Big Bug Smelter
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Unknown Unknown 1600.0104.0005.jpg M-104 B&W 1600-0104-0005 m104pe Copy Negative 4x5 Historic Photographs 1895 Reproduction requires permission. Digital images property of SHM Library & ArchivesDescription
Big Bug Smelter, 1895. Above Mayer, Yavapai County, Arizona Territory.
The art of smelting was based on the age-old principle that most valuable metals (gold, silver, copper) are much heavier than the common rock-minerals that often contain them. When ore was heated in a furnace until the rocks attained a liquid-state, heavier metals sank to the bottom and formed a valuable mixture known as “matte.” Lighter materials that remained rose to the top and formed a waste product or “slag.” By skimming off the slag and isolating the remaining matte, the metals were separated and extracted from the rock. Additional chemical processing steps would then need to be employed for maximum extraction depending on the type of ores to be obtained.
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