DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR

THE ORE DEPOSITS

OF '

NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON

BY 

HOWLAND BANCROFT

INCLUDING A SECTION ON

THE REPUBLIC MINING DISTRICT

BY

WALDEMAR LINDGREN AND HOWLAND BANCROFT

WASHINGTON

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1914
I
CONTENTS.

Page.

Introduction. ............................ ^................................ 1

Area examined........................................................ . 1

Field work and acknowledgments...................................... 1

Literature..;......................................................... 2

Climate and vegetation................................................ 2

History of mining activity.............................................. 3

Mining and metallurgy................................................ 5

General conditions................................................ 5

Transportation.................................................... 5

Methods of mining................................................. 6

Treatment of ores..............:................... J............... - 6

Smelters....................................................... 6

Mills.........................:................................ ' 6

Costs...........................................:................. 8

Topography............................................................... 9

Geology.................................................................. 10

General features......... t .............................................. 10

Pre-Cambrian (?) rocks................................................ 11

Paleozoic rocks....................................................... 12

Sedimentary series. .........................................*...... 12

Igneous rocks......................................L.............. 15

Mesozoic rocks........................................................ 16

Tertiary rocks.......................................................... 18

Lake beds......................................................... 18

Lava flows......................... ^.............................. 18

Intrusive rocks.................................................... 19

Breccia-conglomerate.............................................. 19

Quaternary deposits................................................... 20

Geologic history........................................................ 20

Pre-Cambrian (?) conditions....................................... 20

Paleozoic conditions................................................ 20

Mesozoic conditions............................................... 21

Tertiary and Quaternary conditions................................ 21

Effects of metamorphism.............................................. 21

Regional metamorphism........................................... 21

Contact metamorphism............................................. 22

The mineral deposits........................'............................... 22

Periods of mineralization............ '. .................................. 22

Kinds of deposits....................................................... 23

Gold deposits.......................................................... 23

Shear zones in quartz latite........................................ 23

Fissure veins in andesite and quartz latite porphyry.................. 23

Fissure veins and shear zones in metamorphosed sediments and diabase 24

Silver deposits...,,.,..,..,,.. ,,,,,,...,..,...,.,,,.,................ 25

I
n CONTENTS.

The mineraldeposits Continued. Page.

Lead-zinc deposits..................................................... 26

Disseminated replacements in metamorphosed sediments............. 26

Fissure veins..................................................... 26

Copper-deposits....................................................... 27

Copper-bearing quartz veins........................................ 27 , Replacement deposits in metamorphic rocks......................... 27

Disseminated deposits in schist and granite. ......................^.. 28 ;

Other metalliferous deposits............................................ 28

Iron............................................................... 28

Tungsten......................................................... 29 ;

Antimony........................................................ 30

Molybdenite....................................................... 30 -, Nickel................................:.......................... 30

Ores mined chiefly for use as a flux in smelting...................... 3.0 

Placer deposits......................................................... 31

The mining districts and ore deposits....................................... 39

Stevens County....................................................... 40

Metaline district.................................................. 40

Location and extent........................................... 40

Means of access................................................ 40

Condition of mining industry.................................. 41

Topography.........................................;......... 41

Geology...................................................... 42

Ore deposits.................................................. 43

Distribution and character.................................. 43

Origin of the ores.......................................... 45

future of the district........................................... 45

Prospects on the west side of Clark Fork......................... 46

Oriole.................................................... 46

Clark. .................................................... 47

Lead King.....................................:........... 48

Cliff.................\......:.............................. 49 r

Prospects on the east side of Clark Fork.......................... 49

Schellenburg........................ : .................... 49

Riverside..:............................................... 50

Meade..................................................... 51

Northport district.................................................. 51

Location and extent.....'...................................... 51

Condition of mining activity................................... 52

Transportation of ores......................................... 52

Topography................................................... 53

Geology...................................................... 53

Ore deposits.................................................. 54

Mines and prospects southeast of Columbia River................ 54

Last Chance ..............................................

Treadwell ................. '..............................

Seaman..................................................

Anaconda................................................

Copper King..............................................

Frisco Standard ..................... ^......................

Keough..................................................

W. J. Bryan. ............................................
CONTENTS. UI

The mining districts and ore deposits Continued. 

Stevens County Continued.

Northport district Continued. Page.

Mines and prospects northwest of Columbia River............... 59

Sunset................................................... 59

Great Republic........................................... 60

Double Standard.......................................... 61

Mines and prospects near Bossburg............................. 62

Young America............................................ 62

Bonanza................................................. 63

Orient district..................................................... 64

Location and extent........................................... 64

Condition of mining activity................................... 65

Topography................................................... 66

' Geology...................................................... 66

Pre-Cambrian (?) rocks..................................... 66

Paleozoic (?) rocks........................................ 67

Mesozoic rocks............................................ 68

Tertiary rocks............................................. 68

Ore deposits................................................... 69

Mines and prospects on First Thought Mountain................. 71

First Thought............................................ 71

Second Thought............................................ 76

North Star................................................ 77

Prospects on Toulou Mountain................................. 77

Globe........................-...................:....... 78

Scotia.................................................... 78

Copper Butte.............................................. 79

Orient..................................................... 79

Defender.................................................. 80

Trojan.................................................... 81

Prospects east of Pierre Lake.................................. 82

Big Iron.................................................. 82

Pomeroy................................................. 83

Easter Sunday............................................ 83

McNally................................................. 84

Other mines and prospects...................................... 85

Kettle River............................................... 85

Little Giant.............................................. 87

Swamp King.............................................. 88

Beecher................................................... 88

McKinley................................................. 88

Napoleon.................................................. 89

Chewelah district.................................................. 92

Location and extent.'.......................................... 92

Condition of mining activity................................... 92

Topography................................................... 92

Geology...................................................... 93

Kinds of rock............................................. 93

Sedimentary rocks......................................... 94

Igneous rocks............................................. 95

Ore deposits.................................................. 95
IV CONTENTS.

The mining districts and ore deposits Continued - . Stevens County Continued. 

Chewelah district Continued. " Pag6.

Mines and prospects on the east side of Colville Valley........... 98

United Copper.................!........................... 98

Chewelah Copper King.........:........................... 102

Strobeck.................................................. 104

Delmonico (Enterprise)................................... 105

Blue Star (Eagle).......................................... 105

Jay Gould................................:................ 106

U. S. Copper Gold........................ ................ 107

Windfall...................:..............,............... 108

Copper Queen............................................ 108

Prospects on the west side of Golville Valley.................... 109

Hartford................................................. 109

Liberty................................................... 110

Nevada. ................................................... Ill

Deertrail (Cedar Canyon) district................................... Ill

Location. ................................. ^.............'...... Ill

Condition of mining activity................................... 112

Topography................s................................... 112

Geology...................................................... 113

Sedimentary rocks.....................;................... 113

Igneous rocks............................................. 114

Ore deposits.......................... '........................ 114

Distribution and character...............................:.. 114

' Origin of the ores.......................................... 115

Lead-silver deposits............................................ 116

Brooks.................................................... 116

Sunday Morning.......................................... 116

Little Prank.............................................. 117

Hoodoo.................................................. 117

Germania tungsten deposit........'............................ 118

Location and means of access.............................. 118

History and production.... ......'.....I.................... 118

Equipment............................................... 119

Development.............................................. 119

Topography..................I..:......................... 119

Geology. ....................................... ^........^ 119

Ore deposits.............................................. 120

Character and distribution............................. 120

Origin of the ores..................................... 122

Treatment of ores.......................................... 122

Other deposits in Stevens County................................... 124

Columbia River Gold Mining Co............................... 124

Silver Queen................................................. 125

Old Dominion................................................. 126

Tungsten King............................................... 130

Ferry County.......................................................... 133

Republic (Eureka) district, by Waldemar Lindgren and Howland Bancroft. ...................................................... 133

Location and extent........................................... 133

Means of access.......;............ J........................... 134
CONTENTS. V

The mining districts and ore deposits Continued. 

Ferry County Continued.

Republic (Eureka) district Continued. Page.

History of the district and condition of mining industry.......... 134

Production................................:................... 135

. Mining........................................................ 136

Metallurgy.................................................... 136

Topography................ . .................................. 137

Geology.........;............................................ 138

Bocks exposed............................................. 138

Geologic history............................................ 138

Paleozoic rocks........................................... 139

Mesozoic rocks.......................................:.... 140

Tertiary rocks. ............................................. 140

General character..................................... 140

Lake beds...../........................................ 141

Lava flows................... '. ........................ 142

Quartz latite porphyry................................ 143

Breccia-conglomerate.................................. 144

Quaternary deposits....................................... 144

Glacial drift and stream gravels......................... 144

Alluvial deposits....................................... 145

Ore deposits.................................................. 145

The older veins............................................ 145

The younger veins......................................... 146

General features....................................... 146

Gangue minerals........"............................... 147

The ore in general.................................... 150

The ore in depth....................................... 151

Alteration of the wall rock............................. 152

Genesis of the deposits................................. 152

Mines and prospects............................................ 153

Southern Republic (Princess Maude)....................... 153

Chico....................................................... 154

Republic................................................. 154

Quilp................................................'..... 157

Blacktail.................................................. 159

Surprise, Lone Pine, and Pearl............................ 159

Insurgent. .............................:.................. 162

Sanpoil.................................................. 162

Ben Hur................................................. 163

Trade Dollar.............................................. 163

Knob Hill................................................ 164

Mountain Lion............................................ 164

Morning Glory.............................................. 165

Other prospects on Flag Hill............................... 165

Tom Thumb............................................... 166

Belcher district.................................................... 166

Location and extent........................................... 166

Condition of mining activity................................... 167

Topography................................................... 167

Geology...................................................... 168

Ore deposits.................................................. 169
VI CONTENTS.

The mining districts and ore deposits Continued. 

Ferry County Continued.

Belcher district Continued. Page.

Mines and prospects............................................. 170

Oversight................................................ 170

Copper Key. ; ............................................ 173

Belcher.................................................. 175

Sanpoil district.................................................... 179

Location and extent........................................... 179

Condition of mining activity................................... 180

Topography. ................................................... 180

Geology....................................................... 181

Ore deposits.................................................. 181

Mines and prospects............................................. 182

Congress. .................................................. 182

Manila.................................................... 185

Polepick................................................. 186

Covada or Meteor (Enterprise) district............................... 187

Location and extent........................................... 187

Condition of mining activity................................... 188

Topography................................................... 188

Geology............................ v ........................ 188

Ore deposits..................'.........................,...... 189

Mines and prospects............................................. 191

Meteor.................................................... 191

Stray Dog................................................. 193

, Advance................................................. 193

Keystone.................................................. 195

Longstreet................................................. 195

E. E. Lee..... ............^ ............................... 196

Silver Leaf................................... .........^.. 197

Other deposits in Ferry County..................................... 197

Lone Star and Washington...................................... 197

Deposits near Danville......................................... 199

California.................................................... 200

Iron Mountain................................................. 201

Laurier...............:..............'......................... 201

Jenny.......................................................... 202

Okanogan County.....'......................'.......................... 203

Park City district...................... ; .......................... 203

Location and means of access.................................. 203

Condition of mining activity................................... 204

Topography.. 1 ...... ..................................'......'.. 204

Geology...................................................... 204

Ore deposits................................... J............... 204

Mines and prospects..... '....................................... 205

Castle Creek Mining Go's, prospects..................... ; .... 205

Location and general features..:....................... 205

Ore deposits.......................................... 205

Summit.............................................. 205

Snowshoe. ..................................'.......... 206

Mountain Boy...............--..----.-................. 207

Kamore Mining Co. 's claims................................ 207

Wasco..................................................... 209

Index.................-.....................-.....-----.----------------- 211
ILLUSTRATIONS.

PLATE I. A, Glaciated surface of shale containing many quartz lenses; B, Sec- Page, 

tion of vein from Anaconda No. 1 property...................... 56

II. A, Minor folding in limestone country rock at Copper King property,

Northport district; B, Section of vein from Frisco-Standard mine.. 57

III. A, Lens of limestone included in shale, Globe prospect; B, Mass of 

quartzite surrounded by intrusive porphyry, Second Thought 

group........................................................ 66

IV. Plan of First Thought mine...................................... 72

V. A, First Thought mine; B, Part of United Copper camp............ 74

VI. Specimen showing structure of the United Copper vein.............. 100

VII. A, View in United Copper mine; B, Faulted vein No. 2, Germania

mine.............................. .......................... 101

VIII. Plan of the Germania camp....................................... 118

I.. Occurrence of wolframite in quartz, Germania mine............... 120

X. Quartz ledge in quartz-mica schist, Tungsten King mine.......... 132

XI. Panorama of Eepublic, Wash ..................................... 133

XII. Geologic map and sections of the Republic mining camp........... 134

XIII. Map showing mining claims in Republic district................... 136

XIV. A, Glory hole of New Republic mine; B, Southern Republic vein.. 146 

v XV. Photomicrograph of quartz from Southern Republic vein.......... 146

XVI. Republic mill................................................... 154

XVII. Plan and sections of Republic mine.............................. 156

XVIII. A, Republic vein on fourth level; B, Polished section from Republic

vein, third level............................................. 156

XIX. A, Pearl vein; B, Stope in upper level, Surprise mine............. 157

FIGURE 1. Index map of Washington, showing location of area examined..... 1

2. Map of northeastern Washington, showing the location of the .principal towns in several of the mining districts examined.......... 89

3. Sketch map of First Thought and Toulou mountains, showing the

location of the mines and prospects visited...................... 72

4. Longitudinal section of the First Thought mine.................. 73

5. Geologic and topographic sketch map of the area about the First

Thought mine............................................... 74

6. Sketch map of Eagle and Quartzite mountains................... 94

7. Longitudinal and cross sections of the United Copper mine........ 99

8. Sketch map showing the approximate position of some of the claims

in the vicinity of the Deertrail camp........................... 117

9. Section through the ridge in which the main workings of the Ger- 

/ mania mine are located........................................ 119

10. Flow sheet of Germania mill..................................... 123

11. Flow sheet showing proposed plan of treatment in the mill of the

Germania Co.............'....... ^............................. 123

12. Longitudinal section and plan of the Old Dominion workings...... 128

13. Sketch showing the relative position of the Tungsten King prospect 

y- and Big Blue Grouse Mountain................................. 131

J
Vffi ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIGUBE 14. Republic vein, sketched from third level........................ 155

15. Republic vein, sketched from fourth level....................... 155

16. Diagram showing relations of veins on Surprise, Lone Pine, and

, Pearl claims ................................................ 161

17. Topographic map of a part of the Belcher mining district.......... 168

18. Sketch map of a part of the Oversight group of claims, showing the

location of the workings...................................... 171

19. Plan of the Copper Key workings................................ 174

20. Plan of the Belcher mine workings.............................. ' 177

21. Section through the Belcher mine looking southwest.............. 178

22. Sketch map of the area in which the Congress property is located,

near Bridge Creek, Sanpoil mining district...............-...:... 182

23. Sketch map showing the location of some of the properties visited

in the Meteor or Covada (Enterprise) mining district............. 190

24. Plan of main level of Meteor prospect, Enterprise district......... 192

25. Plan of the Advance workings, Enterprise mining district......... 194

26. Map of the northeastern part of the Republic quadrangle, Wash.... 198
THE ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

By HOWLAND BANCROFT.

INTKODUCTION.

AREA EXAMINED.

The area investigated in the reconnaissance whose results are here 

set forth is situated in the extreme northeastern part of the State of 

Washington, containing within its boundaries the whole of Stevens

and Ferry counties, which cover approximately 6,000 square miles.

80 __75 100 Miles

FIGURE 1. Index map of Washington, showing (by shading) location of area examined.

(See fig. 1.) Brief mention is also made of the ore deposits in tne 

Park City district, in Okanogan County, near the boundary between 

this and Ferry County.

FIELD WORK AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

The field work in this area was done by the writer during parts of 

the summers of 1909 and 1910, a total of four and one-half months 

having been spent in the several districts. Mr. Waldemar Lindgren

1
2 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

spent the month of September, 1909, in the field with the writer. 

At that time the Republic (Eureka) district was studied in some 

detail and the report on this district has been prepared by Mr. Lindgren and the writer jointly. Thanks are due to Mr. Lindgren for 

many valuable suggestions pertaining to geologic conditions in thisarea and for criticisms of various kinds during the preparation of the 

report.

The writer takes this opportunity to thank also the men interested 

in the development of the mining industry in this part of Washington, who generously gave him their time and information while he 

was in the region. Especially does he feel indebted to Messrs. Alexander Sharp, Conrad Wolfle, William Scheck, H. J. Lycett, S. H. 

Richardson, J. L. Harper, Harry Newton, L. L. Tower, E. W. Scothorn, August Krug, Jens Jensen, James T. Dolan, and officials of 

Stevens and Ferry counties.

LITERATURE.

- The literature on the geology and ore deposits in Stevens and Ferry 

counties is scanty. Articles and brief notes on the different districts 

have appeared in the Northwest Mining News and in other mining 

papers. Among these may be mentioned articles on the Republic camp 

in volumes 66,68,78,81, and 85 of the Engineering and Mining Journal. 

The Mining Bureau of the State of Washington and the Geological 

Survey of Washington have paid more or less attention to this part 

of the State, their annual reports containing brief articles upon the ore 

deposits, and Bulletin 1 of the Geological Survey being devoted to a 

discussion of the Republic mining district. Bulletins 285 and 315 of 

the United States Geological Survey contain brief articles on the 

"Iron ores of Washington" and the "Gold-bearing river sands of

northeastern Washington/', respectively. Volume 30 of the Transactions of the American Institute of Mining Engineers contains an 

article entitled "An examination of the.ores of the Republic gold 

mine, Washington." The volumes of Mineral Resources published 

by the United States Geological Survey give statistical information 

on the production and deposits of this area. Mining in the Pacific 

Northwest, published by the Post-Intelligencer, of Seattle, contains 

brief notes on several of the mining districts.

