Elk City mining news., September 23, 1905, Image 1

About Elk City mining news. (Elk City, Idaho) 1903-1913

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E^K CITY. IDAHO COUNTY. IDAHO. SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 23. 1905.
.$2.00 The Year
VOL. II. No. 39.
A LIVELY CAMP.
Prof. Harvey's Opinion of Orogrande and ttie
Ultimate Öutcome-V. & O. Company to
Build Cyanide Plant this Fall.
Prof. N. A. Harvey, head of |
the science department of the i
Ypsilanti, Mich., normal school
has recently visited the property
of the Crooked River Mining and
Milling Co., in Idaho, and has
written a personal letter respect
ing the same to Mr. A. C. Waltz
of this city. Mr. Harvey is fav
orably impressed with the
promise of this property and
when his ability and conserva
tism, which is so well known in
Superior, is remembered, his
letter will please the many local
people who have invested in the
shares of this company,
letter was not written for publi
cation and Mr. Waltz only con
siders that it be published on the
solicitation of the Telegram, that
its readers may be advised of the
good fortune which seems
promised so many of Superior's
citizens:
'
This
Spokane, Aug. 23, 1905.
Mr. A. C. Waltz,
Superior, Wisconsin.
Dear Mr. Waltz:—I have just
returned from a visit to the
Crooked River mine and in full
fillment of a promise made to
you some time ago, I give you
my impression of same.
In the first place I was greatly
astonished at the magnitude of
the enterprise, and of the possi
bilities of its future development.
The plant now on the ground and
in working order cpuld not be
duplicated for one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars. Only
some one who has travelled over
the mountains between the mine
and the nearest railroad station
can appreciate the difficulties en
countered, and can understand
the apparent delays. The few
modifications and improvements
now in progress are very small
and insignificant in comparison
with the amount of work that
Jk
has been done.
Without seeing the. conditions
at the mill, I was unable to un
derstand how the ore could be
treated so cheaply, and the esti
mate of the cost of treatment
seemed exaggeratedly low. Now
I can understand it, and am wil
ling to credit the estimate of Mr.
McCormick that the cost of ex
tracting the gold from the ore
will not exceed 80 cents per ton.
Nor do I believe that there can
be any question concerning the
amount of gold that the ores
carry—$2.59 is the lowest esti
mate that I am able to make,
and this estimate includes all the
lean rock that has yet been found
in the part of the dyke that has
yet been worked. A very little
sorting would make the rock pro
duce over $3 per ton. and I have
,no doubt that many specimens
of ore could be picked out that
would show $10 to the tom
The next question is "Can the
gold be saved?" It certainly
can. The preliminary run al
ready made demonstrated that,
although the waste of the gold
in the slime Was too great to be
tolerated. Mr. McCormick, the
new superintendent of the
cyanide plant, impresses me as
a very careful, conservative man.
I think he understands his busi
down we should be m a bad fix,
but that is a risk which is not
nçss. He estimates that when
the changes now in progress are
completed, from 90 to 95 per cent
of the gold will be saved. The
gold is too finely divided in the
ore to permit of the profitable
application of the amalgamation
process. But this very condition
renders the cyanide process more
easily of application. The finer
the gold the more readily it is
dissolved by the cyanide solution.
After a careful examination of
the whole situation for a period
of three days, I can see nothing
likely to prevent of a fair sized
dividend within a year,
course, if the plant should burn
Of
serious.
The possibilities of expansion
are too great to be overlooked.
The mill can be increased to twice
its present capacity, and two
other mill sites as favorable as
the one now in use, exist on the
same dyke of ore. It is only fair
to anticipate that within five, or
six or seven years the capacity
of the plant will be increased six
fold with a corresponding profit
to the stockholders. Your most
expensive stock is worth double
what you paid for it. You are
fortunate in having as much as
you have. It seems to me that
within a few years Crooked River
will be one of the most produc
tive gold mines in the world.
Very truly yours,
N. A, Harvey.
As the Others See It*.
The following from the Spo
kane Chronicle shows what
others think of this country.
The liveliest mining camp in
central Idaho today is Orogrande
where is located the famous
Hogan mine, the Vendetta and
scores of other promising proper
ties.
A Chronicle representative re
cently paid a visit to this region
and found great activity and a
condition of things which augers
well for the prosperity and per
mancy of the camp.
