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Regional Oral History Office University of California The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California Western Mining in the Twentieth Century Series Knoxville/McLaughlin Mine Patrick Purtell MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT AT THE McLAUGHLIN MINE, 1985 TO 1997 With Introductions by Duane A. Smith and John Turney Interviews conducted by Eleanor Swent in 1996 and 1997 Copyright 0 1999 by The Regents of the University of California Since 1954 the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed witnesses to major events in the development of Northern California, the West, and the Nation. Oral history is a method of collecting historical information through tape-recorded interviews between a narrator with firsthand knowledge of historically significant events and a well- informed interviewer, with the goal of preserving substantive additions to the historical record. The tape recording is transcribed, lightly edited for continuity and clarity, and reviewed by the interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and in other research collections for scholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is not intended to present the final, verified, or complete narrative of events. It is a spoken account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and irreplaceable. All uses of this manuscript are covered by a legal agreement between The Regents of the University of California and Patrick Purtell dated May 31, 1996. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the written permission of the Director of The Bancroft Library of the University of California, Berkeley. Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the Regional Oral History Office, 486 Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720, and should include identification of the specific passages to be quoted, anticipated use of the passages, and identification of the user. The legal agreement with Patrick Purtell require that he be notified of the request and allowed thirty days in which to respond. It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows: Patrick Purtell, "Maintenance and Management at the McLaughlin Mine, 1985 to 1997," an oral history conducted in 1996 and 1997 by Eleanor Swent, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 1999. Copy no. Cataloging information Purtell, Patrick J. (b.1948) Mechanical engineer MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT AT THE MCLAUGHLIN MINE, 1985 TO 1997, 1999, xv, 145pp. Education, Oklahoma and New Mexico, and military service; early employment as a mechical engineer; Homestake Mining Co. from 1978: plant engineer, Grants, NM; maintenance supervisor, Creede, CO; maintenance engineer to manager, McLaughlin Mine, Lower Lake, CA; discusses combatting bacterial corrosion, managing titanium risk, maintaining continuous autoclave system, converting a processing plant, mine reclamation, management strategies for shutting down operations while maintaining morale and safety. Introduction by John Turney, General Manager, Engineering and Development,' Homestake Gold of Australia. Interviewed in 1996 and 1997 by Eleanor Swent for the Western Mining in the Twentieth Century series. The Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley. DONORS TO THE KNOXVILLE DISTRICT/McLAUGHLIN MINE PROJECT OF THE WESTERN MINING IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ORAL HISTORY SERIES 1993-1999 The Regional Oral History Office, on behalf of future researchers, would like to express its thanks to the following corporations, organizations, and individuals whose encouragement and support have made possible this oral history proejct of the Knoxville DistrictIMcLaughlin Mine. Corporations and Organizations Bechtel Foundation Chemstar Lime Company The Gamble Foundation The Hearst Foundation, Inc. Homestake Mining Company Mining and Metallurgical Society of America One Shot Mining Company Individuals Anonymous, in memory of Donald Delicate Anonymous, in memory of Robert S. Livermore Christine W. S. Byrd, in memory of Langan W. Swent Kenneth S. Canfield Rosemary and Harry Conger Douglas W. and Margaret P. Fuerstenau Launce E. Gamble James and Virginia Hickey William A. Humphrey James Jensen Kritikos Family, in memory of William Kritikos John S. Livermore Roger A. Madsen Sylvia C. Mclaughlin Marion Onstad Eleanor Swent, in memory of Langan Swent Jack Thompson and The J. Ward Downey Bequest Fund TABLE OF CONTENTS--Patrick Purtell INTRODUCTION TO KNOXVILLE/McLAUGHLIN PROJECT by