The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-01-17

washed on innumerable tables, re-
ground again. and finally put through
an acid and flotation process to pre-
vent the escape OF the smallest par
ticles of copper Then the concen'
trate of native copper is hauled ano-
Their mile from the mill to the smelter
where it is roasted, treated by cleo
trolysis, and cast into cakes or bars
or slabs, as the customer requires
Most of il is shipped to New York
For every ton of ore that is blasted
down in the mine-for every 1000
pounds-there is extracted just 70
pounds, or per cent of copper The
remainder, 1880 pounds, goes into the
lake.
To the reader of this technical mag
azine these statements sound like the
elementary instruction of mining
college. | am telling it just as ! do
to every committee from the southern
farming or city district of the lower
peninsula of Michigan when they come
% visit US and want to see a mine.
They have no conception whatever OF
the enormity of the problem that
takes speck of copper from a point
a mile or two from surface and puts
/. down on the New York dock at a
profit and too often our high grade
technical engineer passes over these
details without a thought, giving no
consideration to the things that are
so obvious to him, accomplishments
in which he himself has taken a part;
accomplishments that are so much
a matter of reality that he fails to
appreciate their importance because
of their familiarity.
A year ago all this was done at a
cost of ten cents per pound Now
the cost is higher probably 10 cents.
That is due to the rise in wages and
the increased cost of everything that
is used in the operations. The Calu-
met & Hecla for itself and ten sub
salaries, employing $4,000 men, has
just announced a continuation of the
10 per cent bonus and the cents per
diem increase in pay for another six
months.
In the early days richer ore closer to
surface was worked. Then the miner
got 100 pounds from every ton, and
lost 80 pounds in the stamp mill, and
thought nothing of it. Now this old
failing is being worked over again and
1t is paying better that a new mine
That fact alone illustrates the metal
lurgical progress made at this Won
derful mine. With the greater depth,
with the leaner ore, it has been a
mans problem to keep this great cor
poration up to it's standard of earn
ing capacity. And the man who took
charge of this property when it seem
ed to be going the way of all mines
was Michigan product, James Nc
Naughton, now the first vice president
OF the company. Today the total cost
OF mining and of bringing the ore to
the surface through a mile or two of
workings is one dollar per ton. And
the miners are the best paid workmen
in the world. Today their average
wage is IS and many of my miner
friends are cashing contract checks
that run better than $3.50 per month.
But the most wonderful thing about
the Calumet & Hecla is its paternal-
ism. When we had strike here a
rev years ago, the only one in the
history of the enterprise that amount
ed to anything the cry of too much
paternalism was raised. But it failed.
as did the last dying effort of the
Meyer Mahoney gang of the Western
Federation agitators. The paternalism
s not ostentatiously displayed, but it
$ none the less practical and effect
We II gives the Calumet & Hecla |
he finest class of miners to be found
anywhere.