The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-02-28
The Colorado SIM citing Investigation

The complaint of ore producers, es-
pecially the small ones, that smelters
treat them unfairly in the purchase of
their ores, is an ancient one The
large producers get along amicably
with the smelters, for through their
own technical stats they are able to
:, obtain information respecting condi-
!, lions and can discuss. the terms of
4 contracts, settlements, etc., in the light
of knowledge. With the small produc-
er, however, things are different. AS
$ casual or intermittent shipper, he
$ Is naturally in less favorable posi-
tion than the large regular customer
Moreover he does not possess private
means of acquiring knowledge of the
! smelling business and such public
!, means as are available to him he gen.
: orally ignores Consequently. he be-
:, comes readily the subject of griev
ances. That such a state Of mind
4 should exist in Colorado more than
: elsewhere is explained by the fact
: that it is region of many small mines
. and of general custom smelling bust
ness. There are neither so many mines
4 nor so much smelling business as there
f was 20 years ago, but even now there
t is no other region of silver-lead smell
| ting in the United States where the
ore supply is derived from so many
I different sources as in Colorado.
/ The complaint of the ore producers
r in Colorado led finally to a legislative
| investigation of the conditions of the
t business, which was authorized in the
e early part of 1917 The committee to
which this task was entrusted natur-
/ ally had to investigate all kinds of ore
: buying, viz by the gold mills, by the
3 single zinc smelter, by the public
samplers, etc, but it was we'll under
/. stood by everybody that the special
e object of the inquiry was the silver
lead smelters, of which the American
e Smelling & Refining company is by
far the more important The legisla-
Il tive committee wisely employed the
e services of o. r. Whitaker, an expert.
enced smelling metalurgist Of recog.
e nized standing in the profession. The
e findings of this committee, comprising
n Mr.. Whitakers report, have lately
been published.
t, The committee conducted hearings
n at which numerous shippers of ore ex
n pressed their opinions and complaints
n This was naturally more a matter O.
t, form than anything else, the real worl
e having necessarily to be done by ex
animation of the smelters' books. Thi
= was performed by Mr.. Whitaker an,
n his staff. and the bulk of the report o
,r tions committee is occupied by his re
10 port. Mr.. Whitaker conducted his in
TT vestigation as an experienced metal
lurgist would do He reports the facts
t, going infinitely into many details, no
to so thoroughly into others, and refrain
re from expressing any opinion, whicl
Or he leaves to the committee to do.
st Mr.. Whitaker found that the Colo
t, RADIO smelters realized in 1912 an av
Is erage operating profit of $1.59 per tor
lie charges and plant depreciation. II
lie 1918 the average profit was 1854. II
80 1914 it was 6S cents. In 1915 it wa.
$141. And in 1916 it was $3.50 The
re average for five years-1912-16--w
Is 1856 During this period the averag
quantity of Colorado ore smelted wa
10 little over 100000 tons per annum
e there being relatively small changes
Y from year to year Mr.. Whitake
= reckons depreciation, interest, taxes
ETC., at 81 cents per ton, giving an av-
,e erage net profit of IS cents per ton In
smelling Colorado ores during the five
e years. The total quantity of ore treat
ed by these smelters, including wha
was obtained from other states, wa!
v 3,S74,706 tons, or about 775,000 tons pc
g annum. The total value of the plants
t used in this business is estimated b!
n Mr.. Whitaker at $2,700,000.
In the face of this finding there was
: nothing that the legislative committee
o could do except give the smelters
e clean bill of exoneration. The realiza
ton Of a net profit Of only 95 cents pei
e ton as the average for five years, one
Of which included year of large wal
: profits, did not show that the ore pro
It ducers of the state were being Skin
ned" On the contrary, this meagel
Il profit represented only 4 per cent on
the value of the turnover, which will
: not impress anybody as being an ex.
I travagant remuneration out of bust
e ness wherein the smelter takes all the
risk of fluctuations in the markets fol
the metals that he buys.
t The committee figures out, however
that the net return was q per cent on
L the investment Of s2,700,000 and rather
e shakes it's head over that, though not
very severely, the committee mani
Il lfestly approaching the weakness of