"Mountains of ore, which
grows richer as depth is attained
is what we claim for our camp,
say the enthusiastic boomers of
Orogrande— and there are many
grounds for the belief that the
statement is true.
Certain it is that there are
"mountains of ore" around Oro
grande. It is true that the ore
is not high grade, but every ton
of the immense dykes which ex
tend from the edge of the town
site into the adjoining hills con
tains gold in quantities varying
from about $2.75 to $130. The
officers of the company operating
the Hogan mine claim to have
demonstrated that this ore can
be mined and milled at a cost of
about 65 cents per ton.
The Hogan properties are own-;
y y
ed by the Crooked River Mining
& Milling company.
The Vendetta mine is located
less than a mile from the Hogan
property, and extensive develop
ment work has made a fine show
ing. The ore is of the same
nature as that in the Hogan mine
and recent assays from the lower
tunnel gave returns of $130 per
ton.
Arranged for a Mill,
Mr. T. J. Sugars, of the Ven
detta, returned Thursday. He
states that his partner, Jos. F.
Powers, left Lewiston for the
east Tuesday night. Arrange
ments are now being made for a
plant, and the company will com
mence work on the mill by Oct.
15th. A contract has been let to
John Hockinson to haul the Cal
lender mill building to the Ven
detta mine,
A series of experiments are
now under way at the mine to
determine the best mode of treat
ing the ore.
Mr. Sugars states that they
will be grinding ore before Jan.
1st. 1906.
Sampling the Buster.
S. W. Smith has returned from
San Francisco, where he went
on business. He was accom
panied here by Albert Roberts, a
mining engineer.
Mr. Smith states that he now
thinks he has overcome the pre
judices there that have long been
held against this section of the
country. While in San Francis
co he had the pleasure of meet
ing Judge Lindley, acknowledged
the best legal authority on min
ing in the United States.
Mr. Roberts came in for the
purpose of sampling the Buster.
Mineral Zone Group.
Mrs. M. A. Parr, owner of the
Mineral Zone group, consisting
of six claims, is at present doing
considerable development work.
This property is very advan
tageously situated; being about
two miles northeast of Elk, and
running to American river, with
plenty of timber on the ground
for all mining purposes.
The pay seems to be in a por
phyry dyke, which has been
prospected for a distance of 3000
feet, in length, by 400 feet in
with, all showing values.
Assays running from 41c to
$1056.65 have been taken from
the property.
Wire Wes Cut*.
Much to the aggravation of the
patrons of the telephone line
there was a suspension of com
munication for several days this
week and the mystery was not
solved until Thursday noon when
the stage came in. .
Incoming up the mountain
this side of Mud Springs a pass
enger aboard the stage observed
that the wire was broken, with
both ends lying on the ground.
As the stage drove by, another
passenger remarked that they
might be doing a good service by
making a proper repair. There
upon all hands alighted and by
using a short splice, completed
the connection. It was the
urusmimous opinion of those on
the stage that the wire had been
cut. .
It is said that the wire is on
the ground in several places
that a corps of linemen should
! go oyer the road all of the way
between Elk City and Stites.
A New Discovery.
A promising gold quartz lead
was discovered about two weeks
ago in the front door yard of
Mrs. A. Lister, on Corral hill,
Idaho, about 20 miles from Stites
on the road to Elk City.
Mrs. Lister directed her son
to remove a stump from the door
yard, and in blasting out the
stump the gold ledge was un
covered. Samples of the ore
were assayed^ and gave good
values. Mrs. Lister's son has
since engaged in sinking a shaft
on the property.--Spokane Chron
icle.
Was Within the Law.
Otto Abeling, as resident man
ager and representative of the
Dewey Gold Mining Company,
was on Monday brought up be
fore Justice Hotchkiss, charged
with violating the state game
and fish law, in not maintaining
a fish ladder over the dam at the
Dewey mine, on the South Fork
of the Clearwater. The case was
brought by M, H. Harbaugh,
deputy state warden, who is act
ing for the state in Idaho county,
since the resignation of the Idaho
county game warden. It was
shown in the evidence that open -
ings had been left in the bottom
of the dam, for the fish to pass
through, and also that Mr. Abel
ing was constructing a fish ladder
according to law. A jury de
cided that the company should
not be held, and brought in a
verdict of not guilty.—Standard.
