The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1918-03-07
BUTTE MANGANESE ORE
HAS COMMERCIAL VALUE
MANGANESE AT GREAT
FALLS PLANT.

AS the result of the visit to this city
today of C. f. Kelley, vice president
of the Anaconda Copper Mining COM
pany, work will be started at once up
or the equipment of the old converter
department of the Boston & Montana
smelter here for the production of fer
ro- manganese, now so essential to the
government for the manufacture of
steel in its war supplies. Necessary
machinery will at once be ordered,
and it is hoped to have the plant in
operation within five months, this de-
pending upon the delivery of machin
cry, according to a Great Falls CORE
spondent of the Anaconda Standard.
Five furnaces will be required, all to
be erected in the converter building,
each % by IA by IL feet. They will be
capable of handling daily $50 tons of
manganese ore, producing 80 tons of
ferro manganese, sufficient to treat
10000 tons of iron at the steel mills.
The converter building is already
equipped with electrical cranes and
with much other machinery which may
be adjusted to the needs of the new
department, all of which will facill~
tate and hasten the completion of the
plant and make unnecessary the cree
ton of new buildings. Z.
At Source of Power.
AS the production of ferro- mangan-
csc along the most economical lines is
largely an electrolytic process, the
Great Falls reduction works, being
right at the source of the states great :
est electric development, was selected
as the place for the location of the
new industry. 1t will utilize $4,000
kilowatts of electric power.
Large supplies of manganese ore in
the mines at Philipsburg and Butte
are in control of the Anaconda COM
pany. These rich deposits of the An
discarded for the reason the company
was not equipped to handle it. With
the installation of the new plant all
of this ore will become available and
its production will be pushed, thereby
furnishing employment to more men
at the mines, on the railroads and in
the smelter here, although no great
force of men will be required in this
city.
Prior to the war about 60 per cent
of the manganese used in this country
came from Russia, which supply was
cut off as result of the war. Much
of the balance was obtained from Cuba
and South America, but the shipping
situation now makes it extremely diff
ficult to obtain supplies from those
countries.
Urged by Government.
Upon the urgent solicitation of the
federal government the question of the
production of ferro- manganese was
taken up by the Anaconda company
with the war industries board with
the result that the company decided
to make the heavy investment neces-
sary to the carrying out of the plans
now under way.
One of the results of the action OF
the Anaconda company will be the re-
lease of about 100000 tons of shipping
yearly, equal to the operation of OF
! Z 5000-ton ships between America and
Cuban and South American ports, anG
making these boats available for the
trans Atlantic service, now so urgent
| ly required.
| In making this heavy investment
here the company expects that it viii
of the war, but that IL will remain as
one of the permanent industries of the
concern.
In his inspection of the plant today
the manganese plant, Mr.. Kelley was
accompanied by and in conference
with Frank M. Kerr, manager of the
Montana Power company, which will
provide the electric current; Frederick
w. Laist, manager of the Washot
smelter; John Gillie, manager of the
mines at Butte; James O'Grady, man.
ager of the Great Falls reduction
wokrs, and j. H. Klepinger, superin
tendent of the local plant.