Utah Copper Mines. A Gigantic Concern.

Progress, Volume IV, Issue 9, 1 July 1909, Page 307

Utah Copper Mines. A Gigantic Concern.

The State of Utah, which now ranks fourth among the copper-producing States and tenitories of the United States, and which gives specious promise of forging even further to the front within the next few years, has gone into the eojjper-erowning business on its own account, and, within the past year, offers to the world the claims of a new copper king, who, at the age of less than 39 years, is in control of a concern which turns out 50,000,000 pounds of the metal every year. This man, who has usurped the youthful Napoleonic position hitherto occupied by Montana's spectacular candidate — F.Augustus Heinze — is D. C. Jackling, the man who has nursed Utah copper from its inception and now manages the eompletest and one of the very largest plants in the whole world. Ten years ago Jackling was employed by the Montreal owners of the Eepublie mine in Ferry county, Wash., in the erection of the immense reduction plant which didn 't reduce and which still stands as a monument to the assiduous asininity of some people who profess to know something about the business of mining. It will be remembered that this was Washington's big gold mme — its first, and, I believe, its last — woiked with some success by Patrick Clark and sold by him with more success. The failure of the mill was in no wise due to any lack o± metallurgical knowledge on the part of Jackling, but he took the subsequent fiasco much to heart and looks back with little pleasure upon his northern experience. The mine had no pay ore, that was all. Before his experience in Washington, Jackling even at the age of 28, had gained fame in his chosen profession and among other big works, had constructed the Mercury plant for Capt. De Lamar, with whom he was closely associated and who had the greatest confidence in his ability. Leaving the snows of the north in his wake, he returned to Utah, and within a few years, as the work of men are judged, has fought his way to the very pinnacle of mining success. Always energetic, master of every detail of the work in hand, he has constructed a plant at Groldfield within sight of the Great Salt Lake, that must stand for many a day as a preeminent example of what human can accomplish. Eight acres of sond concrete, covered with the ever-whirring wheels of machinery grinding into commercial product 6000 tons of ore every day. Two hundred thirty-ton train cars of product that passes each day automatically through the plant and comes out at the other end ready for the smelter. And not a pound of ore running over 2 per cent, copper. That is surely an achievement of which any man might well be proud. Jackling 's connection with the immense lowgiade porphydritic deposits of Bingham Canon now owned by the Utah Copper Company, dates back about twelve years, but it was not until he had returned from the north that he made any determined effort to solve the question of reduction upon an economical scale. In 1898 he spent many months in making an exhaustive report upon the character of the deposits and incorporated a plan of reduction which he thought would result in great profit. His backei about the same time wab afflicted with frigidity in the lower extremities, and matters fell back into a state of masterful inactivity until the year 1903. Jackling then obtained an option upon control and after many fuither delays succeeded in interesting Charles McNeil of Colorado, Spencer Penrose, a relative of Senator Boes Penrose, of Philadelphia, and a few others who were struck with his evident grasp of the situation. And that was the beginning of Utah copper. The erection of a 300-ton experimental plant was commenced at Copperton and its capacity was gradually increased to 800 tons within the next four years. The great plant at Garfield was commenced in September, 1905, and the first of its twelve 500-ton sections were started in June, 1907. Since then the progress of the undertaking has been a matter of common mining history and now, after a total expenditure of £800,000, the company has entered the list of the great copper producers of the world and Utah with unanimous consent, has handed Jackling the copper crown which he now wears with such becoming modesty.

