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Tintic Standard Reduction Mill

2 min read

Miles south of the Utah state capitol city of Salt Lake City on the outskirts of the small town of Goshen lie the remains of the Tintic Standard Reduction Mill, a nearly century old ore refinery that has become a ruin filled with graffiti and a crumbling industrial architecture.
Its construction began in 1921: a place where the precious metals such as gold and silver (as well as lead and copper) from nearby Eureka could be processed. The site used an acid-based process known as the “Augustin Process” that no other mill was using at the time. It was an acid-brine chlorodizing and leaching process in which the ore was first roasted with salt, then leached in a strong brine solution, and finally precipitated with copper to recover the silver. At its highest productivity, the mill processed 200 tons of ore daily from the Tintic Mining District.
However, like the VHS of industrial mineral distillation, the technology simply was not the best and the mill was obsolete almost instantly, closing already in 1925.
Despite its brief time in business, the construction of the site was strong enough that its remains are still standing today. What remains of the mill are foundations for water tanks, crushers, roasters, iron boxes, leaching tanks, and drain boxes. The huge water tanks, built a ways up on a hillside, and its rust covered walls cut a colorful and quaint image into the otherwise wide open spaces. Despite it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, the mill has become a favorite spot for graffiti artists but, in any case, it mill still carries an air of ruinous beauty.

Author’s notes: now the site was barbed wire fencing and a very clear sign from a Utah State agency saying “NO TRESPASSING, VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED” in addition to a clear warning about high levels of arsenic and lead in the water, rock, and dust.
You can get a fairly decent view from the old railroad track area just near the fence.

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