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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1922)
i OCTOBER 1, 1922 CotttG Cxtl BVfl I IIP ton G to 01 1 if Oregon Properties Taking New Lease on Ofe After Dormant Decade rrrrrrr: nil Vl4r?sr J 1. ' . :!,e"Wfa1SBW;:'." v "Hfiv I'lrmrioovrL .i i Ki 3 3 3 1 ,.5 1 71 "Slam" Dam containing million in values. BY DeWITT HARRY. " ' SOMEHOW the majority of Orego nians .think of their state as agri cultural, lumbering, fishing and scenic In assets. They never waste a thought on the mining possibilities. Port land Is not a mining community, like Spo kane, Wash. Little of the wealth here comes from mining, but Oregon is ex ceptionally rich in mineral deposits. Too few people know of this part of the state's activities or of the many rich and 'productive mines that have, in past years, broughL wealth to their o.wners and are even yet being operated. The eastern Oregon mining section has produced, since its discovery in 1862, about a quarter of a billion dollars. Since the world war there has been little activity In this region, but indications are that renewed Interest in mining is about due. Already there are signs of the new lease of life. Oregon's greatest reliance is on her precious metals, and during the hard, practical days of the war it was the commercial metals that were sought. Gold, of a standard value, "did not rise as did copper, lead and other materials necessary in the manufacture of muni tions and in the successful waging of a terrific series of campaigns all over the globe. The result was that gold mining suffered and Is suffering yet, for while operation costs have multiplied the price to be had for gold is the same. Gold Gains; Mines Profit. Now the purchasing power of the gold ounce is necessary, with the result that the outlook for gold mining" is on the mend. Improved conditions have strengthened the hopes of those inter ested in other kinds of metalliferous mining. At the present time there is a renewed vim being shown in Oregon mines and frequent reports are being re ceived of new development planned, works started and actual production re sumed. With the eastern Oregon field admittedly the state's "best bet" when it comes to mining and with an uninter rupted output dating almost from civil war days to 1914, this seems to assure a great deal of activity in this region in the very near future. While this is perhaps essentially a gold and silver-bearing country, it does not mean that other metals are not found in this area, which extends about 1 30 miles in a southwesterly direction from the Snake river, which forms the eastern boundary of the state, to the vicinity of Canyon City in Grant county. This min eral belt, if it may be called such, is more than 40 miles in width, and while the greater portion of it is embraced in Baker county, it extends into Grant county, Malheur and Union, with also some showing in Wallowa county. Gold and silver are the metals which have been generally prospected for an! 4 4 .x . ft & 1 E. & E. mine at Bourne. mined, but this does not by any means cover all the minerals that have been miaej. During the war a very large tonnoge of chromite was shipped from this part of Oregon, as one of the war metals needed most by our government. From one mine, the Iron Dike, on Snakr river, the production of copper has reached in excess of 1,000,000 pounds a year. In fact, the list of metals found in this large mineral belt reads almost like a glossary. Like most of the metal-mining sections of the United States, eastern Oregon has suffered from the depression that has been general In mining. This has been through no fault of the district or from (the lack of opportunity, but to the high costs of operating and the fact that investments in mining have been held up awaiting the return to normalcy. That this time is approaching, and there will be a con sequent increase in mining activity in eastern Oregon, it seems is assured. Many things indicate this. Those who have continued the development and operation of mining ventures can usually point to accomplishments that are en couraging. Some notable discoveries, pointing to the opening of huge ore de posits that should mean long life to the mines, were made. Baker's Production Iarrge. Baker is one of the most diversified counties in Oregon. It produces gold lode and placer), silver, lead and cop per. It also produced some of the more rare and much wanted metals during the war period. Since the discovery of gold on Powder river In 1S62. Baker district is officially credited with a total mineral production cf $125, 000,000. This may include somewhat more territory than Baker county covers. Even in 1920, that dis trict produced 85 per cent of the state of Oregon's gold and silver and 100 per1 if " 4 fa Vf" IK. m . , 4 its. Cornucopia Mines company combines two mines underground . cent of its copper. . During that year the principal producing sections were: Cor nucopia, gold and - silver; Homestead, copper; Sumpter-Cracker Creek, gold, silver and lead; Granite, gold and sil