Tintic Smelter

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Tintic Smelting Company

First Tintic Smelting Co.

January 4, 1873
"Tintic Smelting Company. Diamond City; completed October 1871; built by Hopkins, Parsons & Co..; two furnaces; capacity, twenty tons per day; treating ore from the Shower mine; Charles Pointer, superintendent." (Salt lake Weekly Tribune, January 4, 1873)

Second Tintic Smelting Co.

"Nothing further is recorded of attempts at smelting in the district until 1908, when the Tintic Smelting Co. erected furnaces at Silver City for treating lead and copper ores from a number of mines controlled by the Knight syndicate. Before the end of the year two lead furnaces, each having a capacity of 250 tons, were operating, and a copper furnace was about ready to be placed in operation. Two additional lead furnaces, making four in all, were added in 1909 and operated until October. The lime and iron for flux were supplied from near-by quarries and mines of the smelting company, and as the ores of the district are of a siliceous nature fluxing conditions were ideal. Coke was shipped from Sunnyside, Utah." (Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Tintic Mining District, Utah, USGS Professional Paper 107, 1919, page 114)

"This venture was the last of the attempts at smelting in the Tintic district. Although a success in smelting, the Tintic Smelting Co. was dominated by other more powerful interests and the lowering of smelting rates made it more profitable for the producing mining companies to ship to the smelters near Salt Lake. The smelter was dismantled in 1915." (Geology And Ore Deposits Of The Tintic Mining District, Utah, USGS Professional Paper 107, 1919, page 115)

December 1, 1906
"Articles of Incorporation of the Tintic Smelting company have been prepared by Atty. Joel Nibley and will be filed in the office of the secretary of state within the next few days. With a single exception, the incorporators are influential Ogden and Provo citizens and the headquarters of the company will be in Salt Lake. The president of the Tintic company will be Charles W. Nibley, one of Utah's loading business men; the vice presidency will go to Jesse Knight, the well known and successful mining operator of Provo; the secretary will be former district Judge H. H. Rolapp of Ogden and John Pingree, cashier of the First National Bunk of Ogden will be treasurer. The foregoing named persons with David Eccles of Ogden, Bela Kadish of Ogden, William Eccles of Ogden; C. E. Loose of Provo and M. J. Donnelly of New York are mentioned as incorporators. The board of directors will consist of Charles W. Nibley, Jesse Knight. C. E. Loose, David Eccles and Bela Kadish." (Deseret News, December 1, 1906)

January 11, 1907
Surveying in work for new smelter west of Robinson. The survey was being done by West & Brown of Ogden. William Knight was on hand, and was the manager of the Beck Tunnel and Black Jack mines. Nibley was president of the smelting company. (The Eureka Reporter, January 11, 1907)

February 22, 1908
"The Tintic Smelting Company, which was originally planned to treat lead ores in connection with the copper smelter of the Utah Smelting Company at Ogden, is to equip its smelter at Tintic with a furnace for the treatment of copper ores. The Tintic plant now has no connection whatever with the Ogden plant and is controlled by Jesse Knight, of Provo. Construction is being pushed vigorously and at least the lead stack will be ready by the end of April. All of the equipment for the copper unit has been ordered and shipped from the factory." (Engineering and Mining Journal, February 22, 1908)

June 5, 1908
First ore at the new Tintic Smelter was received about June 1st, and was from the Silver Shield mine, at Bingham. (Eureka Reporter, June 5, 1908)

July 10, 1908
The Grand Central mine began shipping to the Tintic smelter yesterday; and there is to be a celebration of the starting-up of the smelter on the 24th of July. (Eureka Reporter, July 10, 1908)

"On July 24, 1908, Silver City and all Tintic celebrated Smelter Day. This festival or celebration was without doubt the most lavish and best attended of any ever held in Tintic District. Special excursion trains in addition to the regular schedules were run to the District by both railroads. Special pavilions were erected for the occasion. Special sight-seeing runs were made by Knight’s East Tintic narrow gauge railroad to the various Knight mines." (History of Juab County, by A. P. McCune, 1947, page 229)

June 15, 1909
"The first lead furnace was blown in August 28, 1908, and was followed a few days later by lead furnace No. 2, and the starting of a large independent smelter was hailed with joy by the mining industry. Then trouble came and first one furnace and then the other was shut down, and started up again and rumors of one kind or another were set afloat. After a change of management, things began to shape themselves and give an appearance of successful operation. Lead furnace No. 1 was blown in October 29, No. 2 on November 1, No. 3 on January 9 and the copper furnace on March 22." (Salt Lake Mining Review, June 15, 1909)

September 18, 1909
"Tintic Smelter To Close About Oct. 1 - That the Tintic smelter will be closed about Oct. 1, to remain closed indefinitely, was announced yesterday by officials of the company. Ores of the Knight mines are to be diverted to the United States company's smelter at Bingham Junction. Inability to obtain the kind of ores required for fluxing the silicious ores of the Tintle district is the reason given for shutting down the plant at this time." (Salt Lake Herald, September 18, 1909)

October 1909
"The Tintic smelter owned by Jess Knight at Silver City closed in October 1909 and has since been idle. The plant is being well taken care of, the machinery has been wrapped and is in good condition. The plant was operated but a year and two months." (Deseret News, December 19, 1914)

August 31, 1915
The Tintic Smelting Company petitioned the District Court for permission to dissolve the corporation. Jesse Knight, J. William Knight, C. W. Nibley, W, Lester Mangum and R. E. Allen represented 4844 shares of the company and there was no opposition. Organized on November 30, 1906, and completed "two or three years later," the company soon found that it could not operate at a profit, and the smelte was closed. Its machinery had been sold "piece by piece." (Provo Post, August 31, 1915)

(The site of the closed Tintic smelter was taken over by the Tintic Milling Company, also a Jesse Knight enterprise.)

September 3, 1915
"Some of the material at the Tintic Smelter is being used in the construction of the new mill which the Knight and Dern interests are now putting up." (Eureka Reporter, September 3, 1915)

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