Bunker Hill Company Research and Development Division Records

Bunker Hill Company Research and Development Division Records, 1922-1982

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Bunker Hill Company. Research And Development Division
Title: Bunker Hill Company Research and Development Division Records
Dates: 1922-1982 (inclusive)
19221982
Quantity: 8 cubic feet
Collection Number: MG187 (collection)
Summary: Brochures issued by the company, organizational manuals, research and development project reports, legal documents concerning electric power rates, flow charts, aerial photographs of the plant and smelter, and visitor registers.
Repository: University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Languages: English
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Bunker Hill Company was founded following the discovery of the Bunker Hill Mine in 1885; it was incorporated in 1887. It grew from a strictly mining enterprise to a large industrial complex capable of carrying out every step in the production process from removing ore from the ground to fabricating finished metal products. The company was an important supplier of the nation's requirements for lead, zinc, silver, and cadmium. The lead smelter had the capacity to produce 135,000 tons of refined lead per year, or 17% of the U.S. capacity, while the electrolytic zinc plant produced 104,000 tons, or 14% of the U.S. capacity. The company also produced over 9 million troy ounces of silver, over one million pounds of refined cadmium, and a variety of by-products including 1000 ounces of refined gold. In 1968 Bunker Hill merged with Gulf Resources.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The records of the Bunker Hill Research and Development Division span the years 1922 to 1982, with the bulk of the material covering the years 1945 to 1975.

The papers include brochures issued by the company, organizational manuals, reports on various research and development projects, papers dealing with Washington Water Power requests for rate increases, drawings of plant flow sheets, aerial views of the plant and smelter, and visitors registers.

Two other Bunker Hill groups in the University of Idaho Special Collections Library are MG 130 and MG 188, both of which deal with the mining aspects of the company and contain legal documents relating to mining claim litigations.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

Most of the papers in this record group were in labeled file folders or three ring notebooks, but were in no discernible order. Therefore, while folder and notebook headings were retained, a series order was imposed during processing. The folders in each series are in alphabetical order and the original order of the material is maintained throughout.

The first series contains material concerning the overall organization of the division, including budget manuals, policies manuals, supervisors manuals, and work rules.

The second series, or research files, is divided into two subseries, one is the material that was originally in file folders, the second is the material originally contained in notebooks. Most items in this series deal with the operation of the plant, and various experiments performed. There is a section on patent applications, and a list of patents held by the company.

The Washington Water Power rate increase requests are arranged by case number. Included are petitions and other legal documents, transcripts of testimonies, and occasionally legal documents from court cases resulting from the application.

The final series contains blueprints of the lead and zinc plants, aerial views of the zinc plant and smelter, a University of Idaho thesis, flow sheets, and two visitors registers.

Annual reports of the Bunker Hill Company, and the session papers of the American Mining Congress were removed from the collection and sent to the library's gift receiving office for possible cataloging into the library's main collection. Suppliers catalogs, annual reports from other companies, and duplicate materials were discarded. Material from notebooks was transferred to file folders. By these means the bulk of the records was reduced by 7 cubic feet.

Acquisition Information

The records of the Research and Development Division of the Bunker Hill Company were donated to the University of Idaho Library by the company between November 1986 and January 1987.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I. Organization , 1966-1981Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
1/1	Brochures 7 items	1968-1980
1/2	Building and equipment manual 1 item	1975
1/3	Capital budget procedures 15 items	1974-1981
1/4	Capital expenditure manual 1 item	1973
1/5	Chart of accounts 1 item	1976
1/6	Keys 4 items	1979
1/7	Library filing index 2 items	1966-1968
1/8	Marketing division manual 1 item	196-?
1/9-10	Policies and procedures manual 1 item	1979
1/11	Quality Control Preventative Maintenance Program Plan, by John Benjamin 1 item	1979
1/12	Supervisor's manual 1 item	1967
1/13	Supervisor's handbook 1 item	1973
1/14	Supervisor's newsletter 4 items	1980-1981
1/15	Warehouse catalog 1 item	1981
1/16	Work rules 1 item	1974