CLIMATE AND VEGETATION.

Throughout the major part of the year the climate in northeastern 

Washington is delightful. The summer heat is not intense and the 

winters are not very severe, although snow lies on parts of the mountain ranges until late spring. The United States Weather Bureau 1 

reports that "The rainfall over the Columbia, Spokane, Colville, [and]

i Summary of the climatological data for the United States.
INTRODUCTION. 3

Pend Oreille valleys is sufficient to grow crops without the necessity 

of irrigation." The mean annual precipitation recorded at Cusick, 

near the eastern border of the area covered by this reconnaissance, at 

an elevation of 2,050 feet, is 24.94 inches, while that at Republic, near 

the western border of the area, at an elevation of 2,628 feet, is 17.42 

inches. The maximum temperature recorded at Colville, which is 

practically in the center of the area, at an elevation of 1,635 feet, is 

103° F. The minimum temperature recorded at the same place is 

 29° F., and the mean annual temperature covering a period of 28 

years is given as 45.5° F. Republic has a maximum recorded temperature of 102° F., a minimum of 32° F., and a mean annual temperature over a period of eight years of 43.9° F. The prevailing 

wind direction at Colville is stated to be southwest and at Republic 

northwest. The average date of the last killing frost in spring is 

given as June 15 for both places, although such frosts have occurred 

in the later part of July. For Republic September 3 is given as the 

average date of the first killing frost in autumn and for Colville September 7 is the average date. Frosts have occurred in both these 

places during the later part of August.

Most of the mountain ranges are more or less covered by a good 

growth of evergreen trees of several species, yellow and jack pine 

predominating, but tamarack and cedar are prominent in parts of the 

area. Underbrush grows profusely in certain localities and hinders 

prospecting to some extent. Willows line the smaller streams and 

in places are so thick that they effectively prohibit the crossing of a 

valley bottom, so that it becomes necessary to cut a passageway 

through them.

The timber-covered slopes afford an abundant supply of wood for 

mine timbers, mine buildings, and corduroy roads, and for use as fuel 

in boilers. Probably only a small part of the wood cut each year 

from this area is used here in mining operations. Much of the timber 

is owned by lumber companies that ship their products out of the 

district.

HISTORY OF MINING ACTIVITY.

Mineral discoveries were not reported from northeastern Washington prior to 1865, and this seems odd in view of the fact that one of 

the principal distributing points for the Hudson Bay Co. was located 

as early as 1826 l near the place now known as Kettle Falls, around 

which mineral deposits have since been found in several different 

localities. Placers are reported to have been found on O'Sullivan 

Creek in 1865 and these are said 2 to represent the first metalliferous 

deposits discovered in the northeastern part of Washington. H. F. 

Smith is reported 3 to have found gold on July 4, 1871, near the base

i Mining Bur. Washington First Ann. Kept., p. 30,1892.

8 Bethune, G. A., Mines and minerals of Washington, p. 8,1891.

> Idem, p. 10,
4 QBE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

of Mount Chapaka, in the Moses Reservation. The first stamp mill 1 

erected in Washington was built in 1878 to treat the ores from 

deposits discovered during that year on Peshastin River. The year 

1883 marks the first mineral discovery in the Colville district/ and 

the beginning of active work in April, 1885, on the Old Dominion 

mine 3 probably stimulated prospecting in this locality. .The total 

production of the Old Dominion mine to 1909 is about $610,000, the 

chief values being in lead and silver. Both the Bonanza and the 

Young America 4 were located in October, 1885, although the Bonanza 

was not actively developed until February, 1890.5 These properties 

are reported 5 to have produced to 1909 over $100,000 in lead and 

silver. Several properties were actively worked in the Deertrail 

district, and the total production from this camp to 1909 is reported 

to have been more than $1,000,000 from lead-silver ores. The 

United Copper mine was located about 1891 but was not actively 

developed until 1906. Its production from 1906 to 1909 has been 

over $50,000, chiefly in copper and silver. The Germania tungsten 

mine was located in 1894.

As Columbia River formed the eastern boundary of the Colville 

Indian Reservation, and as the north half of this reservation was not 

thrown open to entry until February 21, 1896, and the south half was 

not thrown open to mineral location until July 1, 1898, much of the 

area discussed in this report was not prospected prior to 1896. Immediately after the opening of the north half of the reservation many 

claims in the Eureka (now called Republic) camp were located, among 

which may be mentioned the Iron Mask, Lone Pine, Sanpoil, Quilp, 

Black Trail, Republic, Mountain Lion, Surprise, Knob Hill, Princess 

Maud, Tom Thumb, Morning Glory, and Ben Hur. The production 

from few of the individual mines of the Republic camp is known to 

- the writer. Probably the total production (Jan. 1, 1912) exceeds 

$5,000,000, chiefly from gold ore. The First Thought mine, located 

soon after the opening of the reservation in a district now known as 

the Orient, has produced to 1910 over $600,000, gold being the chief 

precious metal contained in the ores. After the opening of the south 

half of the reservation many claims were staked out in the Sanpoil, 

Park City, and Enterprise (Meteor and Covada) districts. The exact 

dates of these locations are, not known to the writer, and the total 

production from this part of the area has been small.,

During the present investigation (1909-10) the Republic camp 

was more active than any other in the area examined, and several of 

its mines were making regular, shipments. The First Thought mine,

'Bethune, G. A., Mines and minerals of Washington, p. 11,1891.

2 Idem, p. 12.

3 Idem, p. 72.

* Idem, pp. 75-76.

c Mining Bur. Washington First Ann. Kept., pp. 29^30,1892,
INTRODUCTION. 5

in the Orient district, was shipping continuously, and the United 

Copper and others in the Chewelah district were intermittent producers. The Germania tungsten mine, in the Deertrail district, was 

shipping some ore. In the Northport, Metaline, Belcher, Sanpoil, 

and Park City districts only development work was being carried on 

during the investigation, and in the Covada or Meteor (Enterprise) 

district no property was active.

MINING AND METALLURGY. 

GENERAL CONDITIONS.

In northeastern Washington conditions for mining are particularly favorable. Water and timber .are plentiful throughout a large 

part of the area, and in places in all the districts the generation 

of hydroelectric power is possible. Wood is the chief fuel, an abundant supply being available near most of the properties, and many 

of the food products consumed in the area are grown within it. 

Although the timber and dense underbrush which grow over parts of 

the mountain ranges militate to some extent against prospecting, 

their beneficent effects are far in excess of their hindrances. Because 

of the glaciation which the region has undergone most of the veins 

show slight oxidation, and the upper portions of many of them contain sulphide ores. Glacial debris, varying in depth from a few 

inches to 40 feet on some of the mountain slopes and in places even 

on their tops, hides the outcrops of the veins below, and consequently 

the area doubtless contains many undiscovered ore deposits.

TRANSPORTATION.

Transportation is afforded by the Great Northern (formerly Spokane Falls & Northern), Idaho & Washington Northern, and Spokane 

& British Columbia (formerly Republic & Kettle River) railways, 

the location of which can be seen by reference to figure 2 (p. 39). 

Branches or spurs of the Great Northern Railway and the Spokane 

& British Columbia Railway serve practically all the mines in the 

Republic district, and a few other branches in parts of northeastern 

Washington have been projected but are not yet completed. A 

narrow-gage line known as the Belcher Mountain Railroad extends 

from the Belcher camp 7 or 8 miles northwestward to the ore bins 

located above the Great Northern Railway. A survey down Sanpoil 

River has been projected by the Spokane & British Columbia Railway, and if a railroad is completed along this route it will make the 

Sanpoil district as accessible as any other mining district in this 

part of the State. The Washington Water Power Co. is'reported to 

be building a steam railroad from Springdale to Spokane River, 

which, when completed, will facilitate transportation, froni the southWestern part of Stevens County,
6 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

River transportation has been available-in the past on parts of 

Columbia River within this area, and during the period of the writer's investigation steamboats were plying the Clark Fork (Pend 

Oreille) between Newport and lone. Parts of Spokane River are 

said to be navigable. Fair wagon roads have been built from most 

of the properties in the area to the nearest railroad or other shipping 

point. At the time of the investigation the Meteor or Covada 

(Enterprise), Sanpoil, and Park City districts were the farthest 

removed from railroad transportation.

METHODS OF MINING.

Most of the ore deposits in this part of the State have been 

exploited by means of adit tunnels and drifts on the veins. As none 

of the deposits have been developed to depths exceeding a few hundred feet below the gulch levels, few shafts have been necessary, and 

as water is found near the surface in most of the localities the problem of draining the workings has prohibited extensive sinking. Wirerope tramways are used to convey ore from the First Thought and 

Napoleon mines to. the railroad sidings, and a gravity tramway has 

been built by the Belcher operators.

TREATMENT OF ORES.

Smelters. Ore has been shipped from this area to smelters at 

Northport, Tacoma, and Everett, Wash.; Granby, Greenwood, and 

Trail, British Columbia; and Joplin, Mo. Some ore has gone to 

other smelters, but most of it has been treated at Northport, Granby, 

Greenwood, and Trail.

Within this area only one smelter has been successfully operated, 

and it was closed when the present investigation was in progress. 

This is the Northport copper smelter, of 1,200 tons daily capacity,

which is controlled through stock ownership by the Le Roi Mining Co. 

(Ltd.). Small smelters have been erected at Keller and Turk, but 

the one at Keller was never blown in and the one at Turk proved a 

failure. The Colville smelter, operated for a time by the Mutual 

Smelting & Mining Co. of Washington, was erected at Colville in 

1888 and smelted ore from the Old Dominion, Bonanza, Young 

America, and other properties. The success of the operations of 

this smelter is not known to the writer.1

Mills. The only active mill in the district at the time of the 

writer's investigation was the one located at the Germania camp, f 

described on page 119. The Napoleon mine is reported to have a 

mill erected in 1910 for the extraction of gold from superficially 

oxidized iron ores. A small mill was being constructed in 1910 by 

the Kettle River Mining Co. and is described on pages 85-86,

1 For a brief description of the Colville smelter, see Bethune, G. A.? Mines and minera.lg of Washington,
INTRODUCTION. 7

Several elaborate mills have been erected near Republic but 

have failed to treat successfully the ores of that district. 1

Other mills in the Republic district are the Mountain Lion 2 and 

the New Republic. In May, 1911, a new mill was in process of 

erection by the Republic Mines Corporation. The following description is taken directly from a personal communication from H. W. 

Newton, the metallurgist for the company:

The mill is designed for the treatment of 1,000 tons of ore in 24 hours and will consist 

of eight units of 125 tons each, two of which will be put into operation as soon as the 

construction work is finished. In addition to the main mill building, there will 

be a crushing plant, refinery, assay office, pumping station, warehouse, and office. 

Electric power will be used to drive all the mill machinery and will be generated 

at the company 'a power plant at Similkameen Falls, near Oroville, Wash.

Ore will be delivered to the storage bins of the crusher plant by Great Northern 

ore trains, over the spur which connects the mines and mill. In the process of milling 

the ore goes through the following stages of treatment:

1. From the storage bins the ore gravitates over grizzly bars, spaced 1£ inches, the 

oversize going to Blake crushers set to crush 1$ inches, the undersize passing through 

the grizzlies and gravitating to a revolving screen, where it joins the product from 

the crushers.

2. In the revolving screen all the material passing a J-inch ring is removed, the 

oversize passing to rolls set to crush £-inch.

3. The product of the rolls with the undersize from the screens is carried by a conveyor belt to the mill bins, where an automatic sampler removes a cut for assay, the 

reject falling to a second conveyor belt, which automatically distributes the ore to 

the bins.

4. From the mill bins the ore is fed by plunger feeders to Trent Chilean mills, 

where it is ground in cyanide solution to pass 16-mesh screens.

5. The product of these mills flows to Akins classifiers, where all the material fine 

.enough for cyanide treatment overflows to Trent agitators, the classified sands dropping 

to the feed box of the tube mill.

6. In the tube mills these sands are reground so that approximately 85 per cent 

will pass 200-mesh, after which they flow to the elevator sumps.

7. From the elevator sumps bucket elevators return the pulp to the Akins classifiers, where any remaining unfinished product is removed, the finished pulp going 

directly to the Trent agitators.

8. In the Trent agitators, which are connected in series, the pulp is agitated, passing 

through the series of tanks by displacement to the disk thickeners.

9. In the disk thickeners the pulp .is relieved of a portion of its enriched solution, 

which passes to the precipitation department, the thickened pulp flowing to Oliver 

continuous filters.

10. The Oliver filters now separate the remaining solution from the ore by vacuum 

filtration, the solution passing to the precipitation department and the ore to the 

tailings dump.

11. In the precipitation 'department the solution is mixed with the amount of zinc 

dust necessary for the precipitation of the gold and silver and is pumped to the refinery, 

where the gold and silver precipitates are removed in a filter press, the barren solution 

again entering the mill circulation.

1 For a description of the Republic mill and the process of treatment there used, see Joseph, M. H., Eng. 

and Min. Jour., Nov. 5,1898. See also Bethune, G. A., Mines and minerals of Washington, p. 147; Eng, 

and Min. Jour., Dec. 16,1899, and'Feb. 1,1908.

2 See also Bethune, G. A., Mines and minerals of Washington, p. 149; Eng. and Min. Jour., Feb. 1,1908.

29122° Bull. 550 14 2
8 OKE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

12. Periodically the. precipitates are removed from the press, melted, cast into 

bars, assayed, and sold, thus completing the cycle of treatment.

In the preparation of this treatment everything possible has been done to insure a 

maximum recovery at a minimum cost. In designing the mill I have made every possible employment of gravity, and in the selection of equipment I have tried to secure 

the most efficient of standard milling machinery. No radical departure from the 

standard practice has been made, but it has been possible to bring together collectively in one system the several labor-saving, cost-reducing devices which individually have been the features of the different mills where they were conceived and 

perfected.

Several small mills have been erected by different companies, 

among which may be mentioned the Jupiter Lead Co.'s mill at the 

Last Chance mine, the Robena (Young America) mill, and the mill 

of the Spokane Lead Co. A 2-stamp mill has been erected on the 

Easter Sunday property, where a small experimental cyanide mill 

was also in operation for a short time in 1909. The erection of reduction works, consisting of two Medbury rotary smelting furnaces 

with the necessary power equipment and crushing machinery, was 

commenced by the Colville Mining & Smelting Co. near Park City, 

but they were never completed or put into operation. A mill was 

also erected by the Old Dominion Co. (p. 127),* but it was not accessible to examination and its present condition is unknown.

COSTS.

Considering the facts that there are only a few producing mines in 

 the area and that these are situated in widely separated localities and 

are mining different ores under diverse conditions, it is evident that 

such data as can be given on the costs, of mining will afford a rather 

unsatisfactory analysis of the situation that confronts prospective 

operators in the area.

Some of the mining companies own sawmills and their timber costs 

them only the actual expense of cutting, hauling, and sawing. 

Wood is used for fuel in most of the boilers and steam is used in 

operating the plants. Distillate is utilized to run many of the compressor engines and small hoists. It costs 13| cents a gallon in Spokane and several cents more for freight to the mine, usually including 

railroad freight and hauling charge. Distillate used at the First 

Thought mine costs 21£ cents a gallon delivered at the engine house, 

about 3£ miles from Orient, the nearest railroad station.

Labor charges are about the same as those paid in other mining 

districts throughout the Western States.

The cost of mining gold ore in the First Thought mine ranges from 

$3.57 to $3.87 a ton; in the United Copper and Copper King 'mines 

the cost of mining copper ore is estimated at $1.50 a ton, and in the

i Bethune, G. A., Mines and minerals of Washington, p. 157,
TOPOGRAPHY. 9

Germania mine the cost of mining tungsten ore is-estimated at $2.50 

a ton.

Freight costs for hauling ore from the mines to railroad points 

vary considerably according to the distance of the haul, character 

of the country traversed, quantity of ore shipped, back haul, and 

many other local conditions. The First Thought mine, using a wirerope tramway, transports the ore and loads it into cars for shipment 

for 33£ cents a ton. The United Copper mine estimates a cost of $1.50 

a ton for transporting ore by wagons a distance of 5£ miles and 

loading into cars for shipment. The Germania Co. reports a cost of 

$10 a ton for hauling sacked concentrates to the railroad, about 25 

miles from the mill.

Railroad freight rates vary according to the value of the ore shipped. 

The rates from points in this area to smelters in the same area or in 

adjacent parts of British Columbia range from $1 a ton for ores not

exceeding a valuation of $10 a ton (or less for very short hauls) to 

$3 or $4 for ores having a valuation of $100 a ton. Freight rates to 

Puget Sound smelters range from $2.75 to $8 a ton.

Because of the diverse character of the ores treated by the smelters, 

no general treatment charge can be given. As a rule this item covers 

also the railroad freight charge. In general the charge for treating 

the siliceous ores of the Republic camp and the First Thought mine, 

in the Orient district, is $6 to $7 a ton, including freight. The ore 

from the United Copper has been smelted for $1.50 a ton, excluding 

the freight rate of $1 a ton, and the same rate was given to the Copper 

King. A penalty of 5 cents a unit excess silica over iron is charged 

by most of the smelters. Treatment charges, exclusive of freight, on 

lead-silver ore shipped from the Old Dominion mine near Oolville to 

plants at Tacoma and Everett, Wash., and Omaha, Nebr., varied 

from $9 to $15 a ton.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The general direction of the ranges of older rocks in northeastern 

Washington-is from north to south. One prominent ridge called the 

Calispell Range extends in a north-south direction through the 

eastern part of Stevens County, following the line of Clark Fork,1 and 

rises in Calispell Peak to an elevation of 6,905 feet above sea level; 

this is one of the most conspicuous mountains in northeastern Washington. Another ridge. follows the east side of Columbia River. 