Duane Smith INTRODUCTION TO PATRICK PURTELL by John Turney iii PROJECT HISTORY INTERVIEW HISTORY xii BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION TRAINING AS A MECHANICAL ENGINEER Early Years and Education St. Gregory's High School, Shawnee, Oklahoma University of New Mexico and Working at McDonald's Drafted into the Army, 1968, in the Largest Draft Ever Infantry Training in Alabama; Illiterate Co-workers Pleiku, Vietnam, 1969; "You Grow Up Fast" A Clinical Attitude Aided Survival Return to UNM and Mechanical Engineering Studies, 1970 A Strange Job Interview at Chino, New Mexico Maintenance Engineer for Union Carbide in Texas City Learning the Problems of Middle Management I1 PLANT ENGINEER FOR HOMESTAKE IN GRANTS, NEW MEXICO, 1978 Rebuilding a Lot of Equipment Changing to Modern Air Compressors Redesigning the Peterson Drum Filter for Lower Maintenance Rebuilding the Double-drum Hammer Mill Protecting the Health of Mill Workers The Mining Industry's Impressive Level of Safety Awareness The Slump in Uranium Markets Affects the Grants Operations; Summer Shutdowns A Lot of Work Designing Special Water Systems Cleaning Up the Superfund Site I11 MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR, BULLDOG MINE, CREEDE, COLORADO, 1984 Instilling Professionalism in the Management A Poorly-Managed Shutdown Building a Really Nice House IV MAINTENANCE ENGINEER TO MANAGER, MCLAUGHLIN MINE, 1985 TO 1997 Maintenance Engineer, McLaughlin Mine, 1985 Startup: A Definable Start, and a Fuzzy End Plant Engineer Controlling the Water Balance A Bacillus Causes a Slurry Line Failure Bacteria That Eat Holes in Stainless Steel Tanks Putting in the Second Circuit: "The Most Fun I've Had" Slip-lining the Pipes Solves the Corrosion Problem at Last Mill Operations Superintendent, 1990: A Whole New Thing Comparing Different Kinds of Management Metallurgist John Turney Grabs Hold and Sets Direction A Tremendous Organization Team Linking Mine, Mill, Operations, Maintenance The Style of the Plant Manager Autoclaves Don't Frighten Someone from the Chemical Business Managing the Risk of Titanium Piping A Serious Autoclave Problem: Dissolved Lead Liner "Two-Stack Patv Puts in Pyroflex Liners Advising Other Autoclavers; Consulting Service to the Industry Acting Mill Superintendent; Achieving 93.7 Percent Availability Mill Manager; Putting in the Flotation Plant Acting General Manager; Seen as a Caretaker Pit Walls Slide and the Mine Changes Dramatically Torrential Rains in 1995; 100 Feet of Water in the Pit A Very Good Safety Record: Three Times the National Average V BEGINNING THE CLOSURE PHASE The Shutdown Brings New Concerns A Severance Plan and Stay Bonus Waste Dump Reclamation Done Along With Mining The Pit Will Be Self-Reclaiming Reclamation of the Tailings Area to Create Wetlands The Layoff Process State of California and JTPA Support for Laid-off Workers The Purtell Family Maintaining the Morgan Valley Road VI A SHUTDOWN THAT IS PARTLY A STARTUP The Administration Office Moved to the Grinding Area Grinding is Critical to the Operation Modifying the Crushing Circuit for Higher Capacity Mining the Stockpiles for Maximum Tonnage and Recovery The Former Office Becomes an Archive Center The South Pit Finished with a Backhoe in High-grade Ore The Team Organization Holds Up A Remarkably Good Safety Record During Shutdown Crew Reorganization and Turmoil for Two Months A Proposed Addition of Carbon-in-Leach Trying to Sell the Autoclaves Water Balance Is Always a Big Deal Don Field Orchestrates Layoffs and Retraining for Minimum Pain The Shutdown and the Local Housing Market An Attempt to Explore the Baker Mine A Convoluted Shutdown; Partly a Startup TAPE GUIDE APPENDIX Western Mining in the Twentieth Century Oral History Series INDEX INTRODUCTION TO KNOXVILLE/McLAUGHLIN PROJECT by Duane A. Smith Imagine, if you would, what it would be like to have a series of interviews from people of all walks of life from a nineteenth century mining town and district--for example, a Fiddletown, California; a Silver City, Idaho; or a Caribou, Colorado. Would it not be exciting to "hear" first hand the stories of miners, store owners, lawyers, teachers, and a variety of other folks that make up the mining West? Such a series of interviews would be the perfect answer to the Roman statesman, orator, and philosopher, Marcus Tullius Cicero, who observed more than 2,000 years ago: "History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life, and brings us tidings of antiquity." Imagine, then, what the Knoxville/McLaughlin oral history project is going to mean to future