Salmo River Valley Historical Mining Exhibit

A jaw crusher served as essential equipment for breaking down large rocks into more manageable sizes, facilitating the extraction of valuable minerals. Operating as the primary crushing mechanism, the jaw crusher played a critical role in reducing raw materials to a size suitable for further processing. Its function involved the crushing of ore-bearing rocks or mineral deposits, typically achieved by the movement of a fixed jaw against a movable jaw.

The process began with the placement of raw ore or rock into the jaws of the crusher. As the jaws closed, the movable jaw exerted pressure on the material, gradually breaking it down into smaller fragments. This crushing action was facilitated by the reciprocating motion of the movable jaw, which moved back and forth against the fixed jaw. The resulting crushed material could then be further processed through additional stages of mining operations, such as grinding, milling, or refining, to extract valuable minerals or metals.

​