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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Dec. 28, 1889)
492 WEST SHORE. THE MINES OF CASTLE. The first discovery of mines in Castle mountains, Montana, wai marie In 1835. They at once attracted the attention ot the mining world and have ever since held a prominent position in public estimation. A great many discoveries have been made and an unusual amount of energy has been displayed in devel oping quite a number of these prospects into mines. This was to be exacted where rich ores in such abundance moved the muscles wielding the pick and the shovel. Castle is a mining camp built in a beautilul sheltered val ley at the southern base of Castle mountain. This mountain received its name from the castellated rocks which form the very attractive feature of its crest and peaks. The principal mines are on a series of rounded mountain spurs from one to sli miles from the town. The mountains are limestone por phyries, granites and various eruptive rocks. The ores occur in contact veins, crevice veins, blanket veins and veins of se gregation. Many of the best mines are opened along the line of contact between the limestone and porphyry. The ores are oxides and sulphured of iron, carrying gold, silver and lead, carbonate and sulphuret of lead, rich in silver, carbonates and oiides and sulphurets of copper, containing gold and silver, oxide of manganese, containing gold and silver and sulphuret and other ores of silver. These ores vary in richness all the way from one or two dolhrs up to ten or twelve thousand dollars per ton. A very large number of the mines of Castle have a cap of Iron ores, known to old English miners as gos san, and though these cups are not rich in gold and silver and copper, they have been in all ages and in all great mining countries, esteemed a good indication of rich mines. This opinion was so strong and prevalent among the miners of F.uro at a very early day in the history of mining, that it found expression in several languages, as shown by the " gos san hood" of Cornwall, "chapeau de fer" of France, and the " elserne hut " of Ciermany. It even became a proverb in the early sgvs of mining, as is shown by the following, well known to German miners ; " Km lat si felcht isnt to fat Der trut Dioht MDa iHrn hut. " No mill ti dntmej to good At on that dm to Iron bond. Though the Iron and manganese ores which form these caps are not, as a rule, very rich In the precious metals, they carry enough to make them very valuable fluxes to use with more refractory and richer ore a. There is a furnace at Castle, which has smelted the ores from several of the Castle mines with what would seem to t good reult. During the last fall it run 2,0(10 tons from the Cumberland, which yielded bullion worth some f'.W.OiW, and only a profit of $27 per ton on the ore delivered at the furnance. The Connellsvllle coke used cost .'5 er ton, and the charcoal 15 cents per bushel. The bullion contains so largo a per cent of lead that the freight and refining make a large reduction on what would otherwise be net profits. The refining cost $18 per ton, and the freight to Aurora Illinois, et $23 per ton ; and the freight on cuke by rail to Livingston and by wagon to Castle cost about the same. Thus the freight bills alone exhaust the value of good ores. Hence hone but the richest ores can now be worked at Castle. These figures show that a railroad to Castle would save in working the ores of that district $15 pr ton. This $15 per ton would enable the miners to take out ore at a fair profit, which yield no profit under the present charge for freight on ores, fuel and bullion. Hencs a railroad to Castle would give a commercial value to ore which now have no aale, and would largely Increase the value of the better ore. In fact a railroad to Castle would in crease the value of all the ores in that district about $15 p ton, and this on a million tons would put $15,000,000 in the pockets of the Caslle miners. And besideB, the railroad would so reduce the cost of mining that the expense of taking out the ores would be much reduced. The whole region is well tim bered with fir and pine, suitable for all mining and domestic uses; there is an ample supply of good water for all the wants of a large mining population ; and Castle mountains are sur rounded by a rich agricultural region ample to meet tit the de mands of any possible mining population. E. ft SwaUovi, u Montana Mining Revitw. ALASKA MININQ NEWS. 1 The past season has witnessed in Alaska mining affairs a number of important strikes, the successful operation of a num ber of companies, and one or two failures. The season's oper ation of the Gold Mountain Mining Co. in Silver Bow basin, has been pushed to a successful termination ; their ten stamp mill and tramway are erected, and the result of the trial run ol the mill proved entirely Batis-factory to the company. The rapid progress in the operations of the Silver Bow Basin Mining Co. accomplishing a vast amount of work in a few short months, and the rapid manner in which the great tunnel is not being driven to completion, speaks of an early Buccess to this company. We believe there is not a mining company now op erating in Alaska that has a better or Burer prospect ahead. The gravel is rich and of sufficient depth and body to last for i number of years, and the working of it although laid out on i grand scale, and involving the expenditure of much capital, Is very systematically planned, and when once in operation, an enormous amount of gravel can be handled daily and at inch small expense per cubic yard that it will be reduced almost to minimum. Development work on the Sheep creek silver belt has shown up a new departure in Alaska mines, and also has shown np two or three fine properties, mines that next season will be placed on a paying basis. The great Treadwell mill continues to run steadily, and, w hear it reported, far more successfully under the new manage ment than under the old. The company are now increasing the capacity of the chlorination works, to take care of the vast pile of accumulating sulphurets. The mill turns out its regu lar monthly shipment in gold bricks, which is a sufficient guarantee that the mine is still yielding its dividend. We may confidently look forward to the erection of a large stamp mill on the Mexican property, on Douglas island, during the year 1803. This is a property that will not end in a failure for lack of ore, as there is now nearly as large a body in sight on it as on the Paris lode. The output from Silver Bow basin placers has been good, with every probability that the yield will be much greater next year, pending the starting np of the Nowell placer mines. For the small amount of development work, the Salmon and Iiemon creek properties made good Bhowlng, and next season we may expect to see considerable work going on there. The Rerner'a bay district, although one of the most prom ising In Alaska, did not receive the attention the pat season that was expected. Although two or three companies were active there during the summer, and expended several thous and dollars, many of the most promising claims were allowed to go with but merely the annual assessment work. But w learn that during the winter in all probability several Impor tant deals will be made on properties there, in which event con Iderable work will be done there next summer. The Bear's Nest, which now savors so strongly of an otter failure, has been a severe bjow to Alaskan mining interests.