ed with Warner Brother

Department Head - Dr. Christa Hockensmith
s. It was the Silver City Reduction Works, the pride of Silver C
ity and which fro

a brief time was a boon to the economy, making mining in the Grant County possible in those early years. Some 60 years later, there is nothing left of the operation. The Silver City Reduction Works went by several names before it was finally scaped. It was origina

lly build by the Hearst family to handle gold and silver ores hauled from their Pinos Altos mines. This were difficult years for the operation, and a final crunch came in 1902. The plans was handling just about every ore it could get - custom smelting included. And that meant copper was among those ores. Copper, in fact, was such a vital part of the smelter's daily operations that depressed copper market conditions forced a closure of the smelter. That was in April. On June 30, 30, 1903, the plant caught fire and was leveled. Silve

r City's hopes were dashed since the whole operation was going to be sol

• d and once again put into productions. The sale took place anyway, a
  The GC-MS separates and detects gas samples containing small amounts of explosives, other energetic materials and propellants, organic molecules and inorganic molecules.
• nd Comanche Mining Smelting Co. was the new owner. The r
  eduction works were build on a larger scale. In 1906, the newspaper had this to say: "The big red building in which this
• ponderous machinery is housed is 72 feet high and is by f
  ar the most imposing structure in theses parts, being 63 feet in width and 122 feet long. "A metallic conveyer will carry the ore from the bins to the large crusher, from whence it will be elevated... the oversize of this going to the picking belt were boys and men will be employed to pick out
• the different classes of ore that is to
  go direct to the smelter. "The water for the mill will be pumped from the arroyo, which passes through Silver City and past the smelter... The little Silver City, Pinos Altos & Mogollon railroad hauled ore to this smelter, but only briefly. Comanche was absorbed by Savannah
• Copper Company which o
  perated the plant for a short time. Even at first, Savannah was caught up in the dream that first captured the Hearst family, and later the Comanche Co. Savannah made some improvement at the plan, and the smelter could allegedly handle between 250 and 300 tons or ore per day. Like Comanche, Savannah was also interested in buying ores from small mining operation
• s. Again, the Independent - the weekly predecessor to the Daily Press - had thi
  The FTIR-ATR applies infrared light energy over specified wavelengths to the sample to help in the identification of molecular structure with organic fragments of molecules. Different fragments are found in specific areas along the energy continuum. FTIR-ATR can be used for solid, liquid, and gas samples. Most compounds containing carbon and hydrogen can be identified as well as energetic materials and common household products.
• Particle Size Analyzer (PSA):
  s to say in 1908: "The main ore supply will be drawn from the company's mines, but custom ore will be purchased and fair and square treatment accorded the miner," it said. The whole operation - like the narrow-gauge railroad - never really panned out. The operation was id
• le for several years until 1913. T
  The LCWS is a cutting facility with a femtosecond pulse. Because the pulses are so fast there is no heat created and therefore highly energetic materials can be cut and shaped without detonation occurring.
• hen, Romaine Fielding and the Lubin Motion Picture Company came to town, and the abandoned smelter caught the director's eye. "Sundy was a thrilling day for the Silver City people," said the Independent tha

Other equipment available:

• t year. "The Lubin Co. enacted a drama at the smelter below town, blew up
• the narrow gauge railroad bridge and two large water tanks and inci
• dentally furnished amusement for 2,0
• 00 people scattere
• d over the surrou
• nding hills watching the interesting events.
• " Fielding directed a mock labor riot at the smelter and 200 actors rushed up the hill behind the smelte

r and set fire to the water tanks. As they rand down the hill, the tanks blew up. "The site was a beautiful one, the tanks being shot fully 200 feet in the air and the rioters and spectators were covered with a shower of slingers and rocks." Later, when part of the narrow-gauge railroad was to be exploded, the cap didn't go off. Undaunted, Fielding grabbed a pistol and fired at the dynamite. The following day, and old oil house near the smelter w

as also blown up as part of the bridge scene. Today, there isn't much left of the operation. Large black slag piles are gradually being hauled away from Grant County's driveways and highways. The "Big Ditch" is filled with illegally dumped