8
THE SUMPTER MINER.
Wednesday, September 5, 1900
DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD
New and Unexpected Forma
tions Wherein Found.
An interesting extract from a letter rend
ik fore the society of engineers at New
Yerk:
"Recent discoveries of new gold districts
in limestone, granite, sandstone, and por
phyry awaken prospector to the tact th.it
iiliuost any roJ may be gold bearing, and
that gold ores may be lotind in almost any
geological formation.
" The professional pruspeitor limiting
his observation to a set ol rocks witli
Wilch he is familiar m.iv pass over and
tail to rrcognie the veiy thing he is alter,
on which soni? less intelligent Individual
niav blindly stumble.
.Many of tile Important districts have
been discovered by aciident, and by un
skilled, or ine.speiiemed prospector-.
joIJ mining In the Ragged lop district of
the Ulack Hills was started by linding
silicons gold ore in the limestone.
"After years of pinspeitiug lor silver
lead me, buildeis of silicons gold ore,
averaging f 100 per ton hi carload lots, lay
mi the sulfate in quantity. AUners by the
score had traveled across the ground for
20 years, but It remained for a discouraged
prospector 'catching at a straw,' to have
it s.imple of these boulders assayed and to
Jlscovcr (licit high value.
"Accidental discoveries occur hi every
mining camp: A lartner sinking a well, a
voimiii herryplcklng, a hoy hunting rab
bits, a picnic orlishhig patty, the upturned
rout of a tree blown over by the wind, and
other accidental circumstances and agen
do have led In the discovery of mines. In
the aggregate, however, the largest pro
portions of mines have been discovered by
professional intelligent prospectors.
"As there are so many unpromising
looking rocks that may carry gold, instead
ol merely crushing and panning for tree
Hold as formerly, now , the prospector car
ries his portable assay furnace with him,
auJ assays everything he conies across
that is at all suggestive of ore possibilities.
Such work Is adding much to our knowl
edge of Ihedistilbiition of gold. During
my examinations in 1897, of the Carboni
ferous limestone plateau country, encir
4II11K the central area of the lilack Hills, of
South Dakota, I found that only in the
northern portion of the plateau had min
eral deposits of note been found, mid it
had been generally assumed that the min
rrallraliou of this portion was con lined to
that nre.i. I found, however, .1 general
niinrialiatiou extending In .ones or belts
throughout the legion, especially where
more or less sililicatlon ot the beds had
taken place. In these I found gold from
ft to 5 per ton. Unaltered sandstones
and limestones, as a rule, showed nothing
or hut .1 trace. As a result of 'assaying
everything' for gold, the chemists of Cam
bria Coal company, which operates a coal
seam at the base of the Cretaceous, west
ot the limestone plateau, linds their coal
to yield from f 1 to 1 5 per ton gold. Such
co.il might yield a metallurgical fuel for
smelting gold or silver.
"Gold frequently occurs In substances
lormliig ikh ores without showing a vis
ible trace of Its presence, as for Instance,
in thr sylvanltetellutgyof Cripple Creek.
There are occurences however hi which,
though probably present, not even the
telluride minerals can be seen or separated,
tor example, the silicons ores of the R ig
ged Top district containing neither precip
itated free gold, nor any heavy minerals
carrying gold; no one has yet shown the
form in which gold exists In oies of this
las.
"Similar ores have been found in the
Gunnison region, Colorado, ranging lit
appearence from an amorphous hornstone
flint; with concholdal fracture, through
varitles of jasper, opal and chalcedony.
Sometimes they are hard, at others porous
and varying In color from gray to yellow
red and purple; at times they are white or
pearly, or of waxy luster, and of a wine
color. Ore of this character from Ragged
Top district often assays Jioo to 2oo per
ton, but fails to yield concentrates carry
ing more than 5ioper ton in gold, and
shows not a trace of free gold.
"The presence of tellurium has been
assumed in these but not proven, and it
appears probable that here Is a class of
deposits In which gold exists in some un
known conditions, combined with a sil
icons gangue, or matrix. We do not
know all the possible forms in which the
precious metals may exist.
"That new districts are not found more
frequently is due to the miner restricting
Ills research to those formations and to
that character ol ore with which he is fa
miliar, and may, therefore, for a life time,
walk dilly over high gadeore in plain
sight, which in appearance so differs from
his notions of what constitutes an ore,
that he regards it as barren rock."
