USEFUL METALS 



iron was introduced into the mine waters bearing copper sul- 

 phate. In one year the iron was all dissolved. Each ton of 

 iron pnnliiced from one and a half to two tons of cement copper, 

 a kind of reddish mud containing 1600 Ib. of copper in every 

 ton. There are many other methods of treating copper ores 

 as suggested and described in "Modern Copper Smelting" by 

 E. D. Peters. 



Large quantities of pyrite containing small amounts of copper 

 are annually imported from Spain. The sulphur content is usc 1 in 

 the manufacture of sulphurous and sulphuric acids. The residue is 

 concentrated and smelted into pig copper which is electroly tically 

 refined. Small amounts of copper in these Spanish ores can be 

 extracted with profit in America. The refineries also treat ores 

 imported from Mexico, Australia, Tasmania and Japan. There 

 is an interesting incident cited by James Douglas where copper 

 matte was bought at full price in Tennessee, transported by rail 

 to Norfolk, Virginia, reshipped to Tampico, Mexico, carried 

 half way across the Republic, used in the extraction of gold and 

 silver, concentrated into black copper oxide, brought back again 

 by rail and water to New Jersey, and electrolytically refined 

 with profit. The low transportation rates and precipitation by 

 electrolysis at the expenditure of less than 1/2 cent per pound 

 makes this possible. Chilian copper bars stored in English 

 warehouses have been shipped to the United States refineries 

 for electrolytic treatment, and the refined product exported to 

 Europe. The refineries can not only successfully compete with 

 those abroad, but with them also in their own marts of trade, 

 for copper refining costs less in America than in Europe because 

 our refineries are larger, better equipped, and more economically 

 managed. 



Uses of Copper. The uses of copper in the various arts and 

 industries are almost too familiar to mention. Some of the 

 salts of copper are used in medicine and the sulphate of copper 

 is widely utilized in the purification of water supplies for villages 

 and cities. It destroys the euroglena americana and other organ- 

 isms in the storage waters that give to them a fishy taste and 

 odor. 



Copper is used extensively in the various forms of electrical 

 apparatus, electric traction and power, in electrotyping, electric 

 lighting, telegraph cables, in flashing around chimneys and in 

 gutters. The alloys of copper are of great technical value and 