The eastern part of the Colville Reservation and the area between the 

reservation and the international boundary on the west side of 

Columbia River constitute an elevated region rising to heights of 

5,000 to 6,000 feet. The deeply eroded canyon of Sanpoil River

i This stream is known locally as Pend Oreille River.
10 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

divides this mountainous region into two roughly parallel north-south 

ridges.

Throughout the region orographic features have been modified to 

a great extent by the effects of long-continued erosion, both fluviatile 

and glacial. The imprints of the Quaternary glaciation on the whole 

region are strongly marked by river terraces and moraines, and there 

are also many small glacial lakes. The glacial deposits fill many of 

the valleys to considerable depths. In general the. valleys lie from 

1,000 to 2,000 feet below the average elevation of the mountain ridges. 

In the southern part of the area the mountains are not nearly so steep 

and the valleys are correspondingly broad. In places along the 

lower part of the Columbia recent basalt flows have changed the 

direction of the river, and the valley cut by it in the extreme southwestern part of the area is flanked on both sides by steep cliffs which 

rise abruptly 1,000 feet or more above the river channel.

Sanpoil River, which is located near the western border of the area 

covered by this reconnaissance, flows southward from Curlew Lake, 

some 25 miles south of the international boundary, to Columbia 

River and throughout the greater part of its course occupies a valley 

whose width, is out of all proportion to the size of the stream. Clark 

Fork, flowing northward near the eastern border of the State, occupies 

a broad flat valley in the southeastern part of the area, becomes 

more confined toward the central eastern part, and along its northern 

course is flanked on both sides by sheer cliffs rising 1,000 feet above 

the channel. The valley of the Columbia is broad and flat throughout 

the central part of the area, but in the northern and southwestern 

parts the river is confined between precipitous walls. The Columbia 

and its affluents drain the whole area. Numerous freshwater lakes 

exist within this region, some of which are several miles long. Most 

of these lakes have been formed by the damming of the valleys by

glacial d6bris.

GEOLOGY.

GENERAL FEATURES.

The interpretation of the older rocks which appear in this area is 

difficult owing to the general absence of fossils. As a consequence 

the geologic age of few of the rocks can be determined without doubt, 

and it was found necessary to classify them on the basis of similarity 

with fossiliferous formations outside of this area but in the same 

geologic province.

The rocks are referred to the Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and 

Cenozoic eras. The rocks classified provisionally as pre-Cambrian 

are the crystalline schists and metamorphosed limestones and quartzites found between Laurier and Orient. The larger part of the region 

is occupied by an extensive series of more or less dynamometamor-
GEOLOGY. 11

phosed argillites, lime shales, limestones, and quartzites. Because of 

its general similarity to rocks farther west in Washington, which in 

places are fossiliferous, this series has been referred to the Paleozoic 

era. In places these rocks were intruded by diabase or it flowed out 

over their surfaces and was metamorphosed along with the rest of the 

series so that it is now. represented by greenstone. In the Orient and 

Chewelah districts greenstones are prominent, and doubtless greenstone exists in localities that were not visited by the writer. One of 

the most conspicuous rocks of northeastern Washington is intrusive 

granite, which was seen in all the districts except the Metaline and 

which doubtless is exposed in places in that district. The granite 

was accompanied by numerous dikes. It is thought that large 

batholiths intruded the sedimentary series during Mesozoic time, 

parts of the batholiths having been subsequently exposed by erosion. 

The presence of monzonite porphyry in most of the mining districts 

is believed to be due to later eruptions of the granitic magma, and 

these may have taken place tit intervals from late Mesozoic to early 

Tertiary,time. Lava flows of various types fill many of the depressions caused by the erosion of the older, rocks, and in places these 

volcanic rocks form high mountains. Their eruption is thought to 

have taken place during Tertiary time. Still later flows of basalt, 

probably of late Tertiary age, are prominent in the extreme southern 

part of the area investigated, although some were seen in the Republic

district.

PBE-CAMBBIAN (?) BOCKS.

In the vicinity of Rockcut is exposed a series of medium to coarse 

grained crystalline limestone, quartzite, and schist. These rocks 

extend northward into British Columbia and southward to Orient, 

where they dip under the supposed Paleozoic rocks and pass from 

view. The thickness of that part of the section contained within the 

area of this reconnaissance probably exceeds 2,000 feet, but definite 

measurements of the individual formations have not been obtained. 

Strata of limestone and quartzite several feet thick and schist formations of one type or another several hundred feet thick were seen. 

The general strike of the series is north-south and the dip is rather 

flat, being only about 15° E. or SE. Although the series appears to 

be conformable throughout, the .relations between the schists and the 

rocks that are clearly of sedimentary origin are difficult to determine. 

The upper part of Huckleberry Mountain, just south of Laurier, is 

composed of schists that are clearly sheared granites and diorites, 

and a large part of the section exposed near Rockcut is formed of 

schists that appear to be dynamometamorphosed quartz diorite or 

related rocks. These rocks may represent former intrusions into a 

sedimentary series which have been sheared along with the rest of the 

rocks. Dikes of much later age cut these formations.
12 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN

The limestone is dark brown on weathered surfaces and creamwhite on fresh, surfaces and is highly crystalline, forming a good 

marble. A pronounced schistose structure is noticeable in the 

quartzites, which are of fine to coarse grained texture and of white, 

yellow, pink, and red colors. Schists of several kinds were seen, and 

all of them are highly foliated. Those near Rockcut have a general 

gray tone, are medium to coarse grained, and show little chemical 

alteration. Viewed in thin section under the microscope they show 

about equal amounts of plagioclase feldspar and hornblende associated with much biotite and quartz. Eyrite and calcite occur in 

some of these .schists. The prevailing rocks over the upper portions 

of Huckleberry Mountain are schists that appear to be clearly sheared 

granite. Two distinct varieties were seen, one dark and the other 

light. Both contain quartz and hornblende, with orthoclase, oligoclase, and albite, the dark tone of one variety being due to the large 

amount of hornblende. These schists are hard and compact and show 

evidence of igneous origin.

PALEOZOIC ROCKS.

The rocks that are thought to be of Paleozoic age consist of apparently conformable strata of argillite, lime shale, limestone, dolomite, 

quartzite, quartz-mica schist, mica schist, hornblende schist, and 

amphibolite, and they form the major part of the mountain ranges 

in this area. Greenstone, resulting from the metamorphism of basic 

rocks which were intruded into these strata or which flowed out 

over the sediments during their deposition, is prominent in parts of 

the Paleozoic section. '

SEDIMENTARY SERIES.

The sedimentary rocks are dynamometamorphosed and, with 

the exception of the limestone and dolomite and some of the quartzite, show more or less clearly defined schistose structure. The 

general strike of these formations is north-south, although local 

changes in this direction occur throughout the area, and they dip 

at all angles, in general being more nearly vertical than horizontal. 

The thickness of the whole series is several thousand feet. Measurements of the individual formations were not obtained, but they 

were seen in thicknesses ranging from a few feet to several hundred. Probably argillite and quartz-mica schist occupy a larger 

part of the area than any other two formations, limestone or dolomite 

comes next in order of abundance, and lime shale is also widely distributed throughout northeastern Washington. Quartzite, mica 

schist, hornblende schist, and amphibolite occur in several of the 

mining districts, but they form only a small part of the metamorphic 

series. Certain schists of probable igneous origin occur in some parts
GEOLOGY. 13

of the area and probably represent dikes intruded into the sediments 

prior to the metamorphism. As their occurrence is distinctly local 

they will be described in the sections on the several mining districts.

The argillites have a fine-grained, even texture and are generally 

dark blue or black, though some light-gray argillites were seen. 

Although as a rule rather soft, they are cherty in some places and 

closely resemble phyllite in others, the degree of hardness probably 

depending on the amount of pressure applied during the dynamometamorphism. They are composed chiefly of quartz, feldspar, 

and carbonaceous matter, some of them containing a high percentage of the last. The feldspar in many of the argillites is largely 

altered to white mica.

The lime shales that occur in this area closely resemble the argillites. They are generally of a lighter color and in places on their 

weathered surfaces have a thin coating .of calcium carbonate. These 

rocks represent a very impure, shaly variety of limestone.

Blue, white, yellow, and green coarsely crystalline to fine-grained 

limestones occur in this area. They have a varying composition, 

some of them being exceptionally pure while others contain a high 

percentage of material other than calcium carbonate. Where magnesium is present in large proportions the rock is a dolomite, and 

this phase is probably as widely distributed throughout northeastern 

Washington as the purer limestone. The dolomite has a glistening 

surface and its colors in general closely resemble those of the limestones in the area, but a few black and dark-brown dolomites were 

seen. Below are a few partial analyses, made in the chemical laboratory of the United States Geological Survey, of dolomite and limestone specimens collected in different parts of the area investigated:

Partial analyses of dolomite and limestone from northeastern Washington.

Locality.

Chewelah district: Southwest slope of Eagle Mountain. .............

Northport district:

Between Keough'sand Frisco Standard........................

Deertrail district: Sundav Morning claim. .................. 4 .......

Covada or Meteor (Enterprise) district: East side of Rattlesnake

Metaline district: 

Oriole prospect .................................................

Lead King prospect. ...........................................

Belcher district: 

West side of Cooke Mountain, near top .................. ; ......

South slope of Cooke Mountain, near top. .......................

Southwest slope of Cooke Mountain, near top ...................

CaO.

27.5 '

(a)

(a)

18.0

50.3

(«)

27.9

31.41

41.22

31.96

MgO.

23.0

21.0

21.0

22

(6 )

17

21.5

20.0

11.15

17.60

Analyst.

J. G. Fairchild.

Do.

J. G. Fairchild.

Do.

L G. Fairchild.

' Do.

Do.

Do.

Large. 6 Trace, if any.

The quartzites of this area vary in texture from fine grained to 

coarse grained and in places show some schistosity. White, yellow 

red, gray, and gray-blue quartzites were seen. In general they 

appear to be nearly free from material other than silica, the colors
14 ORE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

resulting from iron oxides and other impurities' contained in the 

rocks.

The quartz-mica schists of this area are of two distinct kinds 

a hard, compact variety in which quartz seems to predominate and 

a softer variety in which mica seems to be the major constituent. In 

both varieties the principal constituents, quartz and mica, are 

prominent, but the harder variety contains also some mica which is 

not a product of the alteration of feldspar. Roughly, the hard 

variety occurs in localities to the west of that part of the section 

occupied by the softer type. The colors of these schists are many, 

the more prominent being a lustrous silvery white and a reddish 

black, due largely to the white mica and iron oxide present in the 

rocks.

The mica schist and hornblende schist probably represent sheared 

igneous dikes in which the chief constituents have been altered to 

mica and hornblende. * These rocks are of local occurrence only. 

The former is a somewhat lustrous gray rock of fine-grained texture 

and the latter is a medium to fine-grained green rock.

Few fossils were found in this series of metamorphic rocks, and consequently the age determinations are not positive. David White 

writes as follows in regard to certain fossils collected from the limestone strata in the Covada district, which were sent to him for 

examination:

I have examined the fossils collected in northeastern Washington and transmitted 

to me for examination.

Although the superficial aspect of the fragments encourages the hope that they will 

reveal good structural details, the thin slides show that the tissues of the organic matter 

have been almost entirely obliterated. The fossils consist of extremely fine grained 

white material, possibly siliceous, interspersed with small particles of golden-brown 

matter, irregular in form and size, which are clearly of organic origin. They 

apparently constitute vestigial fragments of the more resistant of the cells and 

possibly of lignocellulosic origin. Scattered through the granular groundmass of the 

fossils are numerous elongated bodies, roundish or oval in cross section, associated 

with some aggregation of the golden-brown organic matter. The aspect of these bodies, 

which appear to have been longitudinal in the fossil, is at first glance suggestive of 

lycopodiaceous bundles, each within its sheath transversing a middle cortex. The 

size and number of these further suggest Bothrodendron, a Carboniferous lycopodiaceous tree, but in the absence of any definite structure which may be identified 

with the cells of the bundle or the tissue of a sheath, and in view both of the large 

area of translucent, golden-brown, resinous-appearing matter seen within the periphery of the longitudinal tracts, and also of their very irregular arrangement, it seems 

slightly more probable that these tracts really represent vessels of ferns which may 

have been more or less filled with resins or other plant products such as are found 

in the petioles of various ferns and such as were conspicuously prominent in the petioles 

of many so-called ferns of the Carboniferous. Without recognizable cell structures it is 

impossible to determine this question or to decide even approximately as to the nature 

of the fossil, which seems, however, to be vegetable. I am disposed, nevertheless, on 

account of the aspect of the material, to compare it with the vessel residues of some 

of the petioles of Paleozoic ferns; and in view of the large size of the fossils it is
GEOLOGY. 15

probable that if really petioles they belong to the Carboniferous period, and most 

likely to the older Pennsylvanian. I therefore suggest that as a working hypothesis 

the fossiliferous rocks might be, in a most guarded and provisional way, treated as 

Pennsylvanian, frankly admitting that the structure is at present indeterminable 

and that further investigations may show the organisms to be of different nature and 

date.

As already stated, it is on the basis of general similarity of these 

rocks to rocks farther west in Washington, which in places are fossiliferous, that the series has been referred to the Paleozoic.

IGNEOUS ROCKS.

Amphibolite is prominent in certain parts of the Orient and Chewelah districts and to a considerably less extent occurs in nearly every 

mining district within the area. The origin of the. amphibolite is 

somewhat in doubt. Some of it may represent limestone strata 

changed to amphibolite by igneous metamorphism, some of it may 

be dynamometamorphosed diabase or related rock magma, and some 

of it is undoubtedly the result of faulting along zones of movement. 

The amphibolite resulting from either or both of the first two causes 

is of a light to dark green color, appears to be of fairly even texture, 

and is composed essentially of hornblende. The age of the amphibelite is uncertain. It may have been formed in Paleozoic time, or 

it may be connected with the intrusion of the monzonite porphyry, 

which is believed to have occurred in late Mesozoic or even early 

Tertiary time. Amphibolite formed along zones of movement constitutes only a small part of that found within the area and probably 

represents several different periods of formation.

Into the sediments which are thought to be of Paleozoic age were 

intruded basic rocks having the general composition of diabase, 

gabbro, or a related rock magma, or else these rocks flowed out on 

the surface of the sediments during .their deposition. The sedimentary rocl£s and the greenstone are intimately associated, the 

latter having resulted from the metamorphism of the basic rocks. 

In places the greenstones resemble amphibolite, although in general 

they have the appearance of a more or less altered diabase. They 

are of a fine-grained, even texture and are light to dark green in 

color. They are composed essentially of chlorite, hornblende, feldspar, and some quartz.

Although the diabase is thought to be intrusive into the sedimentary series, it may represent old surface flows, and the age and 

relations of this rock to the greenstone found in the same general 

localities have not yet been worked out. Diabase of light to dark 

green color was seen in several different parts of the area. In general 

the rock has a fine-grained, even texture, and in places it shows a 

little schistpsity. Viewed in thin section under the microscope the
16 ORE DEPOSITS 01? NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

rock is seen to be composed chiefly of labradorite and augite, having 

a typical diabasic (ophitic) texture. A more or less parallel arrangement of the constituent minerals is noticeable in the rocks which 

have undergone some shearing, and alteration has changed the 

augite to hornblende and subsequently to chlorite.

MESOZOIC BOCKS.

Granular intrusives into the older Paleozoic rocks were seen in 

every mining district in this area except the Metaline, and there is 

good evidence of the presence of such rocks in that district, although 

no granite was observed in the part of it investigated. All the intrusive granite masses in this part of Washington are believed to be 

connected with a parent magma which invaded the sedimentary 

series in the form of several batholiths that have been exposed by 

subsequent erosion. In some places where ^the intrusions occurred 

the overlying sediments were not of great weight; elsewhere there is 

evidence that the sediments were more deeply buried. The size of 

the several intrusive .masses could not be determined, because no 

detailed mapping of the whole area was done. Several exposures of 

granite were seen that are 3 miles' or more in length and width. 

Dikes of granite were observed that range in width from a few feet 

to several hundred feet, and these are believed to represent later 

eruptive phases of the same magma. No fossil evidence was obtained 

by which the age of the rocks through which the magma forced its 

way could be definitely fixed, but because of the fact that so many 

granitic intrusions _took place throughout the Pacific States during 

Mesozoic time the intrusion of the granite in this area is provisionally assigned to that era. J. B. Umpleby 1 has pointed out that the 

intrusive granites in this general region are probably pre-Eocene, for 

they are truncated by a peneplain of Eocene age.

The granular intrusives have a general similarity in appearance 

and composition, but a few local variations were observed. In the 

Republic district granodiorite is present, and the Covada or Meteor 

district contains quartz diorite and quartz monzonite, both probably 

representing later and more basic phases of the same magma. - Of uncertain relation to the granite magma are innumerable dikes 

of monzonite porphyry which are as widely distributed as the granite, 

although the two rocks were not seen in contact.. These dikes range 

from a few inches to several hundred feet in width and extend for 

long distances along the strike of the intrusions. It seems probable 

that they represent a still later phase of the magma from which the 

granite masses were derived. The intrusion of monzonite porphyry 

may have taken place during late Mesozoic time, or perhaps early

i Jour. Geology, vol. 20, pp. 139-147,1912.
GEOLOGY. 17

in the Tertiary, and probably occurred at several periods covering a 

long time.

