170 



MOA TANA 19U 



copper. And when the Butte and DuUith plant has reached its fullest devel- 

 opment its capacity will have been i.ooo tons of ore daily and about 40,000 

 pounds of commercial copper. 



It may be interesting to tell here the story of the starting of the Butte 

 & Duluth plant, the largest yet built of the kind. A year and a half ago 

 Captain A. B. Wolvin bought the Brundy group of claims southeast of Butte. 



He had organized the Butte 8c Duluth company with the in- 

 The Story tention of mining the ground in the regular, old-fashioned way. 

 of the Great Then he carefully studied the situation and determined that 

 Butte & the big bodies of oxidized, low grade copper ore might be 



Duluth. treated successfully, and more economically, by the leaching 



process. That was the starter for the present leaching and 

 electrolytic plant. 



The property was carefully prospected. Pits, shafts and cuts were 

 worked, proving the continuity of the big ore bodies. Experts declare there 

 are 20.000,000 tons of ore to be mined in the property owned by the Butte 

 & Duluth company. In the 70 acres owned by the company there are 



Open Face Mining in the Butte and Duluth. 



2,000,000 tons in sight and easy to be mined. One thing that makes it 

 good leaching ore is the fact that it carries no other values but copper, and 

 it runs on an average of about 45 pounds of copper to the ton. 



After many experiments a process was evolved which means practically 

 the complete saving of the copper values. And today Butte & Duluth is 

 producing and shipping copper at a cost of just about 10 cents a pound. 

 W'hh the enlargement of the plant experts declare this company can pro- 

 duce the red metal at not to exceed 6 cents per pound. 



It is interesting to look ahead a little in this new industry and make 

 some estimates. Estimating on a basis of 15 cents as the price of copper, 

 and on 50 pounds to the ton, which will probably be nearer the average 

 than 40, as rich bodies of ore have recently been enronn^ered, 

 Looking to and also estimating on the minimum basis of 20.000 nrvi tons 

 the Future of ore. this A\T)uld give 500.000 tons of finished copper 

 Brings a which, at S300 per ton, would mean that Butte & Duluth car. 

 Smile. Bee in future $150,000,000 as returns from its ore. 



— Montana markets make Montana profitable. 



