oxley

Operating a pneumatic rocker shovel. This appears to be an EIMCO rocker shovel. They operated on compressed air and the operator would drive it into the "muck", broken rock, load the shovel. A gable floor ore car was pushed up to its back, where the photographer is standing. The shovel was then lifted quickly and when it reached its limit it hit a stop bar. The rocks were thrown out of the shovel into the ore car.

Lead Smelter. Blast Furnace forehearth. This is still the original layout. On the left there are crucibles for the molten lead covered with a fume collector hood. The forehearth is basically a large tub which has two outlets, an upper and a lower. The blast furnace is "tapped" and the liquid lead pours out into the tub. As lead is heavier than the slag it goes to the bottom of the tub and the slag, impurities from the smelting process float to the surface. The slag pours out into the right of the forehearth, upper outlet, into a hooded crucible and the molten lead flows into the left from the lower outlet. The molten slag is then taken to the granulation plant which creates the glass like slag granules. The molten lead crucible is then taken to the drossing kettles where it is held a fixed temperature and additives added to remove more impurities. The molten lead was then pumped to the casting plant where the bullion was cast into bars.

Notice the miner on the right has an acetylene lamp. No battery lamps used at this time.