In general the granite masses are coarsely crystalline, showing 

phenocrysts of orthoclase, oligoclase, and quartz. Fine-grained 

varieties were seen in only a few localities. Fresh surfaces of the granite have a general gray tone, although some pinkish-gray granite 

was observed. Viewed in thin section under the microscope the rock 

is seen to be composed of a large proportion of orthoclase with some 

oligoclase, a little microcline, much quartz, and hornblende or biotite. 

Some albite is present in a few of the rock specimens. Magnetite, 

zircon, and titanite occur in variable amounts. Epidote and chlorite 

have resulted from the alteration of the ferromagnesian minerals'in 

some of the rocks, and white mica has likewise resulted from the 

alteration of the feldspars.

Fresh surfaces of the granodiorite show distinct white and black

minerals, which give it a gray appearance. The rock is inequigranular. The microscope shows that the main constituents are andesine 

and orthoclase, with quartz and some microperthite, microcline, 

biotite, and partly uralitized augite. The accessory minerals are 

pyrite, apatite, titanite, and magnetite. The plagioclase is idiomorphic, and between the crystals lie grains of quartz and orthoclase. 

Rock of this character occupies a considerable area near Republic.

Although only a few exposures of rock that could be correctly 

termed quartz diorite were seen in this area, there are doubtless many 

dikes present throughout the geologic section in northeastern Washington which could be so classed. The quartz diorite resembles the 

granite in texture. It is of a darker color, and fresh surfaces are a 

medium to dark green. In composition it is somewhat similar to the 

granite except that plagioclase feldspar predominates rather than 

orthoclase. Hornblende is the chief ferromagnesian mineral and is 

accompanied by some biotite. Zircon, titanite, .and magnetite are 

variable in amount.

The monzonite porphyry is commonly of finer texture than 

the granite, although some coarse-grained varieties were seen. 

It has a general gray color. Phenocrysts of feldspar and hornblende are visible in it without the aid of a glass. Viewed in thin 

section under the microscope the rock is seen to be composed essentially of andesine, orthoclase, hornblende, and some quartz. Certain 

varieties contain phenocrysts of quartz, and the rock that contains 

them in sufficient quantities is termed quartz monzonite porphyry. 

The hornblende phenocrysts are in places largely altered to chlorite, 

and the feldspars have formed white mica.

Lamprophyre dikes, commonly accompanying granitic intrusive 

rocks, were seen in the vicinity of most of the workings visited except
18- ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

those in the Metaline district. They are composed of some ferromagnesian mineral, such as augite, hornblende, or biotite, and feldspar. Quartz is present in some of the dikes. They are of various 

types, kersantite, camptonite, minette, and vogesite dikes having 

been observed. The distinction between the varieties lies chiefly in 

the relative abundance of plagioclase and orthoclase feldspars and the 

ferromagriesian mineral present. If the feldspars are predominantly 

plagioclase then the rock is either kersantite (if biotite predominates 

over hornblende or augite) or camptonite (if hornblende or augite 

forms the chief ferromagnesian mineral). If orthoclase is the predominant feldspar, the rock is minette or vogesite, the distinction 

.being made in the same way. The dikes are generally dark colored; 

and the biotite, hornblende, or augite is easily recognized without the 

aid of a microscope.

TERTIARY ROCKS.

Although Tertiary rocks were seen in several of the mining districts, 

they were studied in connection with the ore deposits in but two districts, the Orient and the Republic. More detailed descriptions will 

be found in the sections on those districts (pp. 68-69 and 140-144).

LAKE BEDS.

In the Republic camp, lake beds, which are tuffaceous in part, 

occupy an old erosional valley in the underlying Paleozoic rocks, but 

rest in part on andesite. In places the thickness of the lake beds 

exceeds 800 feet, and they outcrop for several miles. In general 

they dip to the east and underlie andesite and basalt flows of later 

.Tertiary age.

These beds are commonly of a buff or gray color and include strata 

Of fine-grained sandstone, shale, and andesitic tuff. F. H. Knowlton 

has provisionally classed these rocks as upper Miocene in age. (See 

pp. 141-142.)

LAVA FLOWS.

Two distinct varieties of andesite are present in the Republic 

camp hornblende andesite and pyroxene andesite. These are 

thought to overlie the lake beds conformably and are exposed in 

sections over 1,300 feet thick.

The hornblende andesite has a fine to medium grained texture and 

is of a blue-gray color when fresh. When altered it very much resembles a holocrystallme porphyry. Viewed in thin section under the 

microscope it .is seen to be composed of labradorite, hornblende, 

augite, and some biotite.

The pyroxene andesite is dark colored, has a porphyritic texture, 

and is composed chiefly of pyroxene and feldspar. The microscope 

shows that labradorite or bytownite and .augite are the chief mineral
GEOLOGY. 19

constituents. This rock is so basic that it might almost be classed 

as a basalt. (See pp. 142-143,)

A part of the andesite series is represented in the Republic camp 

by a flow breccia. In this formation some of the fragments are 

several feet in diameter. In general the matrix of the breccia is 

andesitic, although inclusions of other materials, such as granodiorite 

and metamorphic shale, are reported 1 to form a part of the breccia. 

This breccia, in part at least, underlies the lake beds.

On First Thought Mountain, in the Orient district, quartz latite 

has been poured out over the eroded surface of the Paleozoic rocks. 

This forms the country rock of the ore deposits of the First Thought 

mine and others in this vicinity. Fresh surfaces of the quartz latite 

are of a gray-green color, and the phenocrysts of hornblende and 

biotite, which are now largely altered to a dark green chlorite, give 

it a mottled appearance. The rock is composed of orthoclase and 

andesine, with quartz, hornblende, and biotite, the last two being 

almost entirely altered to chlorite. The groundmass is aphanitic.

In the Republic camp basalt flows unconformably overlie the eroded 

surfaces of lake beds and andesitic flows and were seen in a section 

the base of which was 600 feet below the top. They are dark brown 

to black in color and from fine-grained to glassy in texture, and some 

phases of the rock are vesicular. Viewed in thin section under the 

microscope the basalt is seen to be composed of laths of labradorite 

with grains of augite and olivine embedded in a glassy base. The 

olivine is almost entirely altered to serpentine.

INTRUSIVE ROCKS.

Intruded into the series of andesitic//ava flows and lake beds in 

the Republic camp is a porphyritic rock which has been determined 

as quartz latite porphyry. Fresh specimens of this rock are light to 

dark gray in color, and altered samples show every variation from 

gray to white. The rock has a holocrystalline groundmass of quartz 

and orthoclase, in which are phenocrysts of andesine, altered hornblende, biotite, and some quartz.

Rhyolite porphyry is intruded into the quartz latite in the Orient 

district. The rock is gray-brown to gray-blue in color and contains 

phenocrysts of pink and white orthoclase, green hornblende, and 

quartz. The microscope shows that it contains also much chlorite 

and calcite, with some epidote and limonite..

BRECCIA-CONGLOMERATE.

In the Republic camp was found a peculiar rock which has been 

classed as a breccia-conglomerate. This rock shows a dark-gray 

color on fresh surfaces and apparently has a porphyritic texture. In

' i Umpleby, J. B., Washington State Geol. Survey Bull. 1, p. 23,1910.
20 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

all the exposures seen it contained rounded pebbles and fragments of 

shale. Viewed in thin section under the microscope the rock is seen 

to have a clastic structure, containing fragments of a holocrystalline 

porphyritic rock. The phenocrysts are andesine and quartz, and the 

outlines of formerly existing biotite crystals may be seen. Fragments 

of shale are prominent. It is thought that there may be some genetic 

connection between this rock and the intrusive quartz latite porphyry 

occurring in the Republic camp. For a more complete description 

of this rock see page 144.

QUATERNARY DEPOSITS.

Throughout northeastern Washington glacial debris is found in all 

the valleys, on many of the mountain slopes, and on some of the 

mountain tops. In places the deposits attain a thickness of over 

100 feet, and detailed study of the moraines would doubtless bring 

forth some interesting data pertaining to glaciation in this region. 

The major part of the area studied in this reconnaissance was covered 

by an ice sheet, and glacial bowlders were seen on the tops of some 

of the high mountains in several of the mining districts.

The most recent geologic formation within the area studied is the 

alluvium that has been deposited along the flood plains of the streams.

GEOLOGIC HISTORY.

PRE-CAMBRIAN ( ?) CONDITIONS.

Granitic and dioritic schists overlain by a coarsely crystalline 

limestone and quartzite are exposed in the northern part of the Orient district, and these rocks are believed to have been formed by 

dynamometamorphism during pre-Cambrian time,- when schistose 

structure was induced, the limestone was made coarsely crystalline, 

and quartzite was formed. The relations between these several rocks 

have not been worked out, although it is probable that the limestone. 

and quartzite were deposited upon the submerged and eroded surface of the granite and diorite, one of the last two probably being 

intrusive into the other. Later the country was elevated and the 

rocks were regionally metamorphosed and eroded.

PALEOZOIC CONDITIONS.

After the crystalline schists, limestones, and quartzites had been 

severely eroded and partly base-leveled, the area was submerged and 

several thousand feet of sediments that formed arenaceous shales, 

limestone, dolomite, and sandstone were deposited. Basic and other 

rocks were intruded into or flowed out over these sediments. The
GEOLOGY. 21

less resistant rocks of this series were made schistose by a second 

regional metamorphism, which is supposed to have taken place in 

Paleozoic time. More or less schistose rocks resulted from the metamorphism of the sediments; and greenstone, mica schist, and hornblende schist resulted from the metamorphism of basic and other 

rocks that were intruded into the sediments or flowed out over them 

during their deposition. The sandstones were changed to quartzite 

and the limestone and dolomite assumed a crystalline structure. 

The pre-Cambrian (?) formations were again sheared, and schistose 

structure was induced in the older quartzites.

MESOZOIC CONDITIONS.

Before the intrusion of the granite and the several kinds of rock 

that are believed to have been derived from the same magma, all 

of which are provisionally treated as of Mesozoic age, the Paleozoic 

rocks had been elevated and erosional processes had been at work. 

The granite, quartz diorite, and monzonite porphyry and the many 

dikes which are adjuncts of these rocks appear to have been intruded 

under no great weight of overlying sediments. Locally the dip and 

strike of the formations were considerably changed, and the strata 

appear to have been pushed aside in all directions to make way for the 

invading magmas. In general, however, they have retained a northsouth strike, and the dip ranges from vertical to horizontal, the former 

dip prevailing where intrusive masses are absent. The contact metamorphism caused by the intrusion is discussed below.

TERTIARY AND QUATERNARY CONDITIONS.

Extensive erosion and volcanic activity mark the Cenozoic history of 

this area. Flows of quartz latite, andesite, and basalt are prominent in 

parts of the area, where they occupy erosional depressions in the older 

rocks and in places form high mountains. These flows are in places 

intruded by rhyolite porphyry and quartz latite porphyry. The 

effects of glacial action on the physiography of the area have not 

been studied in detail, although this region affords an interesting 

field for such studies. Certainly the courses of Clark Fork, Colville, 

Columbia, and Kettle rivers were greatly altered as a result of the 

glaciation.

EFFECTS OF METAMORPHISM. 

REGIONAL METAMORPHISM.

Pynamometamorphism is thought to have occurred in this area 

during two periods. The first was in pre-Cambrian time, when the 

schists were formed from granite and diorite, the limestones in "the 

vicinity of Rockcut were made coarsely crystalline, and the quartz-
22 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN" WASHINGTON.

ites were formed. In the second period of dynamometamorphism the 

clays and arenaceous shales that had .been deposited during Paleozoic tims were transformed into lime shales, argillites, and quartzmica schists, the limestones and dolomites assumed crystalline structure, the sandstones became quartzites, and the pre-Cambrian rocks 

were again sheared. Greenstone resulted from the metamorphism 

of basic flows or intrusive rocks in this series, and mica and hornblende schists were formed, from rocks that had been intruded into 

or poured out over the sediments during Paleozoic time.

CONTACT METAMORPHISM.

The principal results of contact metamorphism in this area are 

those connected with the intrusion of the Mesozoic rocks. In places 

epidote, garnet, actinolite, diopside, hornblende, augite, biotite, 

sphalerite, magnetite, pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite have been 

developed along the contact of the intrusive rocks and those through \ 

which they cut. Some of the amphibolite within the area is thought 

to be dolomite altered by contact metamorphism. The rocks as a 

whole have suffered little through contact-metamorphic agencies, 

and it is thought that when they were intruded they were not under 

the weight of overlying beds of considerable thickness.

THE MINERAL DEPOSITS.

PERIODS OF MINERALIZATION.

The gold-quartz veins of the Republic (Eureka) district and the 

First Thought gold deposits, in the Orient district, were formed during Tertiary time.

The period in which the granite, quartz diorite, quartz monzonite 

porphyry, and monzonite porphyry and the accompanying dikes 

were intruded was that of the most extensive mineralization. With 

the exception of the comparatively few deposits formed during Tertiary time and some that may possibly have been formed during y 

Paleozoic time, the major part' of the ore deposits described in this 

report 'are believed to be of Mesozoic age, and they owe their origin « 

to the after effects of igneous intrusion. \

During the Paleozoic period of dynamometamorphism, while the 

greenstones were being formed, some of the metallic ores may have 

been concentrated from the basic rocks, 

 

so that a few of the ore r"

deposits in the area may be of Paleozoic age. However, intrusive 

rocks thought to be of Mesozoic age were found in the vicinity of the t. 

greenstones, and it is more likely that the deposits associated with 

the greenstones are due to the Mesozoic -intrusions.
THE MINEBAL DEPOSITS. 23 

KINDS OF DEPOSITS.

Ore deposits of several different kinds occur within this area. 

Because of their diversity, it has been thought advisable to discuss 

them by groups, according to the metals most sought for in the 

respective workings. They are consequently -divided into gold, 

silver, lead-zinc, copper, iron, tungsten, nickel, antimony, and 

molybdenite deposits, and deposits mined chiefly for the use of the ore 

as a flux in smelting. A brief sketch of deposits of each group follows.

GOLD DEPOSITS. 

SHEAR ZONES IN QUARTZ LATITE.

The shear zones in quartz latite are well illustrated by the First 

Thought ore body, in the Orient district, where rhyolite porphyry 

has intruded the quartz latito and fault planes and brecciated zones 

of fractured country rock are present along the contact. PyritG, containing gold, occurs with a gangue of silica and calcite in these shear 

zones, also impregnating the country rock near its contact with the 

intrusive rhyojite porphyry. The four fracture zones which had 

been explored up to July, 1910, were found to vary in width frpm a 

few feet to 110 feet and to extend beyond the limits of the present workings (see PI. IV, p. 72) along the strike and along the dip. 

As the ore shoots became too lean for profitable extraction under 

present mining conditions, the workings were not pushed to the extremities of the fault zone. A total of 38,180 tons of ore had been 

mined up to June, 1910. This averaged $15.50 in gold and half an 

ounce of silver to the ton. Solutions accompanying or following the 

intrusion of the rhyolite porphyry are thought to have caused the 

. mineralization in this locality.

FISSURE VEINS IN ANDESITE AND QUARTZ LATITE PORPHYRY.

The Republic district is by far the most productive locality in the 

region covered by this reconnaissance. The deposits in this district 

are .also different from those occurring elsewhere in this part of the 

State and form a type of peculiar interest. The veins, which are 

fairly regular, are contained in Tertiary andesites and lake beds and 

in porphyritic rocks that are intrusive into those formations. These 

veins are composed principally of quartz, with subordinate calcite. 

The quartz is unusually fine grained and is often called chalcedonic, 

although true chalcedony is found only here and there in vugs in the 

quartz. The veins are as a rule prominently banded in delicate 

concentric arrangement, caused by alternation of calcite and quartz 

of varying grain. Other minerals, such as adularia and laumontite, 

are only locally abundant. The ore minerals are present in extremely 

29122° Bull. 550 14 3
24 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

fine distribution. In the ordinary kinds of ore^the only indication 

of metallic mineral consists in a thin black streak, usually near the 

walls of the vein and in places delicately curved and banded. Visible 

gold is rarely observed. The principal ore mineral appears to be a 

selenide of gold, which, however, is so finely distributed that it has 

not yet been isolated. In some rich spots of the ore small masses of 

metallic minerals appear and can be identified as chalcopyrite and 

tetrahedrite. Such aggregates are usually very rich in gold and 

silver. Pyrite is generally not present in the quartz but appears in 

the altered country rock. The rocks in which the veins are contained 

have been subjected to propylitization over considerable areas, and 

the propylitic rock usually adjoins quartz without further alteration 

or sericitization. The veins bear evidence of an earlier epoch of calcite deposition, and locally the calcite of this epoch has been replaced 

by a fine-grained aggregate of quartz and adularia. This earlier 

calcite usually assumes a lamellar aspect by the prevalence of the 

basal plane in its crystal form. The latest phenomenon in the vein 

formation was apparently the. local solution of quartz, followed by a 

deposition of laumontite with concentration of silver. Some ore of 

very high grade has been mined from these veins. The tenor of the 

ores shipped in 1910 ranged from $15 to $53 a ton. The relation of 

gold to silver by weight ranges from 1:3 to 1:8. Much difficulty has 

been experienced in the reduction of these ores, probably owing to 

the minute distribution of the selenide of gold.

