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About Independence enterprise. (Independence, Or.) 1908-1969 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 28, 1910)
The Oriole Gold Mining Company An Oregon CorporationProperty in Josephine County, Oregon CAPITAL STOCK, $1,000,000.00 O. 8. Bluebird, Sec, Grant Paw. O. W. Donnell, Troaa., Cranta Pan. B. F. Rowland, l'roildunt, Salem. Or. J.C.Maltlson, VlcePre., Grant Pas. OFFICE: 304 United States Rational Bank Building, SALEM, OREGON Stock Now on Sale at the Office of the Company i The Oriole group of mine la altu ated In Josephine county, In Southern Oregou. a county that baa produced probably more fold than any county In the etate. Tbla group consist of nine full claim each 600 by 1800 feot. and containing In all 180 acre. It la in the famoua Gallce mining dis trict, 27 mile from Oranta Paa and IS mllee almost due went of the town of Merlin, a llttlo town on the South ern Pacific road where It crossu Jump-Off Joe creek. Four of these claims lie parallel, thouKh tholr end are not exactly In line, whllo the fifth, the Gold Finch, I an extension of the Oriole, giving the company 8000 feet on the Oriole vein. Thl lodge was discovered In 1902 by 3. C. Mattlson,' the other at later dates, aiid on February 24. 1809. Mr. Mattl aon having secured the entire group, Jn connection with ome 8alem and Grant Pa gentlemen, organised aud Incorporated the Oriole Gold Mining Company with capital atock of $1,000,000, divided Into ten million share of the par value of 10 cent share, and the following substan tial aud conservative business men are officer: Dr. B. F. Rowland of Salem, President; J. C. Mattlson of Gallce, Vice President and Manager; O. 8. Blanchard, Secretary, and O W. Donnell, Treasurer; both the lat ter well known and prominent bus iness men of Grant Pas. The com pany wasted no time, but began at once the development of their prop erty, and up to December 1 bad ex pended at least $20,000 for this pur pose. Th Gal lea District Thl famoua district I credited with the production of $30,000,000 In gold, mostly from the placer depolt, and I tlll yielding fine return from thl ource, though mined for near ly 50 year. It l part of the great mineralised section named by govern- ment geologist the Applegate region, that ha an approximate area of 1000 quare miles. The only smelter now in operation In the state, that at rHakllma,! Is In this area, as Is the well-known Aimed mine, which Is now erecting a smelter, and, by the way, only three or four mile from the Oriole group. Thl zone 1 high ly mineralized, and Is of the very best formation for carrying large ore bodies, the country rock being large ly of a porphyrltlc character, with daclte, andestite and dlorite, both massive and In Intrusive dykes, a belt of carbonaceous slate, and a psuodo morphlc serpentine and some mica schist. A significant thing about the ores found In the rich streak in the Orl- , ole of which we will Bpeak more ful ly hereafter, is that It Is exactly like the pieces of quartz found so abund- , antly In the rich placers of Gallce creek, a grayish to blue, very brittle quartz, built up In layers, much like carnelian, only of dull colors. These boulders found in the placers were not only similar In structure and char acter, but carried gold In practically the same quantities as the Oriole ores. It not only suggests, but in the writer's opinion, proves (and he placer mined on Gallce creek for 15 months) that the millions of dollars worth of gold taken from that stream, were fed into it by the ero sion of just such veins as the Oriole. In other words, nature for countless thousands of years worked the ores of this district, and deposited with infinite patience, the product of her . labors In the creek beds, building up the wonderful placers. This indicates the wonderful richness of the sur rounding hills. Four Distinct Vein While there are four distinct veins on the Oriole property, only one, the HISTORY OF THE ORIOLE MINE Oriole, ha been examined to any great extent, but the other have been prospected ufflclently to show that they r well defined, strong vein, and carry good values. Two of thee vein are lmilar to the Ori ole In the character of their ore, while the other carries considerable copper in the form of sulphide. That thee vein may unite with the Oriole t great depth la possible, but the dip or pitch of the veins has not yet been de ermlned with sufficient ac curacy to make thl more than a possibility. However, a cross cut tun nel to be run next year, will cut all three veins, a well a the Oriole, on the latter at a depth of from 800 to 1000 feet In other words, thl will Up thee ledge o that all their ore above that point can be dropped down to that level through chute, which make It