ver; Greenhorn, silver and gold; Rock Creek, silver. Although large hordes of whites passed through the country in the Ore gon migrations between 1S43 and sub sequent to the gold discoveries of Cali fornia in 1849, it was not until 1862 that the first placer discoveries were made on what is now known as the Powder river, a stream which meanders down from the Blue mountains and takes its way through the town of Baker. The original discoveries were followed hy quick extension of the placering ac tivity, which extended over into Burnt river country and into the John Day f potion. The remains of early placering oper ations can still be seen along both streams, while on the Burnt river work with primitive methods Is still continued at a few points by holders of ground who are satisfied with the comparatively meager returns.-. On the Powder river the placer miners have been succeeded by dredges. There are two .of these plants operating in the vicinity of Sump, ter. One belongs to the big Hammon dredging interests of California, and the other is owned by a local concern, which bought the plant from the Hammon peo ple. They have literally chewed the val ley bottom up into a ridged mass of gravel and bowlders, so that what was previously an extended area of meadow or farm land has come to look as deso late as the Sahara desert. The dredged strip ranges from a quarter to a half mile in width and Is probably ten miles long. The dredges are apparently near the end of their tether. The lower one, it is understood, is to be dismantled soon and moved by the Hammon inter ests to a new location in southern Idaho. The -operations have been extended over c a long period. It is reported that dredge operations averaged 11000 net per dredge daily at that time. It was inevitable that lode mining ac tivity should follow on the heels of the placer excitement. Most of the mineral occurrences were found in and around the precipitous Blue mountains, with things going at full swing even prior to Pritch ard's initial discovery in the Coeur d'Alenes. Attention was paid chiefly at first to the possibilities of the free mill ing gold ores. These were found close to the surface, and readily worked, some with primitive stamp mills brough't in on the backs of mules. Tr modes of trans portation germane to a period when rail ways were unknown. It was not until 1884 that the Oregon Short Line wound its long way up from Ogtlen and joined with the O. R. & N. (now the O.-W. R. R. & N.) at Huntington, on the Snake river. Thereafter was shipped a considerable tonnage of ores or concentrate, carrying values in silver and copper as well as in gold, and which, by reason of complexity, yielded little of value when subjected to treatment by stamp mills. As" depth was attained on some of the larger earlier producers, milling appeared to become more and more of a problem. There yet remain in many properties large tonnage of low grade material, which prove refractory even to flotation. Better success has been achieved with modern methods at one property than at others, although values may run about the same. There has been the usual amount of bad management, inefficiency and mistakes, but in this respect the dis trict has been no more unfortunate than many another. "Wlidcatting" has been frequently indulged in by promoters, with resultant detriment to the country. Many of the principal mines are several miles from railway transportation and, added to the costs of hauling to a railway track, have a long haul by rail to a smelter, whether it be at Salt Lake, East Helena, Bradley or Tacoma. Consequently only the best grades of ore and concentrates can be shipped at a profit. The lower grade stuff must perforce remain In the mine or on the dump. The Bay Horse mine on the Snake river, about ten miles north of Hunting ton, Is a notable instance of the discovery of an exceptionally large ore depoeit. This Is more truly the re-discovery of an old prospect, one apparently of which the original discoverers or owners little dreamed the extent. It Is owned and being developed, by the United States Metals company, with ofTlces In this cl'y J. A. Gylienberg of Baker Is president of the United States Mttals company. Mine Romance Found. The Bay Horse mine, which is a silver property, the values being almost en tirely In that metal, was discovered and operated to some extent more than 30 years ago. Waldemar Lindgren. the noted geologist, in his report made for ftp U. S. G. 8., In 191H, mentlon-l. a:ii'.tr; number of cluims on the Snake rlv-r. "the Bay Horse;, which standi red ted with a small silver production In 1891 " With the great decline In the prire of silver which followed shortly aftpr. the Bay Horse was closed, the claim was patented and It wan then forgotten, to such an extent that It was with difficulty that the location of the old workings wpr later found. It remained for P. H. Miller, present superintendent of the mine, to roflihcover it. Krom the field notes of the mineral survey and through ronvpritatlnn with an old prospector who lived on the river, hp (CunUuUed ua l'pe U.)