FISSURE VEINS AND SHEAR ZONES IN METAMORPHOSED SEDIMENTS

AND DIABASE.

The deposits of which the California,located southeast of Republic; 

the Swamp King, Little Giant, and Beecher, in the Orient district; the 

Columbia River Gold Mining Co.'s prospect, near Meyers Falls; and 

Keough's prospect, in the Northport district, are typical examples 

are fissure veins and shear zones in metamorphosed sediments and 

diabase. The California is the only one of these deposits which has 

produced much gold, the others being for the most part prospects. 

Free gold is reported to have been found in the Swamp King, the 

Beecher, and Keough's.

Quartz is the chief gangue mineral of these deposits and is in places 

accompanied by some calcite. One or more of the ore minerals, 

galena, sphalerite, tetrahedrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and chalcopyrite, 

are present in all the gold-bearing deposits of this type. Except 

the California, which was practically inaccessible to examination, the 

deposits of this type have received little development, and consequently few data on the genesis of the ores are available. In general 

the gold-bearing deposits of this kind greatly resemble other deposits 

found in the same rocks. Several of these deposits in the Orient dis-
 THE MINEBAL DEPOSITS. 25

trict, among them the Defender, have been prospected with the hope 

of finding gold ores. The ores are usually found in the vicinity of 

intrusive rocks thought to be of Mesozoic age, and it seems reasonable 

to suppose that these deposits are the result of after effects of igneous - 

intrusion, the entrance of the solutions that bore the ore and gangue 

minerals having followed the injection of the several magmas.

Many of these deposits, as well as the silver deposits described below, 

follow dark basic dikes of lamprophyric character.

SILVER DEPOSITS.

Silver-bearing quartz veins in the metamorphic rocks and the intrusive Mesozoic rocks occur in nearly every mining district within 

the area, and as most of the- lead-zinc-copper ores carry also some 

silver, the grouping of the deposits which have been worked primarily 

for their silver content is rather difficult. In many of the so-called 

silver deposits in this area superficial alteration of the silver-bearing 

ores and the formation of native silver and rich secondary silver sulphides have made possible under present mining conditions the profitable extraction of the upper portions of the lodes. As few of these 

deposits have been explored to depths below the gulch levels, little 

can be said about the persistence of the silver content, but in general 

it is likely to become considerably less as depth increases.

Some of the ore bodies in the Deertrail, Meteor or Covada (Enterprise), and Park City districts well illustrate this type of deposits. 

The quartz veins in shear zones in the metamorphic rocks are more 

common than similar quartz veins in the intrusive rocks.

Post-mineral faulting is a prominent feature of many of these 

deposits and has in places seriously interfered with the continuity 

of the veins. A roughly banded structure is noticeable in. some of the 

ore bodies, many of which are lenticular in form.

In general the vein filling is remarkably uniform, consisting of 

quartz with varying amounts of brecciated country rock. Calcite, 

barite, fluorite, and a carbonate composed, of magnesium, calcium, 

manganese, and iron are found in some of the veins. Two or more 

of the ore minerals galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, pyrrho-. 

tite, arsenopyrite, tetrahedrite, and stibnite, locally accompanied by 

subordinate amounts of argentite, pyrargyrite, and native silver, are 

found in the different veins. Limonite, azurite, and malachite occur 

in many of the outcrops, and cerusite, anglesite, and smithsonite were 

seen in a few of the upper workings of the deposits of this type. 

These deposits are believed to be due to the after effects of the intrusion of Mesozoic rocks.
26 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON. 

LEAD-ZINC DEPOSITS.

As the ores of lead and zinc are closely associated in the several 

deposits examined within the area, they will be discussed under a 

single heading. To the writer's knowledge not one of these deposits 

has been worked for its zinc values alone.

DISSEMINATED REPLACEMENTS IN METAMORPHOSED SEDIMENTS.

In the Metaline, Northport, and Chewelah districts and in the Old 

Dominion mine, east of Colville, are deposits of lead and zinc which 

in general occur as irregular disseminated replacements along shear 

zones and fracture planes in metamorphosed sedimentary rocks. 

Where the movements have been most intense the ore deposits have 

been correspondingly increased in size. Along the shear zones, in the 

brecciated country rock, and locally replacing the contiguous strata 

are varying amounts of the ore minerals galena and sphalerite, which 

give way to pyrite below. Associated with the ore minerals in the 

shear zones and the brecciated country rock are varying amounts of 

quartz and calcite. The extent of these deposits has not been proved. 

In general the lead ores, together with some zinc ores, occupy the 

upper zone, which is not likely to extend more than 100 or 200 feet 

below the surface, and it is probable that the lead content will become 

less and less as the lower limit of this zone is reached. In some 

deposits the vertical sequence of galena, sphalerite, and pyrite is very 

regular, galena occurring near the surface, zinc ore gradually becoming more and more abundant, and, at 300 to 500 feet from the surface, 

pyrite predominating, with some sphalerite and hardly any galena. 

Most of the ore shipped from the Last Chance, Old Dominion, and 

Young America properties was mined near the surface, where cerusite and anglesite are found, as well as the sulphide ores. In the 

Metaline district smithsonite occurs in the ore and calamine is 

reported to have been found. Good surface ores are found on many 

of the properties within the region, and in places these extend over 

large areas. Although developments have not been extensive enough 

to warrant much speculation on the possibilities of these ore bodies, 

it seems probable that deep exploration will yield chiefly pyrite. The 

ore deposits of this class are all thought to owe their origin to the after 

effects of igneous intrusion.

FISSURE VEINS.

The deposit worked by the Kettle River Mining Co. in the Orient 

district is representative of lead-zinc deposits in fissure veins. Here 

small, irregular quartz veins occur near the contact of intrusive 

diorite dikes into a metamorphic series of crystalline schists, limestone, and quartzite. Some contact metamorphism is evident in the
THE MINERAL DEPOSITS. 27

intruded.rocks, epidote, garnet, diopside, actinolite, and biotite having been developed on a large scale. Galena and sphalerite, with 

subordinate amounts of chalcopyrite, in a gangue of quartz, calcite, 

and dolomite, are found in irregular shoots in small fissures cutting 

across the schistose rocks. The ores are thought to have been introduced by solutions which accompanied or followed the. intrusion of 

the diorite dikes, and they may be of contact-metamorphic origin.

COPPER DEPOSITS.

All the copper deposits in the region carry also some gold and 

silver, and in several of them the silver content makes profitable 

exploitation possible. Some copper is also contained in the ores that" 

are worked primarily for fluxes, discussed on page 30.

COPPER-BEARING QUARTZ VEINS.

The copper-bearing quartz veins are best illustrated by a short 

discussion of the United Copper deposit, in the Chewelah mining district. This ore body occupies lenticular receptacles of varying 

dimensions in the bulged strata of quartz-mica schist, argillite, and 

lime shale, which are cut by kersantite dikes, adjuncts of a granitic 

intrusion. Plate VI (p. 100) shows on a small scale the mode of 

occurrence of these veins and the shape of the ore and gangue filled 

receptacles on each side of the main vein. The ore-bearing zone has 

been proved to extend 750 feet along the strike and 425 feet along 

the dip plane. Further-exploration-will doubtless increase these 

dimensions. The ore zone ranges in width from a few inches to 20 

feet, pinches and swells being a prominent feature of the deposit. 

The gangue is chiefly quartz, with much calcite and siderite. Pyrite 

and chalcopyrite are the principal ore minerals in the unoxidized 

portion of the deposit. These are accompanied by varying amounts 

of tetrahedrite, which in places carries considerable silver. In the 

zone of oxidation limonite, malachite, and azurite are prominent. 

In general, the ore minerals are rather sparsely distributed through 

the vein, although rich shoots have been worked. The ore shipped 

from the United Copper mine carries about 0.1 ounce of gold and 

5.35 ounces of silver to the ton and 2.5 per cent of copper.

Ore-bearing solutions accompanying. or following the intrusion of 

kersantite dikes are thought to have caused the mineralization in 

deposits of this type.

REPLACEMENT DEPOSITS IN METAMORPHIC ROCKS.

The Big Iron deposit, in the Orient district, is a zone of sulphide 

impregnation and replacement in schists of probable igneous origin, 

which are intruded by monzonite porphyry. Pyrite is the chief ore 

mineral and is accompanied by some chalcopyrite. Both of these
28 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

minerals have been altered on the surface, causing the formation of 

a shallow gossan. Developments are not extensive enough to prove 

the size of the mineralized zone, but it has been shown to be over 

100 feet wide and to extend several hundred feet along the strike of 

the schists.

The Lone Star and Washington deposits, in Ferry County, occur 

in a somewhat similar series of rocks, containing also some intercalated strata of limestone, argillite, and lime shale. These metamorphic rocks are also intruded by monzonite porphyry, and the ore 

minerals chalcopyrite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite, together with quartz, 

are more or less disseminated through the schists and here and there 

partly replace limestone near the intrusive masses. Limonite with 

some malachite occurs in the upper portions of the deposits. A 

small amount of chalcocite enrichment was seen, which appeared to 

be of shallow depth. The mineralization was scattered and the 

deposits do not occur in well-defined shoots but follow -the planes of 

schistosity and the bedding planes of the metamorphic rocks.

The unaltered ores contain a lower percentage of copper, with some 

gold and silver. The entrance of the ore-bearing solutions forming 

these deposits is thought to have followed the intrusion of the monzonite porphyry, and the deposits represent the after effect of the 

intrusion.

DISSEMINATED DEPOSITS IN SCHIST AND GRANITE.

The only copper deposit examined which could be properly classed 

as a disseminated deposit is the Manila, although the ore bodies discussed in the preceding section have many characteristics in common 

with it. In this deposit chalcopyrite and pyrite are disseminated 

sparingly through schists and still more sparsely through parts of the 

granitic rock intrusive into them. The limits of the dissemination 

have not been definitely determined and the ores are of low value. 

A trace of gold and from half an ounce to 4 ounces of silver to the 

ton are reported to be shown by assays of that part of the ore body 

which has been developed. The copper content is probably under 

1.5 per cent. The mineralization here was probably an after effect of 

the intrusion of granite.

OTHER METALLIFEROUS DEPOSITS.

Iron. Deposits exploited principally for their iron content were 

not examined. References to descriptions of the iron resources of 

northeastern Washington will be found in the paragraph on "Literature" (p. 2). Magnetite of good grade occurs in the Copper Key 

mine, in the Belcher district, as a replacement in limestone. An 

analysis of the ore and a description of the Copper Key deposit is
THE MINERAL DEPOSITS. 29

given on pages 174-175. Probably many of the so-called iron deposits 

in the region represent gossans resulting from the alteration of sulphide ores.

Tungsten. Tungsten deposits have been reported from several 

localities within the area covered by this reconnaissance, but only 

two were visited the Germania, in the Deertrail district, and the 

Tungsten King, north of Deer Park. Tungsten ores are said to occur 

in the Metaline district and in several places in the vicinity of the 

properties which were examined. Doubtless future prospecting in 

northeastern Washington will reveal the presence of many other tungsten-bearing o.re bodies.

The' deposits worked by the Germania Co. in the Deertrail district 

are representative of the tungsten-bearing quartz veins in granite 

and quartz-mica schist. Here deposits have been exploited in both 

kinds of rock, but most of the development work has been done on 

veins in granite. The principal workings expose a quartz vein, containing also some fluorite and tourmaline, which has an average width 

of 24 inches and which has been proved to extend 400 feet along its 

strike and 200 feet on the supposed continuation of the vein. The 

vertical depth to which this deposit has been explored is 193 feet. 

Some faulting is evident in the workings, the vein having been displaced both to the east and to the west. Where exposed in the workings the displacement is only a few feet. The chief ore mineral is 

wolframite, which forms about 5£ per cent of the vein filling. With 

this are associated some scheelite, ferritungstite, 1 galenobismutite, 

pyrite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite, and arsenopyrite. Limonite is 

prominent in the upper workings and some tungstic ocher was seen.

The Tungsten King deposits, 10 miles north of Deer Park, are similar in many respects to those of the Germania. Here, however, the 

veins that have been explored are in arenaceous shales which have 

been metamorphosed to quartz-mica schist. Granite has been found 

a short distance to the northeast and is probably intrusive into the 

sedimentary rocks. The ores occur in quartz lenses which follow in 

general the bedding planes of the shale. The lenses range in width 

from 1 to 6 feet and are exposed along the outcrop for a hundred feet 

or more, glacial d6bris hiding much of the country rock from view. 

When the deposits were visited (1909) enough development work had 

not been done on the property to outline the extent of the ore bodies. 

The chief ore mineral in these deposits is htibnerite, which is accompanied by pyrite and argentiferous cosalite.

The ores in both deposits are thought to have been introduced by 

solutions after the intrusion of the granite, and they represent the 

after effects of igneous intrusion.

i For a description of this new mineral see U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 509, pp. 83-84,1912.
30 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Antimony. In the Meteor or Covada (Enterprise) district a prospect known as the JR. E. Lee contains a series of small veins carrying 

stibnite, possibly with some berthierite. These veins occur in quartz 

monzonite porphyry, which is intrusive into the sedimentary rocks, 

and they probably represent the after effects of igneous intrusion. 

They range from half an inch to 3 inches in width and have been 

exposed for only a few feet along the strike and dip. The mineral is 

nearly pure antimony sulphide and is practically barren of gold and 

silver.

Molybdenite. No deposits of molybdenite are known to have been 

extensively worked in this region. However, molybdenite occurs 

in several of the deposits.

. Nickel. The only deposit containing appreciable quantities of 

nickel ore examined during the investigation is that of the Congress 

property, in the Sanpoil district. The deposit occupies a shear zone 

or fault plane in a schistose series of amphibolite, lime shale, quartzmica schist, and a rock which resembles sheared granite. These rocks 

are intruded by quartz monzonite porphyry, which has caused some 

contact metamorphism in the contiguous strata. The vein filling is 

 chiefly jointed and fractured quartz of a bluish-white color, accompanied by some talc and barite. Sparsely scattered through the 

quartz are small veinlets and aggregates of pyrite associated with 

some-chalcopyrite. The pyrite is slightly nickeliferous, and where 

oxidation has been active the sulphides have been altered and their 

oxidation products, limonite, malachite, and a carbonate of nickel, 

have been deposited as a thin film along the joint planes and fractures in the quartz. The oxidized portions of the vein contain 0.12 

to 0.246 per cent of nickel and 0.013 to 0.034 per cent of cobalt. A 

picked specimen of sulphide ore showed 5.71 per cent of nickel and

0.35 per cent of cobalt.

Ores mined chiefly for use as a flux in smelting. The Napoleon, in 

the Orient district, and the Belcher, in the Belcher district, are the 

chief representatives of the deposits mined chiefly for flux. Both are 

irregular and more or less complete replacements in metamorphic 

rocks, the former of amphibolite and the latter of limestone or dolomite. Intrusive monzonite porphyry occurs in both localities. Pyrrhotite, pyrite, magnetite, and some chalcopyrite are the ores in these 

deposits. Low assays in gold, usually less than $1 a ton, are reported 

from the unaltered ores. The upper portions of the deposits have 

been oxidized and .the resulting limonite is reported to carry more 

gold than the unOxidized ore. Both deposits show evidence of contact-metamorphic origin, although contact-metamorphic silicate 

minerals have not been developed on a large scale in either place,,
THE MINERAL DEPOSITS. 31 

PLACER DEPOSITS.

Placer deposits were not being worked during the investigation of 

the area and little or no attention was given to deposits of this type 

by the writer. For convenience of those interested in the placer 

deposits of this part of the State the following extracts from a report 

by A. J. Collier l are here republished:

RELATION OP GOLD DEPOSITS TO TERRACES.

Where observed the placer gold along the Columbia is confined to the lower benches 

and river bars, a condition which may reasonably be expected if the sediments of 

the upper terraces are lake deposits and those of the lower terraces have been worked 

over and concentrated by the river. Moreover, the later benches and the modern 

river bars are progressively richer in gold, since they are the product of repeated 

concentrations of the various upper terraces which have fallen into the river and been 

washed away.

The terraces 011 which deposits of placer gold occur are all within 200 feet of the level

of the river. They are in the main covered with a sandy soil from a few inches to 12 

feet or more .thick, containing some disseminated gold, below which is a pay streak 

from 1 inch to 4 feet thick, consisting of sandy clay and gravel resting on a thin bed 

of clay. Below this pay streak there is generally barren sand, gravel, or in some 

places clay, to the level of the river. It is reported that a second or a third lower pay 

streak occurs at a few places, but no attempts have been made to mine such deposits, 

and our investigations indicate that they invariably contain less gold than the upper 

placers. The pay streak is as a rule stained by oxide of iron and easily distinguished 

from the overlying silts by its color. The gold tenor varies from a fraction of a cent 

to a possible maximum of $1.50 per ton, the average being not more than 4 or 5 cents 

per cubic yard. These gold deposits were tested by carefully panning samples taken 

from prospect holes and such natural exposures as cut banks of streams and upturned 

tree roots. The colors of gold in each pan were counted, the number recorded, 

and specimens from the various localities weighed on an assayer's balance to determine 

their average value. To check these results 31 samples of pay dirt were collected and 

sent to the United States Geological Survey concentrating pavilion at Portland, Oreg., 

where they were treated by fire assay. In making the assays about five times the 

ordinary amount was taken for fusion, and quantitative determinations were made 

where, by ordinary methods, nothing but traces could have been reported. The 

colors of gold were found to range in value from less than 0.0005 to 0.02 cent, the average 

being about 0.002 cent. Nearly all of this is flour rather than flake gold and although 

very fine it is usually not difficult to save in panning. Some of the colors which 

appear to be larger, however, are thin flakes and scales that are very hard to separate 

from the black sand.

