Tintic Standard Reduction Mill

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 haunting ruin of graffiti and crumbling industrial architecture.

Construction on the Tintic mill began in 1921 creating 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, but like the VHS of industrial mineral distillation, the technology simply was not the best and the mill was obsolete almost instantly, closing in 1925.  

Despite its brief time in business, the construction of the site was strong enough that the remains of the facility are still standing today. The mill was built a ways up on a hillside and now its empty windows stare out over the land like a haunted fortress. The huge water tanks and rust covered walls cut a colorful and strange image into the otherwise wide open spaces. While it is a ways off the path and being protected as a National Historic Site, the mill has become a favorite spot for intrepid graffiti artists. Despite this, the mill still carries an air of ruinous beauty.   

Update March 2018: There is now barbed wire fencing and a very clear sign from a Utah State agency and brand new signs saying “NO TRESPASSING, VIOLATORS WILL BE PROSECUTED” and a dire warning about high levels of arsenic and lead in the water, rock, and dust. If you wish to go there, you will be unable to enter the ruins without explicitly violating the warnings and jumping the clearly marked fencing. You can get a fairly decent view of it from the old railroad bed/track area just near the fence.