the very cheapest to handle, and at the same time does away with the trouble of water, and the expense of pump and hoisting machinery, until all the ore above that level are worked out, and that mean for a goodly number of years. Th Orlol Ledge. Thl la an Immense contact fissure vein, running northeast and south west through the Oriole ground for 3000 feet. How wide it I ha not yet been demonstrated, but cross-cuts made from the hanging wall where there 1 a four to five foot ledge of very high grade ore have cut through 40 feet of o-called low grade ore, of which the lowest assay showed $23.40 per ton, and the highest $27.60, and evenness of distribution of val ues unequalled in mining history. Now, let u look briefly at another feature, and a very uggestlve one: Tunnel No. 1 waa run In on the ledge about 90 feet, getting about ttoe eame depth perpendicularly, and from thl a small carload of ore from the high grfede streak, six and one-half ton In all. was sent to the Tacoma smelt er, and yielded a net return of $184. 85 per ton. Tunnel No. 2 was run In on the ledge 71 feet below tunnel No. 1. Thl drift followed the hanging wall and Is now in over 500 feet, and has about the same depth from the sur face, the hill pitching about naif. A carload of 15.5 tons from the high grade streak In this tunnel yielded at the Tacoma smelter $224.58 net per ton. This shows an increase of $40 in value In a depth of 71 feet. In this tunnel are the cross-cuts spoken of that penetrate 40 feet of $25 ore, and the foot wall not yet reached. In It the high grade streak Is from four to five feet wide. A wlnz was sunk 30 feet from this tunnel and a drift run for some distance along the ledge, exposing a fine body of the same high grade ores as is shown elsewhere in the mine and showing assay values of $377.80 per ton, and with a width of about eight feet. A . chute was cut connecting No. 1 and No. 2 tunnels. A car of ore from this, 17.75 tons, netted $203.64, or nearly $20 per ton more than in the upper tunnel. No. 3 tunnel is 108 feet below No. 2 and is In about 400 feet. In this tunnel the high grade streak is 70 feet long er than in No. 2, the one directly above it, and showing values of $785.80 per ton. The ledge in this tunnel has been cross-cutted for 40 feet, and foot wall not reached. Now here is a practical test, not assays, but actual results obtained from working the ores by a reputable smelting company which sends its checks to pay for the ores. A total of $8273.16 from 39.31 tons of ore, clean net returns, or a profit of $210.42 per ton. No mine on the coast with even double the amount of development work can make any- where near so good a showing. While a compared to the high grade treak of from three to eight feet, the other 40 and more feet of ore 1 classed a low grade, It I far from belonging to that class. It Is really a high grade ore. The aver age ores of the Tread well mine of Alaska hover around the $3 mark, and are worked at a profit even as low as $1.70, and It pays big divi dends too. The immense mine at Ely, Nev., now attracting the world' attention, are below $8 In value, and the great Rand Dykes, in South Afri ca, that have produced some hun dreds of million, average less than $7. Now with every facility for work ing these ores, abundant water pow er for handling all machinery re quired, a hundred acres of fine tim ber for mining purposes, these ore can be worked a cheaply as any where. The cyanide process will probably be used In treating the low er grade ore, which Is the cheapest and most thorough for that class of ore, being well below $2 a a gener al proposition. There is, allowing a wide margin, easily $20 a ton profit on every ton of ore In the mine. Tun nel No. 3 for the last 100 feet ha left the hanging wall and is being run diagonally through the ledge and will be continued in this general direction until the foot wall Is met with. It Is entirely within the realm of possibility that another high grade streak will be found hugging thl wall. All this work ha been done Imply to test the vein at different levels, and Is all necessary to opening the mine on a scientific, practical working plan! The increase In both the width and length of the high grade streak as it goes down, a well a the sub tantla; Increase In value ha satis fied the owner of the magnitude and permanency of the mine and arrange ments are now nearly completed for opening the mine on a working basis. A site for Tunnel No. 4 has been elected. It will start on Blue Bird ground, the company's eastermost ground. At this point, or near it, are located the power house, the electric light plant, and the boarding house. The sawmill being located near the entrance to No. 3 tunnel, the waters of Rocky gulch piped through a pipe line of steel