There is a noticeable difference in the size of the colors at various points along the 

river, some of the bars being characterized by very fine gold and that of others being 

comparatively coarse. Generally the colors of any particular bar or pay streak are 

nearly uniform in size and appearance, but there are a few notable exceptions to this 

rule, some of the localities affording coarse flakes as well as uniformly fine flour gold, 

seeming to indicate a local source of supply for part of the gold.

i Collier, A. J., Gold-bearing river sands of northeastern Washington: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 315, 

pp. 56-70,1907.
32 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON".

ASSOCIATED MINERALS.

The gold is associated with black sand containing a large amount of magnetite and 

somewhat smaller amounts of ilmenite, zircon, garnet, and other heavy minerals. 

Platinum probably also occurs in small quantities, though its presence was not detected 

in the field. . An average sample of sand was run over the Wetherill separator at the concentrating 

pavilion and its mineral constituents were determined as follows:

Mineralogical composition of average sand from Columbia River terraces. 

Magnetite....................................................... 0.3

Ilmenite.... .\ ................................................. .1

Garnet...................................:.................^.. -.1

Zircon......................................................... .1

Quartz........................................................ 39.4

Others........................................................ 60.0

100.0

One large color of gold and 16 to 20 small colors of platinum. 

The amount of black sand in the pay streaks is much greater than in this sample, 

in some places reaching 3 or 4 per cent.

TYPICAL LOCALITIES.

Although there is probably some gold in the sands of the river throughout its length, 

the gold-bearing terraces on either side, which are called bars, are not continuous. 

Those adjacent to the right bank that were examined are Nespelem Bar, at the mouth of 

Nespelem River; Hell Gate Bar, a few miles above Sanpoil; Peach Bar, opposite Peach 

post office; Sixmile and Ninemile bars, 6 and 9 miles, respectively, above Spokane \ 

River; Wilmot Bar, opposite Jerome post office; Rogers Bar, a few miles below Hunter; \ 

Blue and-Turtle Rapids bars, about 5 miles above Hunter; Stranger Creek Bar, 

opposite Gifford; and a bar about 6 miles above Daisy. In the Sanpoil Valley there 

are no indications that placer gold has ever been produced or exists in commercial 

amounts except on one or two of its tributaries. - The more important of the deposits 

named above will be described in detail as follows:

Columbia Valley. Nespelem Bar is a terrace half a mile wide, 100 feet above the 

Columbia at the mouth of the Nespelem, which flows across the bar in a narrow canyon. 

Two miles above its mouth the Nespelem is incised in an upper terrace more than 

1,000 feet above the Columbia, to which it descends in a series of falls caused by outcropping crystalline rocks. The lower terrace has a nearly level surface and where 

- cut by the canyons presents the following section: .

Section of lower terrace on Columbia River at mouth of the 'Nespelem.

; Feet.

Sandy loam.................................................... 8-15 v

Gravel......................................................... f- 1

Stratified clay, locally called soapstone......................... 80

Although 320 acres of land situated here have been secured by. patent for placer- r, 

mining purposes, gold was found at only one locality in a thin pay streak, consisting 

of iron-stained sandy clay resting on sand, somewhat above the general level and * 

covering about 2 acres of ground. No gold was found by panning in any of the beds 

composing the foregoing section. Similar tests of the sands from the beds of gullies 

cutting through to the clay bedrock and of material from the bed of Nespelem River 

also gave negative results. It was estimated that there is no ground on this bar 

which can be expected to yield as much as 0.01 cent per cubic yard by placer-mining 

methods.'
THE MINERAL DEPOSITS. 33

Hell Gate Bar, situated on the north side of Columbia River, between the mouth 

of the Sanpoil and Hell Gate Eapids, is a strip of land about 2 miles long and from 

300 feet to half a mile wide. The placer gold is confined to a low bench, which is 

probably overflowed at times of extreme high water. Much of its surface is covered 

with river bowlders from a few inches to a foot in diameter, and the pay dirt is contained either in the crevices between these bowlders or in a well-defined pay streak 

consisting of iron-stained gravel from a few inches to a foot thick within 3 feet of the 

surface. There is little overburden and the gold-bearing layer is easily reached. 

The average value of this pay streak is estimated by panning to be 5 cents per cubic 

yard. The colors of gold are all fine, averaging not more than 0.00125 cent in value. 

A sample of the richest material found was tested at the concentrating pavilion in 

Portland, Oreg., showing approximately the same result as to gold tenor. It was 

estimated that on this bar there is a deposit of pay dirt 6 inches thick, from 100 to 

600 yards wide, and 2 miles long, which will average between 1 and 5 cents per cubic 

yard. S.ome of the richest of this ground was taken up by Chinese, who attempted 

to work it mechanically with water pumped from Columbia River, but their efforts 

Were abandoned several years ago for the reason, as reported, that wages could not 

be obtained. The Columbia at Hell Gate Rapids is obstructed by a ledge of rocka 

that crosses from north to south. This ledge has been worn down by the river, but 

has probably always presented an obstruction to the current. The concentration 

of the gold below the rapids is probably due in part to this obstruction, an eddy 

being formed here in which the fine gold settled from the swiftly moving currents.

Between Hell Gate and the mouth of the Spokane there is comparatively little 

level land adjoining the river on the Colville Reservation. All of it is comprised in 

a low bench at the mouth of White Stone Creek, containing over 300 acres, a similar 

bench opposite Creston Ferry, and a bench and bar opposite the town of Peach. 

The White Stone lands are entirely embraced in Indian ranches and were not 

examined for evidences of placer gold. A portion of the bench at Creston Ferry 

has been worked by placer miners, but the old workings are now abandoned and 

were not tested. Opposite Peach there is a bench about 300 feet above Columbia 

River which extends upstream to the mouth of the Spokane. A number of placermining claims have been located on this terrace, and it was examined critically. 

Where undermined by the river it presents the following section:

Section on Columbia River opposite Peach.

Feet. 

Light-colored sandy loam. ............................... 1....... 12

Sand and gravel................................................ 1-2

Sandy clay, above which there is water seepage................... 6

Open cross-bedded gravel, containing many basalt pebbles onequarter inch to 2 inches in diameter........................... 200

' No colors of gold could be obtained by panning from any part of this section, either 

from the sandy loam at the top or the gravel layer above the clay seam.

Between Peach and the mouth of Spokane River there is a large island in Columbia 

River that is overflowed at extreme high water. The upper end of this island was 

formerly worked by Chinese, their excavation's reaching a depth of 3 or 4 feet. No 

mining is in progress there at the present time, and a part of the island is under 

cultivation.

From a point 3 miles above the mouth of the Spokane old Chinese excavations 

and ditches occur at short intervals for about 6 miles to the mouth of Ninemile Creek. 

None of these old workings extended more than 100 yards from the river.

Three miles above the Spokane is a bench about 20 feet above the river that contains an accumulation of large angular bowlders having the appearance of a moraine.
34 QBE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

It is probably the deposit mentioned by Salisbury as the terminal moraine of the 

Columbia River glacier. 1 It extends along the river about one-half mile. The 

pay streak, formerly worked by Chinese, occupies the spaces between these bowlders, 

which probably served as riffles to concentrate the fine gold. Some virgin ground 

found under a stump in the old workings yielded a fair result from panning, the 

colors being of two types large thin flakes averaging 0.01 cent in value and the 

ordinary flour gold of the river averaging not over 0.002 cent in value. A sample 

tested by fusion at the concentrating pavilion gave $1.60 per ton in gold, but owing 

to the prevalence of bowlders not included in the sample this result should naturally 

be reduced about one-half.

At the mouth of Sixmile Creek, a mile above the point just mentioned, the glacial 

bowlders are no longer to be seen and a section of the terrace deposit was found to be 

about as follows:

Section on Columbia River at mouth of Sixmile Creek.

Feet. 

Silt and gravel, containing some clay............................ 2

Gravel and clay...................."............:............... ^

Coarse open-textured gravel, pebbles mostly from older rocks and 

4 inches or less in diameter ...................................... 20

The pay streak here is confined to the upper 2 feet of the section and was found by 

panning to have a value of 8 cents per cubic yard. The gold obtained includes some 

large thin flakes averaging 0.01 cent in value and much fine flour gold. A sample 

tested by fusion at the concentrating pavilion yielded only 4 cents per ton. There 

is a pay streak 2 feet thick here, extending back from the river possibly 800 or 900 

feet, which will yield from 4 to 8 cents per cubic yard.

Two miles farther up the river, near the mouth of Ninemile Creek, there are over 

300 acres of land in two benches, one about 30 and the other 100 feet above Columbia 

River. The section on the lower, bench is approximately as follows:

Section of lower bench on Columbia River near Ninemile Creek.

Feet. 

Sandy silt,'from a few inches to.................................. 7

Iron-stained sand, gravel, and clay (pay streak).................. 1

Open-textured gravel.......................................... 20

Old Chinese Workings extend about 200 feet back and three-fourths of a mile along 

the river. The limit of the workings back from the river was evidently determined 

in some places by the thickness of the overburden and in others by the thinning out 

of the pay streak. The gold contains some large flakes worth 0.02 cent and much 

fine flour gold, bringing the average down to 0.0067 cent. The pay streak probably 

averaged a little over 40 cents to the cubic yard. A sample tested by fire assay at 

the concentrating pavilion gave 16 cents per ton.

The upper terrace, 100 feet above the river, presents a somewhat similar section, 

comprising from 1 to 3 feet of iron-stained gravel, sand, and clay, resting on more 

than 90 feet of cross-bedded gravel and sand. Panning tests showed that the upper 

layer carries a small fraction of a cent in flour gold per cubic yard, while the gravel 

and sand below show no trace of gold.

Wilmot Bar is about 6 miles farther up the river, opposite Jerome post office. As 

at Sixmile Bar, there are two terraces here one 20 feet, the other about 100 feet above 

the river. The lower terrace is situated just below a series of rock ledges forming an 

obstruction to the current somewhat similar to that at Hell Gate, and the concentration of gold on the bar is probably due in part to this cause. . On the lower terrace

1 Salisbury, R. D., Jour. Geology, vol. 9, p. 722,1901.
THE MINERAL DEPOSITS. 35

there is a eurficial deposit from 1 to 5 feet thick that contains flour gold and rests on 

open-textured gravel and sand. Panning tests indicate a possible value of 10 to 

14 cents per cubic yard on the lower bench and a small fraction of a cent per cubic 

yard on the upper one.

Rogers Bar, on the west bank of the Columbia 2 miles below the town of Hunter, 

contains approximately 1,500 acres of nearly level land that lies from 20 to 100 feet 

above high water and extends for 3 miles along the river. It includes three distinct 

benches one 30, another 75, and a third 100 feet above the river. Near the middle 

of the bar two men are still working with rockers on the river bank, following the 

edge 'of the water as it falls. They report that the best pay is found on bars exposed 

only af low water. Half a mile below their workings there is a low gravel bar that is 

scarcely above the level of the river at ordinary stages; this was nearly all worked over 

by Chinese. -A miner working here reported that under favorable conditions he 

could make as high as $3 per day. Near the lower end of Rogers Bar is a large island 

in the river known as Hog Island. The channel between it and the mainland is 

dry at low water and its bed has all been worked by Chinese.

The section of the deposit forming the lower terrace at Rogers Bar is as follows: *

Section of lower terrace on Columbia River at Rogers Bar.

Feet. 

Sandy silt..............'...................................... 2-8

Gravel and clay (pay streak).................................... £-1

Open-textured cross-bedded sand and gravel..................... 20

The section in the next higher bench is similar except that the underlying gravel 

contains more sand and there is a greater thickness exposed. On the lower bench 

flour gold to the value of 1 to 50 cents per cubic yard was found in the pay streak and 

a much smaller amount disseminated through the overburden. Tests by fusion at 

the concentrating plant gave somewhat higher values and would seem to indicate 

that there is a considerable amount of finer gold which could not be saved by ordinary 

panning. In some instances traces of platinum were reported by the assayer, but 

the amount was not determined. No gold was found on the uppermost terrace, which 

as noted lies 100 feet above the river. The bars below the level of ordinary high 

water carry values in gold somewhat higher than those of the terraces, the indicated 

value being more than 30 cents per cubic yard. The colors of gold at Rogers Bar 

have an average value of about 0.00125 cent and the samples contained ?t least one 

color worth 0.01 cent.

Blue Bar, situated on the right bank of Columbia River, about .4 miles above 

Hunter, consists of a terrace from 100 to 1,000 feet wide and 20 feet above the river. 

Opposite the bar in the river lies Blue Bar Island, with an area of about 100 acres. 

Mining was done by Chinese at the upper end of this island, as well as at the edge of 

the terrace, to which water was brought in a ditch from a small stream known as 

Stray Dog Creek. The section of the deposit making up the terrace at Blue Bar is 

approximately as follows:

Section on Columbia River at Blue Bar.

Feet. 

Sandy loam.................................................. $-7

Iron-stained gravel, containing some clay (pay streak)........... £-£

Open-textured gravel and sand..................".............. 15

Nearly all the gold is confined to the pay streak, though scattering colors can be 

found in the overburden. The results of panning this pay streak indicate values 

ranging from less than a cent to 6 cents per cubic yard. Samples tested by fusion 

at the concentrating pavilion yielded from 2 to 41 cents per ton,
36 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Two miles above Blue Bar, near Turtle Bapids, a bench. 60 feet above high water 

extends along the river for several miles. Old Chinese workings here expose a nearly 

barren layer of sandy silt several .feet thick, resting on a pay streak a few inches thick, 

consisting of gravel and clay, below which is open-textured gravel and sand. These 

old workings indicate that the pay streak was followed back from the river bank until 

the overburden became too thick to permit further mining in that direction. Some 

of the original pay dirt was panned, indicating an approximate value of 30 cents 

per cubic yard, one pan containing upward of 300. fine colors of gold, the average 

value of which was 0.00143 cent.

At the upper end of these old Chinese workings an attempt was made last summer 

to hydraulic this deposit, a small stream of water under a 30-foot head being used. 

' The pay streak was estimated from panning to contain about 9 cents per cubic yard. 

Two fusions were made of the sample sent to the concentrating pavilion, giving from 1 

to 13 cents per ton. Half a mile above this point a pay streak 2 feet thick lies on the 

surface of the bench with no overburden. It extends back from the river 300 feet 

to the foot of the escarpment from a higher bench. Panning here indicates that this 

pay streak has a placer value as high as 9.5 cents per cubic yard. Two fusions were 

made of the sample taken from this place, one showing no trace and the other 15.5 

cents per ton.

Attempts at mining have been made on the lower terrace at intervals above this 

point for several miles, but the workings are now abandoned. Mining by hydraulicking was in progress on a .bench at the mouth of Stranger Creek, which enters the 

Columbia opposite Gifford. The section exposed here is as follows:

Section on Columbia River at mouth of Stranger Creek.

Feet. 

Sandy soil...................................................... 7

Pay dirt, consisting of clay and gravel........................... 1-3

Loose open-textured gravel and sand.............................. 20

The pay streak was tested by panning at several places and is estimated to contain 

from 40 cents per cubic yard at the richest spot to 5$ cents at the poorest. The sandy 

silt above the pay streak carries a small amount of gold, which is concentrated with 

that from the pay streak in hydraulicking. Prospect holes at other places on this 

bench seem to indicate that the pay streak is not of very great extent. A sample cut 

from the top of the overburden across the pay streak at its thickest part, thus including 

pay streak and overburden, was tested by fusion at the concentrating pavilion and 

gave results varying from 14 to 32 cents per ton. This placer is located on the bank of 

the river just below a ledge of rock, which must have always acted as an obstruction to 

the current, and the rich deposit here bears the same relation to this obstruction as do 

the deposits at Hell Gate and Wilmot Bar to similar ledges.

For several miles above the Stranger Creek placer a terrace at the same level that 

extends back from the river a distance of 800 or 900 feet has been located for placermining purposes. The sections exposed in the river bank and in prospect holes indicate a deposit of gravelly soil about 2 feet thick, resting on an iron-stained pay streak, 

below which there is open-textured gravel. Panning tests of these deposits indicate 

a possible value of a fraction of a cent per cubic yard, to a depth of 2£ feet, but samples 

tested by fusion at the concentrating pavilion showed no trace of gold. Back of the 

lower terrace there is a higher one about 300 feet above the river, containing 300 or 

400 acres of land that has also been included in placer claims. These lands, as far as 

could be ascertained, have a light sandy soil to a depth of l.or 2 feet, underlain by 

tough clay to an unknown depth. No traces of gold could be found in either the 

surface soil or the clay.

Benches lying 20 to 30 feet above the river level and similar to those which have 

been described extend along the left bank from this point nearly to Kettle Falls, One.
THE MINEEAL DEPOSITS. 37

of these, 2 miles above Daisy, presents the following section in the cut bank of the 

river:

Section on Columbia River 2 miles above Daisy.

Feet.

Soil............................................................ 1

Iron-stained pay streak.......................................... $

Open-textured gravel and sand.................................. 18

Fragments of shells of river rnollusks were found in the silt just below the pay 

streak. A sample from the pay streak was panned, showing a value of 2 or 3 cents to 

the cubic yard, but the assays made at the concentrating pavilion showed only a trace 

of gold.

A low bar in the river several miles above Daisy, formerly known as China Bar and 

reported to have been worked out by the Chinese, was also tested, and the upper layer 

of sand and gravel yielded about the same result 2 or 3 cents to the cubic yard. 