Series II. Research Files , 1922-1982Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
	A. File Folders	1922-1982
Box/Folder
1/17	American Journal of Mining: facsimile of first issue in 1886 1 item	1941
1/18	Assay ranges 1 item	1970-1972
Box
1	Battelle Northwest
Box/Folder
1/19	Air pollution 12 items	1968-1970
1/20	Bunker Hill research 57 items	1965-1969
1/21	Carbon Sorbates 21 items	1968-1969
1/22	Cl, F, and SB removal from solution of ZnO fume in acid 36 items	1969-1970
1/23	Development of a Fused Salt Catalytic Extraction Process for Removal of So2 from Flue Gas 2 items	1970
1/24	Monitoring equipment (Y-40539) 23 items	1968-1969
1/25	Proprietary agreement 2 items	1968
1/26	Bunker Hill lead and zinc concentrates 7 items	1981
1/27	Bunker Hill medallion 17 items	1981-1982
1/28	Byproducts 7 items	1978
1/29	Cadmium 10 items	1974-1975
1/30	Cadmium - Gould contract 8 items	1975
1/31	Calcium-lead alloy 7 items	1974-1981
1/32	COD 4 items	1975
1/33	Colombia samples 91 items	1980-1981
1/34	COMINCO 1 item	1981
1/35	Concentrates 4 items	1975-1976
1/36	Copper 1 item	1961
1/37	Correspondence, submissions 1 item	1978
1/38	Determination of lead in ores 4 items	1973-1982
1/39	Exide Management and Technology Company 3 items	1980
2/40	Gould MF-10 alloy 38 items	1977-1980
2/41	Henwood, Arthur B. 10 items	1903-1968
2/42	ILZRO Program Review Committee 1 item	1969
2/43	International Precious Metals Institute 8 items	1978-1980
2/44	Investigation of Arkansas bauxite 1 item	1948
2/45-46	Lead 24 items	1972-1978
2/47	Lead-antimony alloy 1 item	1978
2/48	Literature search on process for removal of lead from zinc fume 1 item	1975
2/49	LME (London Metal Exchange) 32 items	1974-1980
2/50	Material safety data sheets 39 items	1971-1981
2/51	Memos 2 items	1976
2/52	Miller, J.L. 4 items	1981
Box
2	Patent Applications
Box/Folder
2/53	Ammonium chloride 33 items	1929-1931
2/54	Hydrometallurgical process for removing chlorides from chloride bearing zinc oxides 9 items	1970-1971
2/55	Precipitating arsenic from solution 10 items	1968-1970
2/56	Process for the hydrometallurgical treatment of argentiferous tetrahedrite minerals 9 items	1971
2/57	Recovering indium from leach solutions 14 items	1967-1970
2/58	Recovery of lead from waste storage batteries 5 items	1976
2/59	Recovery of metallic values from phosphorus electric furnace dust 6 items	1968-1969
2/60	Simultaneous leaching of zinc and manganese ores 20 items	1956-1970
Box
2	Patents
Box/Folder
2/61	Abstracts of 25 items	1942-1964
2/62	Bethune/Bunker Hill 6 items	1960-1965
2/63	Bunker Hill patents 1 item	1969-1976
2/64	Canadian patents	10
2/65	Pleasant Valley Coal District, Utah 3 items	undated
2/66	Prospective shippings 4 items	1975
2/67	Request for analysis 4 items	1976-1978
2/68	Research and development 28 items	1978
2/69	Research progress reports 44 items	1977
2/70	Review of chemical abstracts related to electrolytic zinc deposition 1 item	1948-1963
2/71	Sample preparation 15 items	1967-1969
2/72	Sample storage and preparation 6 items	1967
2/73	Sampling 6 items	1969-1977
2/74	Sampling and preparation 7 items	1973
2/75	Scrap 4 items	1977-1978
2/76	Silver 4 items	1977-1979
2/77	Skeen International Company 6 items	1978
2/78	Smelter 1 item	1978
2/79	Sulfuric acid 27 items	1972-1978
2/80	Supervision 21 items	1968-1977
2/81	Volcanic ash 6 items	1980-1981
2/82	Weekly mercury analyses of sulfuric acid plants 24 items	1972-1981
2/83	X-Ray values 10 items	1978
2/84	Zinc 37 items	1970-1978
2/85	Zinc, samples of 1 item	1922-1928
2/86	Zinc alloys 1 item	1977
2/87	Zinc concentrate sampling 2 items	1972
2/88	Zinc dust - Pasco 65 items	1967-1975
2/89	Zinc oxide flue dust 5 items	1974
2/90	Zinc oxide fume to zinc plant 6 items	1981
	B. Notebooks	1929-1981
Box/Folder
2/91	Aluminum and alumina 11 items	1957-1959
Box
2	American Society for Testing and Materials
Box/Folder
2/92	Committee B-2, Nonferrous Metals and Alloys 14 items	1966-1981
2/93	Committee B-2-02 32 items	1977-1981
2/94	Committee B-2-04 15 items	1974-1980
2/95	Committee B-2-05 10 items	1977-1980
2/96	Committee B-6, Die Cast Metals and Alloys 22 items	1973-1981
2/97	Committee B-6-02 12 items	1967-1976
2/98	Committee E-2-06, Development of Lead Standards 3 items	1976
2/99	Committee E-3-05.09, Silver 5 items	1977
2/100-101	Committee E-16, Taskforce on Lead and Zinc 130 items	1969-1976
3/102	American Zinc Institute Symposium on Plating of Zinc Die Castings 1 item	1959
