Lead Mining and smelting in 1948

[Traffer]

I found this interesting video documentary of Lead mining and smelting in 1948. At the end it mentions many of the various uses of lead in that day. Almost none of them use lead anymore. So the need for lead is far less now than it was then. This probably keeps the value low ...good for us boolit casters.

[birdadly]

That was awesome to watch. Thank you for finding it and sharing. -Brad

[Hickory]

This is how lead is smelted, after it comes from the ground in its raw form and is reduced to useable forms of lead.
Any melting of lead after that is melting lead. There are no lead smelters in America anymore. All you lead smelters out there over glorify yourselves.

[pjames32]

Great video. Thanks for posting!

[johnho]

Great video, thanks. In my early years of being a mining engineer I worked at two underground lead-zinc mines, one in NM and one in CO. One of the things I enjoyed was going underground and going into the work areas and helping the miners drill with the pneumatic drills. Spent many hours on those drills. Other times I would help them load the rounds drilled out. In the movie they showed two ways to detonate the powder, electric caps and cap and fuse. I've used both but in one mine we used a lot of cap and fuse. When a new batch of fuse came in the "powder monkey" had to cut off several pieces and time the rate of burn and post the rate of burn of the new fuse. Fuses were then cut to various lengths as this was the way to "time" the shots. All the holes could not go off at the same time but had to be sequenced to allow the rock to move out of the way for the next row of holes to go off.

Now for some useless trivia. When the fuses had to be lit by hand individually both miners would start lighting the fuses in the right sequence. Sometimes, but rarely, a fuse would be defective and burn very rapidly instead of slowly. this was called a "runner". Now a miner always kept an open knife in his teeth with the blade pointed out that if a runner did happen he could quickly cut the fuse and save the round. If he couldn't cut it, well, run like hell. When it didn't happen each miner would watch the fuses he was lighting and when the fire in the fuse (you could see the black outer covering melting as it progressed) entered the front of the drill hole he would yell "Fire in the hole". That's when there was no stopping the round from going off.

And that's the origin of the phrase "FIRE IN THE HOLE".

[Lloyd Smale]

and we worry about lead exposure! Those guys had to carry an extra 20lbs just in lead in there systems.

[Lloyd Smale]

got to wonder too. As there is no more smelting in the US if I put away a ton of what I have now if my great great grandkids would find it as valuable as silver is today.

[lightman]

That was an interesting video and history lesson. Johnho, that was an interesting bit of trivia about blasting. I've been around dynamite a little, mostly blowing tower foundations, beaver dams or stumps. There was no timing needed. Reading about rigging your holes and timing the shots was interesting.

[1616s16]

Great flick the old way today no way
16s

[popper]

Kinda like the Hutchinson, Ks salt mines.

[sw282]

Stopped at Gradys Sports in Anderson SC after a Silhouette match in Gainesville Ga...Gradys had lead shot for sale. 25lb bag was $45-from Peru

[Jniedbalski]

This is a modern version of this and other uses of lead and making bullets , Sierra bullets. cool video. I live about 45 miles away from this site https://youtu.be/Uz0ObOAwncw

[Jniedbalski]

Forgot to add that in the video listen to the speaker it sounds like a young Paul Harvey. If your old enuf to rember who he was on the radio.

[15meter]

And if you listen you will hear reference to silver in the lead that is removed in a different step, this is where Laser Cast gets their silver bullet advertising from. I suspect there may be a trace of silver in most lead being mined.

[10 ga]

This is how lead is smelted, after it comes from the ground in its raw form and is reduced to useable forms of lead.

Berm mining seems to meet your parameters of smelting. Dug from ground in raw form, I call it ore. Then I smelt it into a useable form of lead!! A real cabin in the woods industry. 10 ga

[Traffer]

Berm mining seems to meet your parameters of smelting. Dug from ground in raw form, I call it ore. Then I smelt it into a useable form of lead!! A real cabin in the woods industry. 10 ga

If only lead mines were as rich in ore as berms.