RECENT DFCISIONS.
Affecting the Location of Quartz Mining
Claim.
In constructing a notice of location of .1
nilnln" 1 l.ilm thrri- Is no rnl3 of nrcessitv. 1
.........n. ....... ...... .... ... .-.-f
sikIi as exists in the construction of deeds
which requites that the terms "easterly"
and "westerly" used without qualifying
language, shall denote due east and west.
A notice of location ot a mining claim,
which gives the course of the location as
running. i certain distance hi a westerly
and easterly direction from the point of
discovery until theboiinderies are definite
ly located by monument, reserves from
entry by subsequent locators the surface
area which might be Included In any loca
tion so made that If a line be drawn
lengthwise through the center of the claim
from the west center end thereof through
tne point of discovery to the east center
end theieof said line will He east, 45 deg.
north, and east, 45 deg. south from the
point of discovery.
If a locator of a mining claim, when
posting his notice of location, in addition
to giving the general course of his vein,
places his monumeiits.it the center of each
end thereof, thus giving definite notice to
subsequent locators as to the meaning of
his notice, he Is bound thereby, and can
not thereafter, during the time prescribed
py law for perfecting his location, change
the course of his location to the prejudice
of intervening rights.
Scenic Line of the World.
For an enjoyable trip east, take the
Denver & Rio Grande railroad, Scenic
Line of the world. Three dally trains be
tween Denver. Colorado Springs, Pueblo
and all eastern points, and all points on I
the Pacific coast. Most magnificent scen
ery on this continent. The leading fea
ture in connection with the trip is that the
through trains pass through the scenic
attractions of (lie Rocky mountains In
Colorado by daylight, thus affording pas
sengers a cool, pleasant and enjoyable
ride, tree from dust and the annoyances
experienced via other lines. Superb din
ing car service on all through trains.
Service a la carte, pay for what you order.
Through standard and tourist sleepers.
Stopovers allowed on all classes of tickets
any where between Ogden and Denver.
Call on your nearest ticket agent for
tivkcts, rates and all information, or ad
dress, B. C. NICHOL,
General Agent, Portland, Ore. '
Dr. J. I.. Reavls, dentist of La Grande,
Is In town after a four weeks outing in
the mines. He will do some work for
some of his La Grande patients before re
turning. Five quart bottles of Olympla beer for
t. 00 at Henry Fingers'.
VA
1 n c
Nv-Y
Union Smelter Mfg. Co.
OF ST. LOUIS, MO.
Our Sumpter. Oregon, Plant of From
K to 40 Tons Daily Capacity is Now
Ready For Operation.
A spur of the Sumpter Valley Railway Company and easy wagon roads
facilitate the delivery of ores right at the Smelter. Owners or controllers
of Sulphide, Carbonate and Oxide ores, who can contract for their delivery
in lots of 10 tons at least, are requested to forward to us from too to 150
pound representing the average character and values of the ores. Such
samples will be analyzed and assayed by our analytical chemist free of
charge, for the purpose of establishing the value of the coi responding ores
to us, and for the guidance of their owners. Our treatment charge, com
paratively moderate, will be govcrencd by the special adaptability or de
sirableness of the respective ores for our purposes. The product of our
Smelter will be handled by the First Bank of Sumpter and payments for
ores accepted by us will be inadi through the same channel. Special rates
of treatment charges will be made to parties in position to contract for a
steady and large supply of desirable ores.
SAMPLES AND CORRESPONDENCE
SOLICITED
The Union Smelter Mfg. Co.
SUMPTER, OREGON
Lock Box P
H. MlilNHARD, Sec'y. S
Bousum & Spalding
CRYSTAL T(E ComPany
Free delivery of Pure Ice. Leave orders at office of Columbia Brewing and
Malting Co., next door to MINER office.
stop!
see Joe Schmidt
...OO CDfc-fc-K... o
Brewery Saloon
Sumpter
THE GEM SALOON
A. J. STINSON, Prop.
(.Successor to Snyde St Stinson)
Only the Best Brands of Liquors Served Over the Bar
SUMPTER,
OREGON
5
Raul E. Polndexter,
MIN
ES
corona McNcal-s Code.
umpter, - - Ore.
X