3/103	Antimonial and arsenical lead production 40 items	1946-1960
3/104	Antimony and its Smelting, by Walter Wendt 1 item	1951
3/105	Arsenic control program 28 items	1954-1959
3/106	Arsenic purification Burt solution 1 item	1941
3/107	Baghouse 53 items	1954-1962
3/108	Barium chemicals 40 items	1957
3/109	Battelle Memorial Institute 45 items	1954-1964
3/110	Budget 26 items	1953-1961
3/111	Bunker Hill-Bailey Meter Density Recorder and Controller, by Alvin F. Kroll 1 item	1964
3/112-113	Bunker Hill zinc plant expansion and cell room mechanization study 2 items	1973
3/114	By-Products 1 item	1976-1977
3/115	Cadmium plant, letters, experiments, etc. 33 items	1947-1965
3/116	Casting 23 items	1954-1961
3/117	Charge preparation and pelletizing plant 59 items	1949-1963
3/118	Cobalt information 2 items	1956-1957
3/119	Combustion burners 10 items	1950-1955
3/120	Comparison and weighted averages on zinc concentrates and cadmium sponge purchased 1 item	1957-1964
3/121	Computers 5 items	1968-1970
3/122	Continuous softening 6 items	1950
3/123	Copper dross smelting 18 items	1955-1963
3/124	Copper matte and speiss 42 items	1953-1963
3/125	Cost distribution and economics 47 items	1953-1954
4/126	Cost statements, analytical lab 1 item	1967
4/127	Cost Statements, combined lab 1 item	1967-1981
4/128	Cost Statements, Coeur d'Alene lab 1 item	1972-1981
4/129	Cottrell 7 items	1956-1960
4/130	Dechloridizing-Defluorodizing zinc fume 5 items	1950-1962
4/131	De-Golding, de-Silverizing 1 item	1962
4/132	Diversification 28 items	1956-1959
4/133	Drossing 17 items	1955-1964
4/134	Dry ore plant, Sb ore reports 38 items	1940-1942
4/135	Economics - smelting margins 19 items	1957-1959
4/136-137	Electric furnace 116 items	1950-1964
4/138-139	Environmental health 63 items	1970-1977
4/140	Environmental health - lead 7 items	1978-1980
4/141	Environmental Sciences Associates, blood lead 22 items	1973-1979
4/142	Environmental Sciences Associates, lead testing 25 items	1977-1979
4/143	Experimental laboratory notebook 1 item	1930-1936
4/144	Foundry alloys 8 items	1980
4/145-146	Fuming plant 120 items	1943-1963
4/147	Hard lead run costs 2 items	1954
4/148	Indirect cost and general expense 3 items	1953-1958
4/149	Laboratory notebook 1 item	undated
4/150	Laboratory notebook 1 item	1971
4/151-153	Lead hygiene 61 items	1972-1979
4/154-155	Lead refinery 90 items	1931-1960
5/156	Lead uses 62 items	1953-1959
5/157	Material flow and balances 18 items	1950-1959
5/158-159	Material specifications and analysis 1 item	1975-1981
5/160	Mining and metallurgical qualifications for engineering and construction. Wellman-Power Gas, Inc. 2 items	1972
5/161	Miscellaneous 77 items	1954-1962
5/162	New Cottrell 34 items	1954-1957
5/163	Optical emission quantometer fortran programs 1 item	1979
5/164	Optical emission specification limits 1 item	1971
5/165-166	Ore purchases 334 items	1952-1963
5/167	Ore receiving and handling 9 items	1953-1961
5/168	Ore settlements, cost distribution 4 items	1947-1952
5/169	Ore stock and smelting rate 10 items	1954-1955
5/170	Other plants 22 items	1955-1959
5/171	Other plants - visits 24 items	1952-1961
5/172	Outside work 43 items	1953-1959
5/173	Overtime and absences 1 item	1980-1981
5/174	Patent: Beasley combustion igniter 190 items	1929-1931
5/175	Product certification 12 items	1979-1981
5/176	Proposed sintering plant 11 items	1954-1960
5/177	Research and development procedures notebook 1 item	undated
5/178	Retreatment of cobalt residue 1 item	undated
5/179	Retreatment of zinc plant residue 4 items	1930-1936
5/180	Sales 61 items	1954-1959
5/181	Sherrit Gordon Mines, Ltd. 7 items	1966-1967
5/182	Silver manuscript by Donald B. Macurda 4 items	1964?
5/183	Silver refinery 55 items	1942-1963
5/184	Sinter plant and Cottrell 30 items	1953-1963
5/185	Sintering 12 items	1951-1959
6/186-187	Slag fuming plant 6 items	1942-1943
6/188-190	Slag fuming plant, operating data 1 item	1953-1965
6/191	SO2 in Peabody effluent, L. Hoffman notes 9 items	1972-1978
6/192	Super pure antimony 89 items	1957-1964
6/193	Unidentified scientific notes 3 items	1941-1942
6/194	Vacuum dezincing 13 items	1954-1960
6/195	Wheelabrator baghouse 53 items	1953-1962
6/196	Zinc alloy manual 1 item	1970
6/197	Zinc oxide benefication 50 items	1956-1965
6/198-199	Zinc plant melting furnace 60 items	1956
6/200	Zinc plant research work 31 items	1956-1962

