0
jwiiM'
VOL. V.
METALLURGICAL WONDER
IS THE STANDARD MINE
High Grade Gold-Cobalt Ore Occurs Nowhere
Else On the Globe, So Far as
Known.
CARRIES OTHER VALUES
Not a Freak Sample Mine. But a
Mountain of Fabulously Rich Ore
Runs From Hundreds Into Thou
sands Compressor and Concen
trating Plant to Be Installed.
'IMui Mtiillilurd lllillit iitwil'llt l I liv
auu wvt.i...... iiiiiivf jfw...i ij 1 tiim uMinuiiii miim iiriiuii;u mill 1 Hill
tho Killou, Warner, Stowurt com- imotal-boarlng veins. In the twenty
puny, in the Quartbur district, two claims owned by the oompauy
occupies a unique place in the history j under the amended locations, there
of mining iud metallurgy. It is not j is material for many mines, audit
only one of tho vory few properties in ' is a mauy-motaled proposition,
the world producing a high grado I Thure are two distinct, vein Hystems,
00 ha It ore, hut, so fares Known, it , tho Standard aud tho Glovlaud-Willio
is the solitary instance which Hold i Hoy. While the latter is rich in
aud cobalt values are found com- (gold and copper, the former perhups
biued. The mine, therefore, ie of possesses the creator interest, from
vast intorest to the Hoientiflu mining I the faut that it is in the Standard
man and metallurgist, aud to tho . vein proper that the deposits of gold
scientific mau generally speaking, on ' cobalt oie are found. In addition
account of this faut, and the invest- i to this, nickel has also been (Us
ing public as well, hocauso those : covered and some tract's ot platinum,
aud other ores exist in immense 'Standard drift No, 1 isiovin over
bodies, holding out great dividoud ; 000 feet with a full breast of this
paying possibilities. I gold-cobalt ore in the face. The
So much attention has of late boon richer samples have a steelish gray
direotod to tho Standard on account t appearance, which would hardly lead
of tho facts gouorally stated ahovo I one to the conclusion from a casual
that a representative of Tho Miner, observation that there was gold
accompanying II. 11. Nicholson, an ' presout, hut assay values have gone
emiuout miniug ongiuoor of Denver, 'into the thousands, besides showing a
aud consulting engineer for tho ( high per cent of cobalt. Of course
Standard, who is supervising the
development work, made a special
visit to ffie mine. A volume could
bo writteu about this property, hut .Drift No. 2, 171 feet above, is in 41)0
of course in an artiole of this char- feet aud also shows gold-cobalt
actor ouly general feat. ires can be values in the face, but not to tho
meutioned aud these from a popular, same extent as found in tho lower
rather that) a scieutiflo,atandpoint. workings, which proves conclusively
Arrived at the Standard in the that this ore gains in permanency
middle of the afternoon after a lougaud value with depth. No. H is a
aud dusty drive, aud a failute to j hliud level reached by the Jiiuoau
make couuectious at luucb time, the
first thing iu order was the familiar
hunger-satisfy iug process at the
board of Zoetb iloueer, of Pendleton,
x-United States marshal, who has
SUMPTER, OREGON, AUGUST , 1904
charge of tlio development work.
And ho it mentioned in punning, that
Mr. Jlousor nnmhui-H among ti i h
other accomplishments unci good
traits of character that of being u
gonial host and a inout excellent
purveyor.
Hut the mini). A bonanza has
beou defined uh a holo in tlio ground
owned by a liar. According to the
looso application of the term a mine
may not even possess the moritH of
being 11 hole in tho ground. Hut the
Staudaid does itot come in eithor of
these categories. There is a inonii-
(llill HI'MUiIllrl lllwl itlwwilr.if wl tuKli llt
, thorio were from picked specimens,
but the average itself is high, run
uiug from $100 to 8fl()0 a ton.
shaft, which was sunk by the French
man Juneau, who was among the
former owuers of the property. It
was he who first discovered the cobalt
in the early days, and under great
transportation diottl tilting made
several shipments of it to Uormnny
aud Franco. The outcropping at
this point aro vory wide aud whore
tho rook has weathered show stains
of oxidized copper. The widest
cropping, however, on the Standard
vein are somu 800 feet from the face
of the lowest drift. Here the vein
has a width on tho surface of fully
seventy-tive foot, and it is to this
point that the work below is being
pushed with all possible rapidity.