.. Sanpoil Valley. The Sanpoil Valley is disproportionately large for the stream which 

it contains. Its walls are terraced to almost the same elevations as those of the 

Columbia Valley and it was probably occupied by an arm of the same lake as filled the 

Columbia. It also resembles the Columbia in that the lower terraces and benches are 

more irregular than the upper ones. Although colors of gold were found at intervals 

along this river, they are not as uniformly distributed as along the Columbia and are 

not concentrated in pay streaks to the same extent. A great many placer claims have 

been located near the mouth of West Fork, in the vicinity of Alkire post office. Tests 

with the gold pan indicated a value of about 4 cents per cubic yard in one or two small 

spots, outside of which colors of gold were very rarely found. These colors are rougher 

than those along the Columbia and average 0.0055 cent in value. A sample representing 13 prospect holes, all of which were well located to find placer gold if present, 

was tested by fusion at the concentrating pavilion and showed no trace of gold. About 

3 miles above its mouth West Fork of the Sanpoil receives a tributary called Gold Creek, 

and several miles up the latter Strawberry Creek enters. Reports of miners indicate 

fair prospects of gold on each of these latter streams, and an imperfect examination of 

them confirms the reports. The deposits along Strawberry Creek are said to be of the 

normal creek-placer type. They are confined to the bed and the immediate flood 

plain of the stream, and the gold is of local origin. Below Alkire the sands of the 

Sanpoil Valley were tested at a number of places, almost invariably with negative 

results, though a few colors of gold were obtained near Keller. No deposits of goldbearing gravel that will justify the expectation of successful development occur along 

Sanpoil River at any point except those noted on West Fork.

ORIGIN OF THE GOLD.

The ultimate source of the Columbia River gold is to be found in the areas of crystalline and metamorphic rocks to the north and east, which are known to contain goldbearing quartz veins, as' well as other ore bodies of various kinds containing gold. 

Millions of tons of such rocks were washed away in the formation of the river valley, 

and the deposits with which the valley was filled during the glacial period represent 

many millions more, the gold content of which has been concentrated in river bars. 

Much of the gold has doubtless been carried many miles, but that some of it is of comparatively local origin is indicated by the coarse flake gold found on some of the bars. 

Somewhat coarser and rougher colors of gold were obtained from the bed of a small 

creek several miles from the Columbia. It is probable that there are many such tributary streams in which colors of gold can be found which have added small amounts 

to the gold deposits of the river.
38 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON. ..

METHODS OF MINING.

The mining and collecting, of finely divided gold like that along the Columbia is 

inevitably more difficult and requires greater care and skill than ordinary placer 

mining. The appliances which have been used are rather simple forms of rocker or 

'sluice box equipped with blanket, carpet, or burlap riffles. Neither quicksilver nor 

copper plates are used in the boxes. In sluicing the material is invariably passed over 

some form of grizzly which screens out the finer part and drops it to an undercurrent 

or spreads it over tables where the gold is collected. The Chinese probably ground 

sluiced before shoveling the pay- dirt into the boxes. In two places where white men 

were mining last summer the whole deposit above the pay streak was hydraulicked 

and washed into the sluice with water under a small head from a canvas hose. One of 

the principal difficulties in mining this gold is encountered at the clean-up. The gold 

is associated with such great quantities of black sand that it is almost impossible to 

separate it. The usual method of collecting the gold with quicksilver is laborious and 

expensive, often fails to extract much of the gold, and utterly fails to collect platinum 

if it is present. Experiments made at the concentrating pavilion at Portland have 

demonstrated that this separation can be accomplished economically by means of a 

Wilfley concentrator, but eVen by this means the expense of mining would probably 

not be greatly reduced. . .

CONCLUSIONS REGARDING COLUMBIA RIVER GOLD.

Nearly all the sands in the bed of Columbia River and on the adjoining terraces and 

benches throughout the region covered by this examination carry some fine gold. The 

relative amounts have not been accurately determined, though the statements of 

miners and prospectors indicate that the low bars in the.river bed contain more gold 

than the deposits on the benches.

The average width of the river is about 1,500 feet, and it is probable that a considerable part of its bed from one side to the other is covered by sands and gravels containing 

some gold. The gold-bearing terraces are not continuous on either side, being absent 

for long stretches, and it may be safely estimated that if distributed so as to be continuous they would make a strip of land not exceeding 300 feet on each side of the river.

Many of the richer spots were discovered and worked out by Chinese, and there is 

no record of the amount of gold they obtained. Moreover, the observations described 

in this report were not sufficient to justify a close estimate of the amount of gold remaining. It would seem a liberal estimate, however, to put the average width of the goldbearing areas, including the river bed and benches, at 2,400 feet, the thickness of the 

gold-bearing deposit at 6 feet, and the amount of placer gold originally contained 

within such limits as 1 cent per cubic yard. On these terms the total amount of gold 

contained in the river bed and adjacent benches did not exceed $28,000 per linear 

mile, and the total amount in the 90 miles between Kettle Falls and Nespelem did 

not exceed $2,500,000.

This gold is not uniformly distributed but in very small areas is concentrated enough 

to justify mining, especially where rich deposits occur in the bed of the Columbia, since 

the comparatively cheap process of dredging is here available. Thabench lands, however, are not adapted to any relatively inexpensive process of mining. Hydraulicking 

on a large scale is ruled out by the absence of bedrock and the scarcity of water at 

sufficient elevation; dredging, by the height of these deposits above the river and the 

impossibility of floating machinery over them. Moreover, the possible profits from 

mining the bench lands would undoubtedly be less than the value of these lands for 

agricultural purposes.
OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON. 39

THE MINING DISTRICTS AND ORE DEPOSITS.

The following pages contain, besides a general discussion of the 

mining districts and detailed descriptions of the- more prominent 

properties, brief mention of many smaller prospects, examined primarily because of their proximity to more fully developed workings. 

The shortness of the time spent in this large area prohibited a careful

FIGUKE 2. Map of northeastern Washington, showing the location of many points within the mining

districts examined.

survey of every prospect. However, it is hoped that a study of the 

mode of occurrence of the ore deposits described may be of use in 

leading to an understanding of similar ore bodies in contiguous or 

other localities. Figure 2 shows the area in which lie most of the 

districts described.

29122° Bull. 55Q-14 i
40 QBE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

STEVENS COUNTY.

METALINE DISTRICT.1 

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

The Metaline mining district has the. following boundary, as 

recorded in the office of the county clerk of Stevens County:

Beginning at the northeast corner of township 40 and the southeast corner of range 

45; thence south along the east line of range 45 to the south line of township 38; thence 

west along the south line of township 38 to the west line of range 42; thence north 

along the west line of range 42 to the south line of township 40; thence east along the 

south line of range 40 to the east line of range 42; thence north on the east line of 

range 42 to the international boundary line; thence east on the international boundary 

line to place of beginning.

The district, which covers about 400 square miles of unsurveyed 

land, occupies a corner in the extreme northeastern part of the State 

of Washington, the State of Idaho lying to the east and British 

Columbia to the north. (See fig. 2.) The western part of the district is cut by the valley of Clark Fork of Columbia River, and the 

most accessible and probably the best-developed properties lie 

within a mile or two of this stream. The elevations in the district 

range from about 2,000 feet at the river to 6,000 feet or more on top 

of the highest peaks.

The town of Metaline is on the west bank of Clark Fork, some 2 

miles south and 4 miles west of the center of the district, and is 79 

miles in an air line due north of Spokane. Just across the river, 

on the east bank, the new town of Metaline Falls has recently been 

built near a partly completed cement plant. In each place accommodations can be obtained and general-merchandise stores are numerous. The population of both towns in July, 1910, probably did not

exceed 500.

MEANS PF ACCESS.

Until 1910 the Metaline mining district was one of the most isolated 

in northeastern Washington, being more remote from railroad transportation than any other part of Stevens County. Previous to 1910 

craft on Clark Fork were used for transporting materials and supplies 

between Newport, which is 9 miles north of the southeast corner of 

Stevens County, and the Metaline district. Stages, launches, and 

tugboats were necessary features of the last 7 miles of the journey 

northward from lone to Metaline as late as October, 1910, the total 

distance between Newport and Metaline being about 60 miles by 

the route traveled. A stage road from Colville was also used to 

reach the district, but this route involved about 50 miles of travel 

over rather poor roads.

» Largely reprinted from Bancroft, Howland, Lead and zinc deposits in the Metaline mining district, 

northeastern Washington: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 470, pp. 188-200,1911.
METALINE DISTRICT. 41

With the completion of the Idaho & Washington Northern Railroad to Metaline Falls in October, 1910, a much cheaper and more 

efficient means of transportation was afforded throughout the district, the properties located on the east side of the river being especially benefited.

CONDITION OF MINING INDUSTRY.

Lack of transportation and the prevalence of low-grade base ores 

have no doubt had much to do with the small progress made in 

developing the several properties in the Metaline district. Although 

there are many prospects in the area, only a few have 300 feet or more 

of underground development, and no one of these is reported to have 

shipped over a few tons of ore. In general, the district has been 

explored by means of surface cuts and trenches. Where these have 

uncovered ore bodies persistent enough to warrant deeper exploration 

it has been attempted. The results thus far have not been gratifying, 

but the developments are still too meager to warrant final conclusions 

concerning the extent of the ore bodies.

Wagon roads are scarce in the district, practically all the claims 

being reached by trails, and at the time of the writer's visit it was 

almost impossible to obtain saddle horses or any other means of 

conveyance. With the completion of the cement plant and the 

extension of the railroad many improvements may be expected in 

the district. At the time of the investigation this was the leastdeveloped camp in Stevens County. One small concentrating mill 

had been erected to work the ores of the Spokane Lead Co., and this 

mill is reported to have been a failure.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The most prominent topographic feature in the Metaline district 

is the valley of Clark Fork. This stream, which flows northward 

in a course that lies 6 miles west of the center of the district, is f acfamed for its waterfalls, swift eddies, and box canyons, all of which 

prohibit extensive water transportation on the river north of Metaline 

 Falls. The cliffs along the river become prominent near the southern 

boundary of the Metaline district and grow more conspicuous throughout the northward course of the stream, which, though a mile wide 

in part of its course farther south, is in this region confined in one 

place between walls reported to be only 18 feet apart. The rocks 

that form the banks of the river rise rather abruptly to benches 

ranging in height from 150 to 350 feet, and above these benches rise 

steep timber-covered mountains, the highest of which attain altitudes of 6,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level, or 4,000 to 5,000,feet 

above the river. The mountains on the west side of the river form 

a continuation of the Calispell Range; the mountains on the east 

side are not known by any generally accepted name.
42 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Smaller mountain streams, tributary to Clark Fork, are numerous 

in this district, the more prominent being Sullivan and Slate creeks 

on the east side, flowing approximately west; and Flume, Evarts, 

and Perry creeks on the west side, flowing east or southeast. These 

streams are exceedingly valuable for generating power and for many 

other purposes, their valleys having in places extremely high

gradients.

GEOLOGY.

The geologic section exposed by the erosion of Clark Fork and its 

affluents, so far as it was seen in a visit to the prospects from Metaline 

some 8 or 10 miles northward, consists of a thick series of more or 

less dynamometamorphosed sedimentary rocks composed essentially 

of shale and dolomite. The rocks are believed to be of Paleozoic age, 

although no fossils were found to substantiate this conclusion. 

Igneous rocks were not observed in the localities visited. The beds 

throughout a large part of the section examined have a more or less 

general north-south strike and a fairly constant westward dip at a 

steep angle. In many places the strike is several degrees east of north 

and the dip is to the northwest or southeast. Local changes in the 

direction of strike and dip were observed, and there is some intricate 

folding on a small scale.

Observations of the rock formations in the district were practically 

confined to a narrow strip of country near Clark Fork, but investigations in the contiguous Northport district and elsewhere in northeastern Washington indicate that these metamorphosed sedimentary rocks are simply a continuation of the series so universally 

present in the eastern part of Stevens County. Accurate measurements of these sedimentary beds were not made, but it is certain 

that they are several thousand feet thick. The rocks observed are 

mainly lime shales or slaty argillites, with intercalated dolomite 

wliich is in places completely silicified. These rocks occur in alternating beds of shale and dolomite, which appear to be conformably 

interbedded, the thickness of the intercalated shale or dolomite strata 

varying from a few inches to several hundred feet. In general 

thin beds of dolomite occur between beds of shale, though the reverse 

arrangement is seen in some places, and the shale probably occupies 

the greater part of the Metaline district. On the west side of the 

river dolomite is prominent, and in several places it extends across 

the valley and forms high cliffs and mountains on the east side. 

Much of the dolomite resembles limestone and some of it was regarded 

as limestone in the field. However, analyses of three specimens collected from widely separated localities showed the presence of 17 

per cent or more of MgO, and therefore all these rocks are termed 

dolomites, although there are probably in the area pure limestone 

strata which the writer did not recognize as such, Spme cliffs in
METALINE DISTKICT.

the vicinity of the Clark property are composed of nearly pure calcium carbonate. Here huge blue and white calcite crystals, some 

of them 3 inches long, form strata several feet in width and over 100 

feet in height. The formation appears to be the result of a complete 

recrystallization of limestone under rather exceptional conditions.

As the rocks strike generally north and south the river has in 

many places cut its channel nearly parallel to the direction of the 

strike, and the steep cliffs and box canyons suggest faulting or slipping along the cleavage planes of the shales. Faulting and brecciation of the country rock are common and are important factors to 

be considered in connection with the ore deposits, having controlled 

to a large degree the extent and location of the mineralized areas.

The dolomite is in general of fine, even texture and varies in color 

from the predominating bluish-gray tone to white and in places to 

a dense black.

The dark variety contains 21.5 per cent of MgO and 27.9 per cent 

of CaO, as shown by the analysis of a sample taken from the vicinity 

of the Lead King prospect. The lighter-colored dolomites contain 

approximately 17 per cent of MgO and 30 per cent of CaO. The shales 

are in general dark blue or black in color and are finely cleavable, the 

planes of lamination being distinct and close together. In places 

greenish shales were noted, which may be- chloritic. The Inland 

Portland Cement Co., of Allentown, Pa., has kindly furnished the 

following analyses made by it of the shales in the vicinity of Metaline 

Falls:

Analyses of shales from Sullivan Creek, Metaline Falls.

Silica...........................'.....................

Magnesia carbonate. .................................

1

25.72

15.72

53.02

3.66

25.64

2

15.62

9.82

68.66

4.81

32.82

3

37.40

25.14

29.71

2.93

16.20

4

20.32

12.20

62.11

3.66.

29.66

5

qo oo

20.52

39.11

3.87

20.34

Analyses of shales from Sand Creel, 5 miles south of Metaline Falls.

Silica................................................

1

71.00

13.20

5.95

6.61

6.40

2

81.16

11.06

1.41

2.70

2.04

3

78.00

11.24

2.19

3.41

3.80

4

65.72

17.84

4.37

3.80

7.44

5

66.50

13.32

8.12

8.71

8.42

ORE DEPOSITS.

DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTER.

Because of the small amount of development work done on prospects in the Metaline district and the general unsettled conditions 

which exist there, the character and distribution of the ore deposits
44 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

are rather difficult to ascertain. Examinations were made of the 

Schellenburg, Riverside, and Meade properties, on the east side of 

Clark Fork, and of the Cliff, Lead King, Clark, and Oriole prospects, 

on the west side. The deposits on these properties are reported to be 

typical of the lead and zinc deposits in the Metaline district. They 

are all within a short distance of Clark Fork, extending from Metaline 

10 miles northward.

In general the deposits are irregular disseminated replacements of 

lead and zinc ores in dolomite. Scattered bunches and pockets of 

galena also occur. One large fissure vein was seen. There is no visible connection between the pockets of galena and any given gangue 

mineral, but the zinc ores in this district almost invariably accompany 

a silicified rock that was either dolomite or limestone, it being impossible to determine its original character. Especially worthy of 

note is the relation of the mineralized areas to the brecciated and 

faulted zones, marked disturbances in the sedimentary rocks having 

been noted in all the deposits examined. Where brecciation was the 

most severe mineralization appears to be correspondingly high. That 

these zones of movement indicate the former existence of channels in 

irregular fractures through which mineralizing solutions have passed 

is clearly shown by the intimate association of the ores of the district 

with such fracture zones and cemented breccias.

The principal minerals occurring in these disseminated deposits 

are cube galena and light-colored sphalerite, the latter in places 

possibly containing some cadmium. The resemblance of much of 

the sphalerite to that of the Joplin district, Missouri, is noteworthy. 

"Steel" galena and the ordinary dark-colored sphalerite, "blackjack," are also present in some of the ores. Pyrite and marcasite are 

found in many of the deposits, the quantity present varying greatly 

from place to place. As a rule the pyrite appears to occupy fissure 

veins rather than to be generally disseminated through the sedimentary rocks. Some chalcopyrite occurs in a few of the deposits. 

The oxidation products of the sulphides above mentioned, are common, 

smithsonite and anglesite having been seen in the ores from many of 

the workings. Calamine was not definitely recognized, but it has 

been reported from the district and there is no reason to doubt that 

it is present. Cerusite also forms a part of the ore. Malachite, 

azurite, and limonite are less conspicuous minerals in the disseminated deposits.

In the property whose vein occupies a large fissure, the mineralization by pyrite is much more profuse; and the iron sulphides, which 

elsewhere but sparingly replace the country rock, here occur in a vein 

from 2 to 8 feet in width. The amount of galena and sphalerite is 

scanty, and secondary oxidized products fill some of the small fissures 

and fractures in the country rock adjoining the vein.
METALltfl DISTRICT. 45

ORIGIN OF THE ORES.

