ARGENTIFEROUS LEAD SMELTING AT LEADVILLE. 1 



INTRODUCTION. 



When Mr. S. F. Emmous intrusted me with the duty of reporting on the smelters 

 of Leadville, he directed me to insist on the mechanical appliances offering a special 

 interest, to lay special stress on the chemical phenomena of the blast furnaces, and to 

 examine carefully the different furnace products of the smelting works. The fact that 

 metals and other substances sparingly distributed throughout the mineral deposits of 

 the Leadville mining camp are concentrated in these products gave a special interest 

 in this study, which had a direct bearing upon the geology and mineralogy of the 

 district under survey. 



The fine analytical laboratory of the Survey in Denver made this study possible; 

 and I trust that the numerous new facts and discoveries resulting from it will prove 

 interesting and useful, not only to the metallurgist and miner, but also to the chemist 

 and geologist. 



In order to render as intelligible as possible the description of the plant, appa- 

 ratus, and implements used in smelting in Leadville, I took the measurement of the 

 most interesting portions, and made from them rough sketches, which were afterwards 

 completed and corrected by Mr. W. H. Lefflngwell, assistant topographer of the Survey. 

 The disposition of the inside of inaccessible parts, such as the dust chambers, was ex- 

 plained to me by the superintendents of the smelters. Some tracings of furnaces, 

 blast apparatus, and dust-chambers were kindly given by Messrs. Billing and Eilers, 

 owners of the Utah smelter; James Briertou, of the Harrison Reduction Works; August 

 Werner, of the Elgin Smelter; and by Messrs. Eraser and Chalmers, of Chicago, man- 

 ufacturers of a great number of the furnaces and smelting implements used in Leadville. 

 The full description of the crushers and blowers was also kindly communicated to me 

 by the respective manufacturers. The sketches accompanying this report, most of 

 which are drawn to scale, have been prepared from these data by Mr. Morris Bien, 

 assistant topographer, and engraved by Mr. Julius Bien, the well-known engraver. 



1 In consequence of the sudden death of Mr. Antony Guyard at Paris, France, on the 29th of 

 March, 1884, it was impossible to have his aid in the final revision of this report for the press. In 

 making this revision I have received most important assistance from Mr. W. F. Hillebrand, who was 

 present in the laboratory at the time Mr. Guyard was making his analyses. We have confined our 

 changes to obvious clerical errors in calculations, and to minor alterations of language which would 

 render his meaning clearer, changes which in no way affect his conclusions. It is possible that could 

 Mr. Guyard have been personally consulted he might have made other modifications in his report, 

 but, in view of his great experience and reputation as a metallurgical chemist, I have not felt 

 authorized to do more than offer a few suggestions in foot-notes, where his meaning seems obscure or 

 liable to be misunderstood. (S. F. E.) 



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