Series III. Washington Water Power Cases , 1966-1982Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
6/201-203	WWP standard prepared testimonies and exhibits for rate cases 2 items	1981
7/204	Case P-300-16. Consideration of essential needs rates 6 items	1980-1981
7/205	Case P-300-18/U-1008-144. Consideration of certain ratemaking standards 4 items	1981
7/206	Case U-1006-159. Application of Idaho Power Company for authority to increase rates and charges 2 items	1981
Box
7	Application of the Washington Water Power Company for an Order Approving Revised Rates and Charges for Electric/Gas Service in the State of Idaho.
Box/Folder
7/207	Case U-1008-86. Reporter's transcript 1 item	1974
7/208	Case U-1008-93/94 19 items	1975-1981
7/209	Case U-1008-109. WWP surcharge 1 item	1978
7/210-212	Case U-1008-101/102 7 items	1966-1967
7/213	Case U-1008-112 20 items	1977-1980
7/214	Case U-1008-117. WWP vs. Bunker Hill 17 items	1977-1978
7/215-216	Case U-1008-133/134. Testimony 3 items	1979
7/217	U-1008-144/145. Rebuttal testimony 2 items	1980
8/218-219	Case U-1008-147. Legal documents and testimony 35 items	1980-1981
8/220	Case U-1008-154/155 2 items	1981
8/221-222	Case U-1008-155/156 48 items	1980-1981
8/223	Case U-1008-161 3 items	1981
8/224	Related material 21 items	1981-1982
8/225	Related material - Bonneville Power Co. 2 items	1981
8/226	Idaho Public Utilities file of J.E. McKay, vice president for Technical Services 60 items	1973-1975
8/227	Idaho Public Utilities Commission. Summary of utilities activities 8 items	1980-1981

Series IV. Other Material , 1956-1980Return to Top

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
8/228	Blueprints of lead and zinc plants 11 items	1966-1976
8/229	Aerial views of zinc plant and smelter 2 items	1977
8/230	Publications about Bunker Hill and the Coeur d'Alene mining area 5 items	1956-1980
8/231	Thesis: Decopperizing Lead with Arsenic and Sulphur, by Denton Mark Tucker, University of Idaho 1 item	1962
8/232	The Gold Ingot Mark Book 1 item	undated
8/233	Metals recovery facility flow sheet 2 items	1967
8/234	Copper dross flue dust recovery flow sheet 1 item	1967
8/235	Metals recovery plant general arrangement 2 items	1967
8/236	Unidentified drawing 1 item	undated
8/237-238	Visitors registers 2 items	1969-1970

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