Copper From Green Water

One of the most iiiteresting sights in the great miniug town of Batte is the process by which copper is caught froni the fimerald colored water that flows from the Anaconda and St. Lawrence mines. It is estimated that this water, which for fonr Dr five years went to waste, ia now bringing the Anaconda cornpany $80,000 a month at a cost of about $1,000 a month. At the present time several acres of ground are covered with wooden vats. These are filled with all the old scrap iron they cuu hold. It has proved a splendid scheme for disposing of the tons and tons of old irou the company has accumnlated for years. Old hoisting cages, water pipe, wheelbarrows, railroad iron - in fact, any old thiug that consists of tin or irou - is approprated to this service. It is said for every pouud of iron put into a vat a pound of copper is produced. Where the water first attacks the iron, the copper absorbs the iron completely within three weeks. After the precipitatiou is effeoted the water is drawn off and the slimy copper is transferred to another tank, whore the water is further druiued off. These latter vats hold about 15 tons of the copper, whioh now has the appearance of a clayish substance. This is sacked into packages of about 100 pounds. When in this shape, it is sent to the smelters iu this city. Thu product carries an average of 80 per cent pure copper. The irou remaining in it makea a fine flux, and wheu mixed with other smeltiug ore it is said to bring the ore up to a valué of about $300 a ton. The water from the mines is the most profituble product of the Anaconda