It is no dllHcult matter, therefore,
to draw a conclusion as to tho
magnitude of the proposition when
the drift has been carried under
these uroppings. With its rich gold
values, its high per cent of cobalt
and other metals, this vein alone has
the making of one of tho biggest
mines iu the world, Hut this is not
all of the Standard system. There
aro the Juniper, tho lllack Horse,
tho Kuby, on which considerable
work has boon done, and in times
past much rich ore has been taken
out. besides several other veins, not
yet prospected, belonging to the
system.
So far as developed the Cleveland
Willie Hoy iu tho main lead of this
oroHs system. This voin was en
countered on the Standard drift No.
1 a distance of .'100 feet from the
portal, cutting at an angle of about
thirty degrees. It has been drift
ed on north for 500 feet, ami the
ore is largely gold aud copper of a
very high grade. The face of the
dritt is in this character of oro. De
velopment work Is now being confined
largely to Cleveland-Willie Hoy and
Standard No. 1 drifts. While these
workings aro uorth of Dixie creek on
the main Standard mountain, or
Copper ridge, the company's prop
el ty extouds across the creek to
Cougar ridge, where, from the pros
pect work done, tho same high values
may reasonably be expected and the
same vast extent of ore bodies,
During the visit of The Minor
representative, Mi. Ilouser drought
iu some samples fiotn this locality
which assayed 81i,l!K) In gold.
Now, a word about the Standard
with regard to the feature which
gives it a unique place among the
mines of the world. It is the ouly
cobalt mine in America. Again, it
is one of the very few iu the world.
Outside of the producing cobalt
mines iu Oermauy, Norway aud
Sweden, which have been worked for
years, and the one located on the
island of New Caledonia, belonging
to France, in the south Pacific, no
other deposits are known to exist.
Hut the casual leader will want to
I know something of the value and nso
I nt . tlw.lt 'Plw. ........... ,..w...i......
ui uuiiiiiii j-ijii uuiiuiit iiiui(iiijin
in the New York market lire: Cobalt
carbonate, 11.75 a pound; nitrate,
tl.50; oxide, $2.50. It is used iu
making smalt, a cobalt silicate em
ployed iu decoratiug chiua aud other
fine wares. It can also be mude to
take the place of nickel for plating
NO. 48
purposes, since it gives u better and
more durable finish. This, hewovor.
will probably not come into general'
use until the production of the metal
is cheapened. It can be readily seen
that a cobalt mine possesses untold
possibilities of wealth.
The Standard management iu
carrying out a thorough, conserva
tive aud systematic development,
policy, under the direction, as stated,
of Mr. Nicholson, who iu a mining:
engineer of national reputation,
having studied in the loading'
universities iu this country, aud for
several years in Cermany, beside
his connection with many important
mining companies. The next step
in the evolution of IIiIh wonderful
property will lie the installation oC
a compressor plant and concentrating'
works. This conclusion has been
reached aud the consulting engineer
is tlguriug on the plans. There is an
excellent mill site on the property
aud Dixie creek furnishes an abun
dant supply of water.
Such is the brief account of thiv
Standard, about which volumes might
be written, from the standpoint of h
disinterested observer, aud the con
clusion already prellgured that thitt
mine will become one of the great
producing properties of tho world Ih
fully warranted iu the promises.
RECORD MAN PLE4SED
WITH THE DISTRICT.
Howard (1. Itolnort, general man
ager ot the Dally Mining Kooord of
Denver, who has been in the district
for tho past week, left this afternoon
for Portland to attend the Mining
congress. Mr. Iteiuert visited several
of the camps and is greatly pleased
with the situation. 'To u"Minoiv
roproHontativo he said: '
"The possibilities of the Horopter
district in a mining way are immense.
The mineral resoutces of your dis
trict are not to lie questioned for u
minute. It is only a matter of
getting money behind the several
propositions for development pur
poses, This is proved by the fact
that the companies having the capital
to push work for a sutllcieut length
of time are now on a producing hasiH.
You have scarcely scratched the
ground yet, and 1 couOdently expect
the Sumpter district to show some of'
the biggest producing mines of the
country in the future."
Preparing for Mill Run.
i ( i
John Thomson, manager of the
May Queen, returned from the prop
erty today and left for Haker City,
Mr. Thomson has iucieasod his force
at the mine, and is preparing to
make a mill run probably within? tho-
I mouth.
bJ