Just a few figures regarding the amount of ore in sight at the mines, and a curtailed description of the immense plant will give some adequate idea of the great work accomplished by this man in five short years. The average thickness of the ore body has not yet been fully demonstrated, but developments indicate an average depth of about 310 feet, which is equivalent to 1,000,000 tons of ore per acre, or 60,000,000 tons of the better grade ore, and 12,000,000 tons of the lower grade ore. Of the 60,000,000 tons of Hetter grade material a body of 20,000,000 tons is fully developed; or in other words, blocked out, so that it can be accurately measured and its value definitely determined; 20,000,000 tons are partially developed, that is to say, developments have gone far enough to prove the existence of this additional quantity of material, but not sufficiently far to permit of its being measured and sampled on all sides. The remaining 20,000,000 of the 60,000,000 tons is classed as undeveloped, for the reason that its existence is only shown by a limit number of workings, most o± which are Diamond drill holes. There is also a zone of lower grade ore, averaging about 1.5 pei cent., and probably containing about 40,000,000 tons. The equipment at the mine consists of fifteen steam locomotives, nine of which are machines of 100,000 pounds weight or larger; six steam shovels, four of which are 100-ton machines, and two 70-ton ; 125 stripping dump cars, locomotives, two of which are 10,000-pound machines, the otheis being small machines for underground work. The various stripping lines and yards contain five miles of standard-gauge railway, laid with sixty-five pound steel. About 4.5 miles of additional trackage is now under construction, and, when completed, will make available dumping room for the stripping from about forty-five acres of ore. The compressor plant consist of a 300-horse power, electrically-operated, Nordberg compressor. This plant, which has a cajjacity of 6000 tons per day, is constructed o± steel and concrete, in twelve complete sections, of 500 tons each. These sections are provided with independent driving motors so that the operation of one section does not depend on the other in auy way. The general dimensions of the main building are 600 feet by 508 feet. Generally speaking, the plant is divided into three departments: Coarse crushing, fine crushing, and concentrating. The coarse crushing department consists of two sections ot a capacity of 3000 tons each in sixteen hours. Each coarse crushing section is equipped with two -No. 11/*I 1 /* gyratory crushers and two fifty-four inch diameter by twenty-inch face, belted rolls. In this department the ore is crushed dry to threequarter inch size. The fine crushing department contains thirty-six six foot Chilian mills, and twenty-four thirty-six inch diameter by sixteen inch face belted rolls. In this department the ore is crushed wet to forty mesh. The concentrating department contains seventy-two single two-compartment, twenty-inch by thirty-inch Hartz jigs, forty-eight Wilfley tables, and 1104 six-foot vanners, of the suspended type, together with necessary elevators, classifiers and settling tanks. There are twenty-four four-com-partment classifiers, and 384 nine-foot conical settling tanks. The power plant has a boiler capacity or 12,000 horse power, made up o± water tube boiler, of 500 horse power each, set in pairs. Generating equipment consists of five cross-com-pound condensing engines, two of 1200 kilowatts each, and three of 2000 kilowatts each, all direct, connected to 100 revolution 4000-volt, alternating current, generatois. Cuirent is transmitted to the mill at the generator potential, and transformed to 440 volts, for distribution about the plant. The transmission line to Bingham is supported on steel towers, spaced 400 feet apart, and the conductois are stranded copper cable. The current is transmitted at 40,000 volts, and tians formed at the Copperton mill and the mine, to 440 volts for use. No one who has not seen this immense plant in action can obtain adequate idea of its size. Ovei 1100 Johnson vanneis — or any other vanners, for that matter — in action at the same time is a sight which can be seen nowhere else in the world. They are set in twenty-three rows of forty-eight each and, as each takes up a space 7 x 12 feet, and as the whole bunch covers neaily six acres, it can be readily understood that there are some vanners. What struck us

most forcibly was the perfection which has been attained in automatic handling of the product. From the time the ore is loaded on to railroad cars by steam shovels until it is dumped into cars as a finished product, by steam shovels, at the other end, it is not touched by manual labour. Even the samplers are run automatically by a system of air compression which insures a cold-blooded sample of the product every six jiinutes during the day and night. It is unquestionably the most complete plant in the world ■fco-clay, and -the laigest of modem txiailcl I understand that concentrators at the Calumet and Hecla in Michigan and the Anaconda in Montana have greater capacity, but they are more or less antiquated in methods. In no place can the same number of vanners be seen at work. The entire plant was designed and built by Jackling. It is such men who have contributed to Utah 's greatness in the metal world, and who will continue to push her further to the front.