Last Years in Mining
After the Cripple Creek strike, Eben Smith slowly began to pull his investments out mines. Returning to his interest in milling, he built a cyanide process mill near Florence in 1895. It was the largest cyanide process gold mill of its kind in the world at the time. Smith continued to extend the F&CC railroad, and built an electric power plant at Goldfield. But Smith sold most of his investments, including interest in his many mines, throughout the 1890s. He re-invested some of the money in mines in Utah, Arizona and Oregon.
In 1896, Smith formed the Mine and Smelter Supply Company with his son, Frank, and brothers John S. and Robert J. Cary. Smith had been concerned that ore deposits in the Cripple Creek area were running out, and Smith cast about for a way to keep the towns of the region alive. He realized that much of the slag in the area had been poor milled, and still contained a large amount of gold and silver ore. The Mine and Smelter Supply Company was founded in order to improve ore recovery rates and save the towns. With Eben Smith as president, the company established branches in Denver, Salt Lake City, El Paso, Texas, and Mexico City. It quickly became the world's largest supplier of ore recovery equipment.
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