Montana oil and mining journal. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1931-1953, 1939-09-23
Building of Wushoe Smelter at Anaconda i'm 1902
One of Most Colossal Tasks Montana Has Seen
Rr EDwARp B. REYNoLDs

Anaconda is a name that is syn
Onymous with copper, because in
Anaconda is the worlds greatest
copper reduction works. Here a
large portion of the worlds supply
of copper is turned out, smelted
from ore mined mostly in Butte.
Into this smelter has gone the
genius of some of the worlds
greatest metallurgists and engi-
neers. Since the building of the
present smelter, changes and ad-
vancements have been made so
that the old-timers who created the
ORIGINAL works would be amazed If
thew could see the sharp contrast OF
the works as it was then and now.
Nevertheless, great credit should be
given the old-timers for their vision
and daring in creating the. gigantlc
plant which they launched In 1907.
It is interesting to recall the en-
thIIsiasm with which they launched
their enterprise, especially In the light
of present day Developments Today
there are many departments mcludlng
a zinc plant, phosphate plant, acld
plant arsenic plant and otnerS: over
al JoWSAS e41S huSS Sse'~N' W.
high.
the present Smelter was carried IN the
1903 New Years edition of the Butte
Inter Mountain This account presents
the problems faced by the builders OF
the Smelter and shows their daring
enthusiasm much more clearly than
writer of today can recall It,, The de-
scription of the smelters, which had
lust started operations follows:
ION a low-lying hill east of the city
and thanking the valley of Warm
Springs creek, on its southern SIDE,
Just at the point where that vale Is
merged into the valley of the Deer
Lodge, there stands a group OF giant /
buildings that covers the area OF a
good-sized town. From them rise huge /
smokestacks, each 200 feet high. The |
buildings are dwarfed somewhat /
against the mass of hills that slope |
upward to the south, so that one |
hardly realizes their immense size un-
the impression gives no adequate idea
of size; one must wander over the 800
acres they cover and tramp from end
to end of the great buildings to learn
their magnitude. Even from the main
line of the Butte, Anaconda q Pacific
railway at the foot OF the NILS one
structure which is more than 800 feet
long and about that distance wide,
seems of but ordinary size against that
background and in such large COM
pany.
Capacity Is Increased
"These buildings about which cluster
host Of smaller auxiliary structures,
each as large as some factories, form
the WaShoe smelling works, better
known here in Anaconda as the new
works. to distinguish them from the
original smelling works of the Ana
conda Copper Mining Co. that stretch
along the northern side of the valley
for a mile or more. OF capacity greater
even than that of the old works, the
new, equipped with most modern ma
shinery and labor saving devices,
ihough covering wide area, IN reality
are more compact than the old.
For q year the new works have
0een employed grinding up the ore
rom the Butte mines at a rate OF s
600 tons a day, smelling 1t and from !
{ making copper There is no reduc-
ion plant like this elsewhere in the I
world; none so big, none so modern. I
n very truth it Is the greatest Smelt- {
ng plant in the world as Anaconda /
,oaStS. 6
June 18, 1900, the first earth was S
urned for the construction of this
)lant; less than 10 months later the t
whole great system was in operation /
hough it took the strenuous efforts 7
# 300 men to bring about that con- c
fusion. g
Facts and figures are dry things, +
'ut only from them can one get an T
dea of what these works really mean. {