks selling their prey and car
rying 1t away In their talons. In those
plants where smelling is practiced all
gases will be purified, separated one
from the other and saved. Nitrogen
and its compounds will be most i'm
portant by-products of the smeltery.
Sulphuric acid and condensed sulphur
iioxide will be regular products of
every large plant. The farmer will
the smeltery to his locality
Tor two reasons; In order to bring him |
4 good market close to the farm for |
MS product and to make cheap fertil-
ger available, for the smeltery will |
soon be the chief producer of COM
olete fertilizer, of which arsenic will |
De an important constituent. All the
are metals will be saved and such /
common metals as zinc /
md aluminium win add to the revenue
II every up to date plant Refineries
will preferably be built near the source
,f power.
The labor question will be largely |;
solved. Capital will be considered as
cold storage labor. 1t will not regard