pipe, which has a fine fall and furnishes abundant power for the bunk house and other buildings which are being erected. A Pelton wheel has been installed which, be sides furnishing power for the saw mill, will have plenty left for the three big power drills which are now on the .ground, and which will soon be tearing their way into the heart of the mountain. Tunnel No. 4 Is to be the main opening Into the mine. It will be a cross-cut, running at right angles to the ledge, and it will cut three of the company's ledges. It is estimated the Oriole vein will be tapped 1000 feet in and will be about 800 or 1000 feet deep. Incidentally it will cut the ore on the Humming Bird even deeper than the Oriole, though it will take 500 feet of extra tunnel to tap It. This will give 1000 feet of "backs," or stoplng ground above the tunnel level on the Oriole, probably 500 feet on the Canary, and considerably more on the Humming Bird. Bunk and boarding houses are be ing built at the mouth of the pro posed tunnel and about the first of the year active work begins on it. Two of the power drills will be used in running the tunnel, and it is ex pected that it will be completed to the Oriole ledge (1000 feet) in six months. The other power drill will be used in alternate shifts in tun nels No. 2 and No. 3, and thus the ore will be steadily exposed, while the long cross-cut tunnel I belns run and at the am time many ton of high grade ore will be taken out. and tored. It Is one of the remark able things among mines when one I found that "pay from the gra root," but thl the Oriole docs, aud if necessary high grade ore enough can be taken from the top-s now to develop the mine, pay for machinery and practically open itself, and at the ame time declare dividends. In addition to the other conven ience, an electric Plant large enough to upply 125 16-candlepower light U in place. The property Is in the forest reserve and the title, the pos sessory right by which all mines are held under the law by doing annual ly $100 worth of labor or assessment work, until such time as the land Is patented, from the general govern ment The waterpower is a splendid one, sufficient for all the wants of the company for some years at least, and the company title to It l per fect. Besides the work on the mine, much outside work ha necessarily been done. Bunk and boarding hous es, a blacksmith shop, sawmill, store house, pipe line laid, and two miles of fine wagon road graded from Rogue river to the mine. Mr. Mattlson, who is manager and general euperlntendnt of the mines, give the work his entire time. He ha had year of experience In min ing, and hi work shows that It has been done wisely and with keen judg ' ment Not a dollar has been wasted, and not a piece of work done that waa not absolutely necessary to get a knowledge of the ore bodies. No machinery for working the ores will be purchased until No. 4 tunnel is completed say by July and the character of the ore at the depth of that tunnel and the processes neces sary to work It are demonstrated. As soon as this is done, the plant for working the ores will be ordered and will be on the ground, ready for put ting together, . before the rainy sea son sets In. $4,000,000 in Values Uncovered. The ore uncovered now with the drills along the ledge shows a width of about 50 feet', for 40 feet has not found the foot wall.-. It is cut In nearly 400 feet below the apex of the ledge and is in 500 feet. This would be , equal to a square body 400 by 250 feet, 40 feet wide, or 400,000 tons. Now cut this in two to allow ' for pinching at the top, and there are 200,000 tons of ore valued at $20 per ton, or $4,000,000, and this Is now in sight and does not take Into con sideration the high grade ore either. But while it is Idle to speculate on probabilities, for the showing already made is sufficient in Itself, still the following figures will be interesting. If the big body of low grade ore alone holds to this depth (tunnel No. 4) and no mining man who knows the geological formation or who has ever been in the districts doubts it, there will be a body of stoping ground to make one sit up and take notice. Take your pencil and follow this: An ore body known to be 1000 feet long (and it is undoubtedly much longer, " 1000 feet deep and 50 feet wide would show 50,000,000 cubic feet of ore. Eleven cubic test make a ton therefore there Would be 4,545, 000 tons, and at. a net profit of $20 per ton a yield of $90,000,000. But this Is only speculative, let us not overlook the fact that a vein of one foot wide of $250 ore is equal to a( vein ten feet wide of $25 ore; now with a four-foot vein of high grade ore it is the same as if the ledge was 40 feet wide; 'in other words, your actual value is nearly double the amount first estimated.