. Another Fire.
Orangeville was visited by an
other fire the other night which
came near destroying the remain
ing business portion of the city.
When first discovered the fire
was burning in the rear of the
blacksmith and machine shop,
owned by Jim Oliver. It caught
from some hay that was in a
little shed in the rear of the shop
and fanned by the strong wind,
it soon made rapid progress and
in a few moments Oliver's place
was entirely consumed by the
flames and the fire was fast eat
ing its way into the building next
to it, owned by Dr. Bibby. The
building was unoccupied,
small warehouse in the rear of
the Bibby building was also con
sumed by the flames.
Tne loss sustained by Mr,Oliver
is about $3,000; that of Dr. Bibby
$ 1000 .
A
The Espey Trial.
The case of Brownell-Heckman
vs. Espey, involving the co
ownership in the rich South Fork
No. 3 property in this district,,
occupied two days in the district
court this week.
J. H. Forney, of Moscow, was
the plaintiffs attorney, and Espey
was represented by Judge Scales
of Orangeville.
Accoring to witnesses who have
returned, the point sought was
to establish a copartnership on a
verbal contract which hinged on
Heckman against Espey. While
défendent is in possession of the
claim it seems that the prosecu
tion will have to have preponder
ence of evidence to establish
their rights.
The attorneys are now prepar
irg their briefs, to be submitted
and,to the judge, and the decision:
will probably be made within tea
days, which is hoped will be
; final.
Money In Tailings.
The working of tailings in
Canyon creek by means of jigs
is a steadily growing industry,
says the Idaho Press. Each
month sees the addition of more
plants and a constantly increas
ing production. Not counting
the ore saved from old dumps
this season by means of jigs, but
only estimating what has been
taken out of the bed of the creek
it is safe to say that the ship
ments so far this season approx
imate 500 tons of high grade con
centrates, which centaines some
half million pounds of lead and
5,000 ounces of silver, with a
gross value of nearly $25,000.
The plants now in operation on
Canyon creek number six. The
largest is that of Bannister &
Co., located below the Standard
& Mammoth mills in Wallace.
This employs six men and has
shipped 100 tons so far. Sixty
tons went to the smelter at Pitts
burg, Pa., where it is claimed a
better price can be got for the
lead than at any of the plants
controlled by the smelter trust.
t
More Gold and Silver.
Director of the Mint Roberts
has made public his estimate of
the production of gold and silver
in the United States for the
calendar year 1904. These figures
show an increase in the produc
tion over the calendar year 1903
of $7,131,500 gold, and 3,486,000
fine ounces of silver.
The largest gain was by Cali
fornia, which increased about
$3,000,000 more than in the pre
vious year, and a larger amount
than in any year since the '60s
"This gain," the director says,
"came chiefly from dredge op
erations and a further gain is
expected during the current year
and for some years to come. The
California state mining bureau
estimates the possible output of
the dredge at $7,000,000 a year
for 30 years. Colorado shows an
increase of nearly $2,000,000 gold
and 1,300,000 ounces of silver:
Alaska a gain of $700,000 gold;
Montana a gain of 2,000,000
ounces of silver; Utah a gain of
1,300,000 ounces of silver: Idaho
a gain of 1,300,000 ounces of
silver. Forty-eight per cent of
the silver was produced from
lead ores, and the rest largely
from ores which also cany gold.
The total gold production was
$80,823,200; silver 75,686,100 fine
y i
ounces.
The total amount of gold mined
j was 3,904,986 ounces and the
j commercial value of the silver
produced was $33,515,938, mak
ing the total value of the two
metals $114,239,138.
The following coinage was ex
ecuted at the United States mints
during the month of August:
Gold, double eagles, $7,780,000;
eagles, ' saver, half
$1-0,000, quarter dollars,
a 3,000. Coinage lor Panama:
x es03 ' p . ieces: ha î bal "
boas ' ' ' Piec es,
j n California., smelters buy the
quartz f rom thé miners for flux
j ng , purposes, paying on assæ.
1 Ya i ue _ Some'hundreds of small
mines are enabled to run at a
pro ^ t j n way
. Rand ,in July is officially an
nounced at 419,505 ounces, the
(largest on record.
The production of gold at the