The Winslow mail., 1923-09-21
INTERNATIONAL SHELTER
GlObe-Miami District

country, and it is safe to say that
few people in the Globe Miami Dis
trict realize that in the International
Smelter they behold one of the most
interesting, up-to-date, and UNIQUE
smelters in the country
It's production of blister copper is
tremendous and at the present time
far exceeds that of any plant on the
continent. Working at top speed the
smelter has produced as high as 90
100000 lbs. of copper in one month
Built in 1914-15. it was the first
plant designed to handle fine flota-
tiOn and concentrates, which were
shipped from the neighboring Inspir-
alton and Miami concentrators. Later
on the Old Dominion Co., at Globe,
commenced shipping concentrates and
fiue dust, and still more recent
shipper is the Iron Cap Company at
Copper Hill. Silicious ores. contain
ing oxidized copper values are receiv-
ed from Inspiration, and Superior e
Boston properties and used as con-
verter f1uX.
Owing to their nature, 1otation
concentrates, which contain Is per
cent moisture, are shipped in special
ly designed cars, with a bottom so
arranged as to make unloading a
comparatively simple matter Each
car, as it is received, is weighed and
carefully sampled. The sample is
taken by a 112 inch augur, "a holes
to the car being bored for the full
depth of the concentrates. The car
is then run into the unloading pock-
ct and unloaded through the bottom
onto conveyor belt which carries
the wet concentrate to the bedding
bins:
All silicious ore limerick (used
as fuX on the charge), and cleanings
from the plant, are unloaded FROM
ore cars into receiving bins of 1000
capacity. These products are con-
veyed from the receiving bins to the
crushing and sampling plant where,
by means of jaw crushers and rolls
they are reduced to %-inch mesh,
automatically sampled, and conveyed
to their respective storage bins to
await disposal, in the case of sill
ciOus ore, as converted f1ux and in
the case of limerick and cleanings,
as fiux on the bedded charge.
The bedding bins, where the fur
mace charge is made up, consist Of
three V-shaped steel bins, having each
capacity of 1000 tons. Concentra-
tes and f1uX are loaded into the bins
from overhead conveyor belts equip
ped with spreader which runs up
and down the length of the bin dis
tributing evenly the bed constituents.
In reclaiming, the bedded material is
dropped through the bin bottom,
equipped with removable Stats, onto
a belt below which carries it to the
storage hoppers in the dryer building.
The dryer plant consists of ten
Wedge rOasters, each equipped with
one drying and five roasting hearths,
% feet inches in diameter. AS the
sulphur content is not high enough
to require roasting off, no roasting
is attempted, and the charge is mere
ly dried, heat being supplied by oil
burners located on the fifth and sixth
hearths. The wet charge is fed in ON
the top of No. 1 hearth, and is moved
around and dropped from hearth to
hearth by rabbles, fixed to revolving
arms From the bottom, or No. 6
hearth, the dried charge drops into
hoppers and thence into electric lorry
cars, being transported in this way to
the charge floor, above the reverber-
atory furnace.
Necessarily, with such a fine, dry
charge, there is considerable busting
and were this dust not collected the
loss would be considerable, as the
calcine, as the dried charge is called
averages about 27 per cent copper.
To effect this saving, the Cottrell
system of electrical precipitation has
been installed. All dryer gases are
passed through a Cottrell treater.
This treater is situated on the top
floor of the dryer building and con-
sists of twelve sections, each contain
ing 40 treater tubes, fifteen feet long
and thirteen inches in diameter.
Down the center of each tube is sus-
pended a nichrome wire, charged
with electricity at a high potential.
Dust particles entering the tube as
sumo an electric charge and are at
tracted to the sides of the tube, where
they deposit This deposition is re-
moved by rapping the tube once
every two hours, when the particles
become detached and fall into the
calcine hOppers below.
The original reverberatory equip
ment consisted of three furnaces 120
feet long and .21 feet wide, with
capacity of 500 tons per day each. In
May, 1922, fourth and larger fur
mace, 120 feet long by 25 feet wide,
was blown in.
All furnaces are fired burning
mainly Mexican petroleum, and con-
sumo 10000 gallons daily.
The dried charge, or calcine, arriv-
ed at the feed floor above the fur
naces, is dumped into hoppers, from
whence it is fed into the furnaces by
means. of drag chain conveyors plac-
ed along either side, which draw the
charge from the hoppers and feed it
through settling pipes into the fur
mace. Hot converter Stag is poured
into the furnace through Stag spout
which enters through the arch just
in front of the bridge-wall.
The International Smelling Com
Dany, Miami plant, produced the fol-
lowing number of pounds of copper
for the last ten months of the year
1922: March, 16,76O,OOO; April, 49,
5O7 900; May, 1853, 900; June 49,,