Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-03-17
SCIENCE IS BIG AID
| IN COPPER MINING
Brings About Cuts in Cost OF
Producing the Non
Ferrous Metals.
BY j. c. ROYLE. .

Special Dispatch 10 The Star.
NEW YORK, March 17.-Surplus
stocks of copper, lead ana zinc nave
Increased sharply since last Fall
Today copper production is FUZZY ul
to or above consumption. STOCKS OF
refined lead in the hands of American
and Mexican producers amount &c
above 35 900 tons, a gain OF l5.oot
tons or more as compared with las'
year. Reserve supplies of zinc nave
risen 5000 tons since last October
Silver prices are nearly 10 cents an
ounce lower than year ago.
Despite these. facts. the mining
companies are anticipating fine profits
for 1927, for science has benefited
them even more than nature.
New inventions have increased the
recovery of metals and lowered mining
costs. No matter how rich ore bodles
are, they are not assets unless their
contents can be extracted at a profit
Modern miners, therefore. lay greater
stress on costs than on values.
SeIective Flotation.
One of the great achievements
which has brought the inter-mountaln
country to the front as producer Oh
lead and zinc has been the process OF
selective fiotation. This was nrsl
tried on a commercial scale In Otah
and now is being adopted IN otne1
mining centers. The inter-mountalh
country faced a desperate situation
after the war, since silver and copper
were down while the presence OF leao
and zinc in some ores was penallZeu
at the smelters instead of bringing III
revenue.
The selective fiotation process
which utiliZes the principles or hydro-
states and involves the plane III
which the fluid surface cuts the poaies
floating in it, has made II poSsipie
for the producer to be paid FOR all ms
metals. Under the old system ne
could not be paid for both his lead
and zinc. This not only has nelped
the mine owner but it has benented
the smelling companies, which nave
built extensive custom flotation plants
in Utah.
Mechanical Equipment.
Mechanical equipment used in the
mines now has gone far toward equal.
izing the cost of mining here and
abroad, where wages are FAR lower.
The mechanical ''mu"ker" bids falf
to retire the shovel TO a minor place
in mining just as the compressed-alr
drill has supplanted the old-time sin
gle jack" or single Handwriting ham
mer. This new development hrst was
tried by the International Smelling
Co. in it's North Lily property at
Tintic. Utah, few months ago.
What Is believed to be world record
was established there, when a drift
Tor tunnel was driven at the rate of
1870 feet a week. Coal companies in
the West already have begun to equip
their properties with the mechanical
shoveler.
The undercut caving system of ore
breaking has also been an important
factor In lowering mining costs, while
mine timbers in some properties, long
a source of heavy expense, are being
replaced with steel braces, which may
be used repeatedly.
Pesumes Operations.
IT Is developments such as these
which have led to resumption of
opers lions at the old Cliff Mine in the
Michigan upper peninsula. In the
old days only ores of high copper con-
tent we've mined. Today the property
is ope~s ting on ores carrying 40 to 70
pounds OF copper to the ton. If the
operations are successful there, II
will probably mean the reopening of
mining towns scattered all the way
from Calumet to Copper Harbor.
A new process for recovering the
iron contents of the low-grade iron
oxide ore has been developed at the
College of Mines at the University of
Minnesota. This process involves the
mixing of finely pulverized ore with
coal or coke in a large chamber, which
is heated to 1000 degrees centigrade.
The oxygen in the ore combines with
the carbon of the coal. leaving the
iron mixed with about 90 per cent OF
impurities, which are later fused off
in a reverberatory furnace. This is
expected to do much for the iron ore
Industry of the Northwest.