Hand casting of silver at the Trail Smelter, circa 1914-16.
The smelter was originally constructed to treat the Le Roi mine ores which like all the Red Mountain claims were primarily copper-gold ores. The small size of the furnace and the hand casting may be indicative of the relatively small scale of silver production. Note the stack of silver bricks in the background. Refined molten silver was poured into brick moulds for shipping. The leather gloves and apron protected the workmen from burns.
