Northern Manitoba & Mining 2
This image shows the ladle of molten matt from the Reverb Furnace being dumped into No. 2 converter. There is flux added to the mix, the converter is turned back into the stack, and the process of separating the slag from the metal takes place. The slag is then skimmed off when there is a large enough amount of metal in the converter, it is then turned back into the stack for 3 - 4 hours to produce what is known as blister copper. The above photograph won the industrial category at the Manitoba Photographers Convention and Print Show in 1982.
This image is showing slag being removed from No. 1 converter. The slag is then returned to the reverb furnace which floats to the back, tapped off the rear of the furnace, then sent to the fuming plant where the remaining fumes that contain zinc are fumed off and returned to the zind process as oxide.
This image shows a small ladle returning slag back to the Reverb furnace. There was two sizes of ladles used in the converter pit, small and large. The small ladles are used for transferring of copper, and after there has been a small coating of slag in the small and large ladles, this prepares the ladle for molten copper in the small ladles, and matte from the reverb furnace. This acts as a coating or protection for the ladle. When the shell in the ladle builds up, they bump the ladles, dump the shells out which in turn are recycled to the converters.
This image shows flux being dumped into #2 converter and the small ladles which I referred to in the previous image, were used for flux or sand. The use of flux in the separation of slag from the metal was a very important element in the smelting process. In latter years we hauled flux from a pit approximately 90 miles from Flin Flon as it was classified as high silica sand, which improved separation and recovery of metal in the smelting process.
This image here shows #2 converter up on copper. This means that they had a large enough accumulation of metal to make a charge of copper, which in the 1950's and 60's consisted in 3 - 4 small ladles of molten copper after a 4 hour process of smelting had taken place. In latter years with the coming of the Gas Bay puncher which was mechanical, the days of punching it by hand, became obsolete. The volume increased to 7 - 8 ladles, which was a considerable increase of production.
The larger ladle shown in the above image contains matte which has been collected in the fuming furnaces that still contains copper, now recovered and returned to the copper converters. These ladles were very large and would only be half full so that our converter cranes were capable of handling the load.
The above image shows a vital transformation from the old overhead cranes to the new cranes which took place in the 1980's. The old crane shown in the foreground had been maintained and upgraded over the years but were showing signs of metal fatigue, therefore it was time for replacement. This was a great day for the operators as the new cranes certainly were more user friendly, the cabs were much more climatically controlled and comfortable in comparison to the old ones. Most of your electronical switching was contained in the lower section of the cabs on the old cranes. This was a great day for the smelter.
The above image also illustrates another great day forward for the smelter in the late 1970's - 80's, when the converters were switched over to the Gas Bay puncher. This brought about larger tweers. When the converters were punched by hand, it was a small bar with a head on it approximately 1" in diameter, and the new bars were approximately 2" in diameter. This certainly increased the air flow making the job considerably easier, and also help to increase production.
The above image shows Peter Popp, a long time smelter employee and known to many as the Lion's Club main ticket seller. Peter was punching #2 converter by hand, and you can see the size of the tweers in 1958. In the image above Peter, showing the Gas Bay puncher, which is mechanical, you can see the tweers are considerably larger than when they were punched by hand. Behind Peter you will notice a barrell with a bar in it, which was used for cooling the punch bars and reaming bars. The reaming bar was pounded with a hook and then pulled out with the hook. This opened the hole somewhat larger to help the puncher when he punched the hole by hand. Mechanical punchers were a great step forward.
The above 2 images were taken in 1958 before hard hats were manditory. This shows Mel Reich working the tail end on #2 converter and Fred Yausie working the head end. Each converter was always manned by 2 people, one head end, and one tail end. The head end man was responsible for turning the converters in and out and controlling air flow. If the air was not turned on and the converter was turned back in, the molten material in the converter would run out the tweers, and in turn, plugging them. This created a major problem and a lot of unhappy people because of a lot of hard work to get these holes re-opened.
The above image shows another long time smelter employee by the name of Wayne Johnson. Wayne is pounding a reiming bar into the hole to help open it which in turn will make it easier to punch. This image was taken after hard hats had become manditory. Wayne later went on to become Smelter Technical Foreman in the converter pit. One individual who understood the operation of converters and the production of copper.
When we look at this image, it makes us realize how times have changed, and also today, this is a process that no longer exists. The Gas Bay puncher, modern safety gear, quality fitting ear muffs, where at one time the puncher used cotton batten, and later ear plugs, and in latter days, quality muffs. The decibel value behind the converters was very high when you were dealing with compressed air, and punch bars going in and out.
The small ladle pictured above is being filled with molten copper which in the 1950's and early 1960's, the copper was tranferred to what was known as a holding vessel, located by the casting wheel that contained 32 molds. The holding vessel was a coal fired brick lined container similar to a converter, only on a much smaller scale. The copper was kept warm and in a molten state which maintained the temperature so the copper could be poured into copper bars weighing the neighbourhood of 420 lbs. The method of control of weight was not totally accurate.
This is the holding vessel which was located alongside the casting wheel. It was coal fired but later was replaced by a tipping device that was hydraulically controlled.
This image shows the tipping device that the small ladles were set upon, and then slowly raised pouring the copper into what was referred to as a mudded spoon which you can see located in the lower left centre of photo. These had a slag base, and the sides were mudded with a heavy clay to assist in the pouring of molten copper into the molds, and later turned over, dumped out and recycled.