Tintic Standard Mill

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This page was last updated on September 28, 2025.

Overview

(The focus of this page is the surface workings of the Tintic Standard mine, as visible in photographs, as well as a general description of the mine, with minimal coverage of the geology and financial returns. Also to establish a timeline using sources not previously readily available.)

Tintic Standard Reduction Mill (Harold Mill)

Historic American Engineering Record (HAER UT-12)

Location: Near Warm Springs, two miles east of Goshen Township, Utah

Date: 1919-1921

Significance: The Tintic Standard Reduction Mill was the only use of the antiquated Augustin process in the United States during the early 1920s.

The Tintic Standard Mining Company was incorporated by Emil J. Raddatz in October of 1907. John Bestlemyer, Greely Snyder, and George Horton, Sr. all owned mining claims that became part of Tintic Standard and a large part of the money for the 1,175,000 shares of stock came from people in Milwaukee. (Raymond Duane Steele, Goshen Valley History Part IV, 1960. p. 211)

The first commercial ore was encountered in 1916 and by 1917 big scale production had begun. (Salt Lake Mining Review, October 15, 1927)

Established as an important silver producer in the Tintic district, during 1919 and 1920 Raddatz undertook the construction of a small ore mill to be known as the Tintic Standard Reduction Mill.

The mill was built on a hillside near Warm Springs, two miles east of Goshen Township, Utah. It was designed and constructed under the direction of W. C. Madge who consulted with Theodore P. Holt and George C. Dern, developers of the well-known Holt-Dern roaster used in numerous smelters. Built at a cost of $580,000, the mill was reported to be 80 per cent complete by the end of 1920 despite "adverse Labor conditions." Operations initially got underway in February of 1921 and by April the mill was "working at full capacity in every department." (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 15, 1921)

The mill initially processed 140 tons per day, but by March 1921 it was treating between 160 and 180 tons per day. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 30, 1921)

After two furnaces for roasting sulphide ores were added during 1922, capacity was expected to increase to 200 tons per day, or somewhat less than half of the daily production of the mine. (Salt Lake Mining Review, January 15, 1922; January 15, 1924)

Metallurgical research work by the company developed a method of recovering lead from the ore and a lead unit was added to the mill during the first half of 1922. (Salt Lake Mining Review, April 30, 1922)

The mill, however, did not last long. It soon developed that the mine in the condition it then was, could not supply an adequate tonnage of ore of the grade and composition for which the plant was designed. The ore did not return as much net profit as if it had been sent to the smelter. Operations at the mill, which worked around the clock with about 25 men on each shift, were shut down in the fall of 1925. (Raymond Duane Steele, Goshen Valley History Part IV, 1960. p. 231-232)

The mine continued to operate successfully, but no mention of the mill is made in the company reports after this date. Harry P. Allen was superintendent of the mill and Lou Whimpey worked as foreman during its five years of operation.

A small town, named after Raddatz's son Harold, grew up while the mill was in operation. It consisted of a boarding and lodging house, a commissary, and three of four houses for the mill officials. In addition, these few years were "almost a boom period" for Goshen, since the town was located between the mine and the mill. (Raymond Duane Steele, Goshen Valley History Part IV, 1960. p. 231-232)

The Tintic Standard Reduction Mill was the only use of the antiquated Augustin process in the United States during the early 1920's. (John L. Bray, The Principles of Metallurgy, 1929. p. 359)

An acid-brine chloridizing and leaching mill, ore was first roasted with salt, then leached in a strong brine solution, then precipitated with copper. Each batch required 140 hours to run, but recovery rates were fairly high. In 1924 the mill recovered 88 percent of the silver, 60 percent of the copper, 32 percent of the lead, and 7 percent of the gold held in the ore. (John L. Bray, The Principles of Metallurgy, 1929. p. 366)

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The Harold Mill (1921)

(Eureka Reporter, April 23, 1999)

E. J. Raddatz undertook the construction of the Tintic Standard Reduction Mill during 1919 and 1920. Built on a hillside near Warm Springs, some two miles east of Goshen, the structure was designed and constructed by W.C. Madge with consultation from George Dern and Theodore P. Holt. Completed in 1920 at a cost of $580,000, the mill began operations in 1921. By March the mill treated between 160 and 180 tons of ore per day, increasing that to 200 in 1922 after two furnaces for roasting sulfide ores were added.

Operations at the mill utilized the Augustin process, "an acid-brine chloridizing and leaching mill, wherein ore was first roasted with salt, then leached in a strong brine solution, then precipated with copper." According to the Historic American Engineering Record survey, the Harold Mill, named after Raddatz' son, functioned as the only use of this method in the United States during the early 1920s. Work ran on a twenty-four-hour basis, employing twenty-five men per shift. However, in the fall of 1925 the mill closed due to the fact that the Tintic Standard mine could not supply enough tonnage of the grade of ore for which the mill was designed. In addition, the construction of the plant also reflected the raging battle over railroad transportation rates which mine owners decreed as being too high. By milling the ore themselves owners could save the shipping costs. By 1925 when the plant closed, shipping rates had also declined.

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