BEST TONNAGE AND COST RECORDS "The record month as regards both tonnage and costs was January, 1909. In this month we smelted: Flue dust 4639 tons Calcines. 2711 Silicious ores. 359 Fluxes. 440 Total 8149 " "An average of 263 tons per day.
"We used 7003 bbl. of oil, of which 3102 bbl. were recovered as an equivalent in steam, and 3901 were charged to smelting.
"The charge contained 7.13 per cent. copper and 7.51 per cent. sulphur; the matte contained 4o per cent. copper, and the recovery of copper in the matte for the month was 95.97 per cent. The slag had the following partial composition: Per CuO. 0.41 SiO2 41.20 A1203 11.00 FeO. 34.60 CaO. 7.3o "The net cost per dry ton smelted, including cost of fluxes, was $1.29 per ton, after $0.67 per ton had been deducted from the gross cost on account of steam credit." The results as given by Dr. Ricketts show the value of fuel oil for metallurgical operations, and while the cost per dry ton smelted is very low as compared to that when using coal, it is estimated that it can be reduced to $1.40 per ton, or even lower, by the use of economizers in the boiler stacks, thus further utiliz ing the heat of the waste gases by increasing the temperature of the boiler feed water.
This company found that a notable reduction in labor was effected by changing from coal to oil fuel; that about three barrels of oil were equivalent to a ton of coal, and that the evaporation of water into steam in the waste heat boilers was so% of what it would have been had the oil been burned in the boiler furnace.
The use of oil in reverberatory practice requires a burner giving a long flame, and not too rapid com bustion in the front part of the furnace. These are readily obtainable. During the year 1908, The Texas Company contracted with the Cananea Consolidated Copper Company for oil fuel in amounts not exceeding 35,000 barrels per month, and is prepared to act in an advisory capacity with prospective users of oil fuel in connection with reverberatory furnaces, roasters, dryers, boilers, etc.