About 7 miles west of Clark Fork, near the border between the 

Metaline and Northport mining districts, is a great area of granite 

similar in many respects to that in the Old Dominion mine, 7 miles 

east of Colville, and in fact resembling the granite found in places 

throughout northeastern Washington. Specimens of molybdenite 

which have been sent to the United States Geological Survey from a 

prospect located 4 miles east of Clark Fork, in sec. 18, T. 37 N., K. 

43 E., suggest a pegmatitic origin, which also implies the presence of a 

granitic magma in this part of the area. The silicified zones of dolomite 

or limestone are evidently the results of siliceous solutions. These solutions may have accompanied the granitic intrusions seen throughout 

a large part of northeastern Washington, tongues of which probably 

extend into the Metaline district.

The light-colored sphalerite is almost invariably found in silicified 

zones in this district. As the lead and zinc ores are commonlyjassociated in this locality, it seems only reasonable to suppose that the 

siliceous solutions brought also the lead ores. The apparent uniformity of the deposits and the geologic section throughout the portion of the area examined and the probability that a similar geologic 

series extends over a greater part of the district seem to justify the 

conclusion that deposits elsewhere in the Metaline region are of the 

same general nature as those examined.

FUTURE OF THE DISTRICT.

At the time of the investigation (August, 1910) the Metaline district 

was more sparsely settled than any other locality investigated in 

northeastern Washington. In December, 1910, direct railroad 

transportation was available for some of the properties on the east 

side of Clark Fork. Practically the whole district is without wagon 

roads, and the trails to the several properties do not afford an economical means for shipping out the ore.

All the deposits examined were of extremely low grade, none of 

them, showing over a small percentage of lead or zinc, so that shipping 

without concentration would probably be unprofitable even with 

railroad transportation at the properties. One mill has been built, 

which proved a failure. Whether others can be constructed so that 

the ore minerals can be economically saved is an open question. 

Many tons of ore would have to be mined to produce 1 ton of concentrates containing roughly, say, 50 per cent of lead and zinc. It is 

the writer's impression that in most of the prospects examined the 

ratio of crude ore to such a concentrate would be about 30 or 40 to 1, 

which means a high initial expense of installation and much wear 

and tear on the milling machinery. The mineralization is scattered
46 ORE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

and irregular, and at present the boundaries of the mineralized areas 

are unknown.

In prospecting other areas in the Metaline district it would be well 

to look for zones of intense brecciation and faulting in the country 

rock, accompanied by local silicification. The lead and zinc ores 

seem to have been introduced by solutions accompanying the intrusion of the granite batholith, and it is highly probable that mineralization has taken place along fissures and fracture zones that have been 

more or less closely followed by the solutions accompanying the 

acidic magma. Some operators in the district believe that contacts 

between light and dark dolomite or between dolomite and shale are 

favorable places to look for ore bodies.

Comprehensive smelter and mill tests have not, to the writer's 

knowledge, been made on ores from this district, and it is essential, 

before erecting plants to treat the ores, to make a thorough investigation of the chemical and physical properties of the constituent minerals 

of the ore bodies. Until recently it was not generally known that 

zinc minerals occurred in this district. From observation the zinc 

minerals seem to be as widely disseminated in the ore deposits as the 

lead ores, although heretofore the district has been considered as 

principally a lead camp.

PROSPECTS ON THE WEST SIDE OF CLARK FORK.

ORIOLE.

The Oriole property is located about 1 mile due west of Metaline 

and some 700 feet above it, the camp being at an elevation of 2,750 

feet. The workings start near the base of steep dolomite cliffs which 

flank mountains that attain altitudes of several thousand feet, forming some of the highest peaks in the vicinity. These mountains are

about a mile back from the river and form the eastern front of the 

Calispell Kange. The camp is located on a small flat near the head 

of a minor gulch. The equipment consists essentially of a small compressor plant and a boiler:

The rocks encountered in the workings are fine to medium grained 

grayish-blue dolomites, which are locally more or less silicified. They 

strike approximately north and south and dip about 45° W. or NW. 

The main level has been started at a point several hundred feet south 

of the camp and approximately 100 feet higher. It consists of an 

adit tunnel some 250 feet long, driven in a westerly direction in the 

east slope.of the ridge above referred to. A slip or fault in the 

country rock was encountered at this distance from the portal, and a 

drift reported to be 250 feet long has been driven on this slip, which 

trends N. 70° W. and dips 70° NE.

The mineralization in the prospect has been confined to the fault 

plane, the width of which varies from practically nothing up to 12
METALINE DISTRICT. 47

inches, or in places perhaps a little more. The gangue is principally 

gouge, with here and there some irregular stringers of quartz, which 

in places nearly fill the space between walls. Some calcite was noted 

in parts of the vein. The ore minerals appear to be chiefly sphalerite 

and galena, but some pyrite is scattered in a very irregular pockety 

manner throughout the quartz, the vein as a whole being exceptionally lean. A few fairly massive pockets of ore were seen, one of which 

measured as much as 12 inches across. A winze, said to be 65 feet 

deep, is located near the center of the drift. At the time of the investigation this winze was nearly filled with waste rock. Near the top 

of it are two small quartz veins, separated from each other by 12 inches 

of country rock, the total width of the veins, including the horse, 

being about 30 inches at this place. This lens of ore exposed in-the 

top of the winze is of uncertain relation to the main fault seen in the 

drift above referred to. The country rock contains many small 

fractures that traverse it in all directions.

The upper workings, located at an elevation of 2,950 feet, a little 

north of the lower level, consist of a 30-foot adit tunnel and a 20-foot 

drift on a slip in the country rock which strikes N. 70° E. and dips 

45° NW. Here a vein having an average width of 6 inches but 

attaining a maximum of 24 inches in the bottom of an 8-foot winze 

shows some mineralization by galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, 

and the oxidation products limonite, azurite, and malachite in a 

gangue of quartz and gouge.

The ore is reported to carry appreciable values in silver and a little 

gold in addition to the lead and zinc. In general, the ore body is 

lenticular and not at all persistent. This property has more underground development than any of the others visited in the Metaline 

district by the writer.

CLARK.

About 2£ miles north of Metaline, oh Flume Creek near its confluence with Clark Fork, is a group of claims known locally as the 

Clark property, controlled by the Metaline Lead Co. A wagon road 

extends northward from Metaline to Flume Creek half a mile west of 

the prospects, and good trails have been built from this place to the 

workings along the north side of the creek. Exploration, principally 

by means of stripping, trenching, and open cuts, is being carried on 

along the cliffs which lie directly northwest of the junction of Flume 

Creek and Clark Fork. These cliffs rise rather steeply from an 

elevation of 1,970 feet at the river channel to 2,800 feet or more on 

top of the first prominent bench or ridge and are cut by gorges from 

100 to 500 feet deep, through the most precipitous of which courses 

Flume Creek. Because of its relatively steep fall in the distance 

traversed, Flume Creek affords an excellent opportunity for generating 

power.
48 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

The claims constituting the Clark property number about 20. 

The principal surface development is on the Josephine claim, which 

includes within its boundaries part of one of the high cliffs above 

referred to. On this claim there are 18 or more surface cuts, a 

short tunnel, and a shallow shaft. About 400 feet lower, just above 

the stream bed of Flume Creek on the Hidden Falls claim, are two 

adit tunnels, one on each side of the creek, driven in opposite directions some 270 and 340 feet. These have been started with a view 

to prospecting the cliffs and possible ore bodies at this depth. So far, 

however, mineralized rock is not reported to have been encountered. 

Still farther down, near the level of Clark Fork, are an open cut 

and an adit tunnel some 300 feet long on the Chickahominy claim. 

This tunnel has been driven on a fault plane in the dolomite series, 

near which occur scattered pockets of the ordinary lead and zinc ores 

found in the district. On each of the other claims in the group a 

small amount of work has been done, consisting mainly in sinking the 

discovery shafts, the title of the whole group being held by work 

concentrated on one or two claims.

The rocks exposed by the workings are the light-colored dolomites 

and dark shales referred to in the general description of the geology 

of the district. The strike and dip of these strata are difficult to 

ascertain. The general direction of the strike is northeast and of 

the dip northwest.

The ore minerals are chiefly sphalerite and galena; the oxidation 

products smithsonite, cerusite, and anglesite are prominent in certain 

parts of the outcropping strata. No regular veins of ore-bearing 

material were found, and the extent of replacement in the country 

rock is undetermined. The ores occur as pockets in dolomite and 

disseminated through brecciated and silicified country rock, and it 

is impossible to give authentic data on then- probable extent. In 

places the mineralized zone appears to be at least 10 to 20 feet wide 

and to extend 50 to 100 feet along the strike of the strata.

The mineral-bearing rock contains little silver and is of low grade, 

so that concentration would be necessary; during this operation a 

partial separation of the lead and zinc minerals would be effected. 

It is an expensive ore to handle, and for profitable mining considerable 

machinery would have to be installed; this means a large initial outlay 

of money.

LEAD KING.

The Lead King property, also controlled by the Metaline Lead Co., 

is located on the west side of Clark Fork, some 6 miles north of 

Metaline, at an elevation of approximately 2,600 feet. The wagon 

road built by the company has been partly completed for a distance 

of about 4 miles and is connected by trail with the prospect. A small 

bunk house is located near the south end of the claim.
METALINE DISTBICT. 49

The country in the immediate vicinity of this property, unlike that 

near most of the other prospects of the district, is rather flat, the main 

workings being located on top of .a small ridge which rises a few feetabove the first high bench west of Clark Fork.

The principal developments consist of shallow shafts, surface cuts 

and trenches, and two'short tunnels, the longer one having been driven 

about 200 feet.. The rocks in the vicinity are dolomites, similar in 

many respects to those found in Other parts of the Metaline district. 

They appear to strike northeast and to dip northwest at a steep angle. 

One peculiarity of the geologic section exposed in this vicinity is the 

presence of a very fine-grained black dolomite, containing 21.5 per 

cent of MgO and 27.9 per cent of CaO. This rock appears to be 

nearly barren of mineral values. The mineralization by galena and 

zinc blende seems here to be very sparse, and the minerals are irregularly disseminated through the dolomite. In places calcite accompanies the ores. As exposed by the surface workings in this property 

the lead ores seem to predominate.

All of the work done here is of so superficial a nature that few data 

were obtained as to the extent of the mineralized area.

CLIFF.

The Cliff is the'most northerly deposit examined by the writer in 

the Metaline district and is located some 7 miles north of Metaline, 

on the west side of the first high bench west of Clark Fork. The 

workings are situated at an elevation of 2,730 feet and are approximately three-eighths of a mile southeast of Carmichael's ranch. 

The developments consist of a 30-foot trench in dolomitic limestone, 

this formation apparently dipping northwest at a rather steep angle. 

One shipment is reported to have been made from this property, but 

the returns were not accessible to the writer. There are no surface 

improvements, and the property is in the early prospecting stage.

The mineralization seems to be confined to a zone of brecciated 

limestone, the extent of which is indeterminable. As exposed on the 

surface the apparent width of this partly silicified zone is not over 8 

or 10 feet and the mineralization is scattered and of uncertain extent. 

Galena and perhaps a little sphalerite form the ores.'- In general there 

seems to be less replacement of the country rock than in the Josephine 

claim of the Clark group and more segregation in vugs along the 

siliceous zone.

PROSPECTS ON THE EAST SIDE OF CLARE FORE.

SCHELLENBURG.

The Schellenburg prospects are located about 2£ miles north of 

Metaline Falls, on the east side of Clark Fork, at an elevation of 

2,550 feet. They are reached by trail or wagon road from Metaline
50 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Falls and up to 1910 had not made any shipments of note. The 

developments consist of surface trenches from 1 to 5 feet deep and 

from 6 to 100 feet long. From their proximity to the new railroad 

which is built to Metaline Falls, these properties are perhaps more 

accessible than any others in the district.

The rocks in which the mineralization occurs are dolomitic limestones, which strike northeast and dip 70°-80° NW. They are 

typical of the series found in this district and show in the most highly 

mineralized belt considerable brecciation.

The workings on this group expose a number of fault planes which 

have general northeast-southwest and northwest-southeast directions. 

Much of the mineralization throughout the area is found along the 

fault planes and appears to have accompanied or followed the more 

intense movements. The present developments are superficial and 

little can be said about the future of these deposits.

RIVERSIDE..

The workings of the Kiverside property, some 6 miles north of 

Metaline Falls, are situated on the face of a cliff which rises almost 

vertically above Clark Fork. The camp is located on top of the 

first bench, about 300 feet above the river. The developments consist 

of several short tunnels or drifts on or near the vein, which show in 

an uncertain manner the lateral extent of the replacement of the 

sedimentary series. Outside of the mineralized zone fresh medium 

to fine grained blue and gray dolomitic limestones form the country 

rock. A few hundred feet to the east blackish shales appear in the 

series and extend eastward for some distance. These rocks strike 

N. 55° E. and dip 70°-80° NW.

The deposit constitutes a fissure vein in dolomitic limestone, the 

vein being exposed for a vertical distance of about 250 feet. The 

country rock is partly replaced on each side over a distance of several 

feet, and parallel fissures extend from the main vein for 15 to 20 feet. 

These lateral stringers are much smaller than the main vein, which 

is in general from 2 to 8 feet wide. The trend of the vein is N. 55° 

E. and the dip 70°-80° NW.

The vein filling is principally pyrite with a little galena, the mineral 

aggregate showing concentric or kidney structure representing alternate replacement of the limestone by pyrite and galena. A radial 

structure is also developed in the pyrite. The iron minerals have 

been partly decomposed, so that a very heavy gossan caps the vein 

and extends -downward for a distance of 100 feet or so. Gypsum 

crystals occur in abundance along the small cracks and fissures and 

are no doubt derived from the alteration of the dolomitic limestone 

by the action of sulphuric acid liberated in the oxidation of pyrite. 

Some "steel" galena was noted in a small tunnel halfway down the
NORTHPORT DISTRICT. 51

cliff, but farther down this mineral seems.to be absent. Chalcopyrite 

was seen in the lower levels. Because of the highly oxidized condition of the iron ores in this deposit, the strata on both sides of the 

fissure are very much stained and form a noticeable red and yellow 

zone which extends for a great distance.

Although the fissure seems to be well defined and to have a persistent bearing, the vein filling is of such a nature that the lead ores 

may not occur in sufficient quantities to warrant mining. It is 

possible, however, that developments along the vein proper may 

uncover larger quantities of the lead ores which form only a small 

part of the vein filling so far exposed.

MEADE.

The Meade prospects are situated at an elevation of 2,300 feet on a 

small hill just north of Slate Creek, about 7 miles north of Metaline

Falls. The developments consist of two short tunnels driven on 

opposite sides of the hill, each one being approximately 110 feet long. 

The country rock is dolomite or limestone similar to that noted in the 

vicinity of 9ther prospects in the district. The mineralization seems 

to consist principally in the introduction of pyrite, with here and there 

a bunch of galena, the latter apparently occurring along the bedding 

planes of the dolomite. The pyrite or marcasite has a radial structure. 

The main pockets of ore have been found along a slip in the country 

rock, which strikes NV 20° E. and dips 50° SE. A small amount of 

chalcopyrite is present in the ore. Calcite and quartz form the 

gangue, which is locally brecciated.

Because of the slight amount of development on the slip in which 

these pockets of galena occur, it is impossible to state the extent of 

the ore body. It seems highly probable, however, that this deposit 

is small and that future developments will show only a continuation 

of the irregularly spaced aggregates of ore minerals.

NORTHPORT DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

The Northport mining district is situated in the northwestern part 

of Stevens County, being bounded by the international boundary line 

on the north and the west line of the Metaline district on the east. 

The logical western boundary seems to be the eastern edge of the 

Orient district, rather than Kettle River, which is recorded as the 

western limit. In the following discussion the district will be treated 

as extending westward to the eastern boundary of the Orient district, 

or a short distance west of the one hundred and eighteenth meridian.

Northport, the principal town, is 3 miles north of the center of the 

district and has a population variously estimated at $00 to 1,500
52 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

inhabitants. The Northport copper smelter, controlled through 

stock ownership by the Le Roi Mining Co. (Ltd.), has a daily capacity 

of 1,200 tons. At the time of the investigation this smelter was closed. 

Timber and water are plentiful in the district, and the falls on Sheep 

Creek afford a good site for the generation of power. Water is piped 

to the Northport smelter from Deep Creek.

CONDITION OF MINING ACTIVITY.

At the time of the investigation of the district little or no active 

development was in progress; the smelter had closed a few weeks 

prior to the writer's visit, and the mining industry seemed to be on 

the wane. Some work was being carried on by the Jupiter Lead Co. 

on the Last Chance property, 5 miles southeast of Northport; several 

men were at work for the Monumental Lead Co., near Deep Lake, 

and a small crew were operating the Sunset property, half a mile 

north of Northport, on the northwest side of Columbia River. So 

far as the writer knows, shipments were not being made from any of 

these properties at the time of the investigation. The Bonanza mine, 

3£ miles southeast of Bossburg, was being unwatered with a view to 

further development. Thus, of the 13 properties examined in the 

Northport district, only 3 were active, most of the deposits not having 

been consistently and actively operated for a number of years.

The impression of some of the local mining men seemed to be that 

the closing of the omelter had much to do with the inactivity existing 

in the district, but this is unlikely, as the only large shippers within 

the district had been the Bonanza, Young America, and Last Chance, 

and neither of these had shipped ore to the Northport smelter, as it 

was not equipped to treat lead ores. The Last Chance ore was shipped 

to the Pitcher Lead Co., in Missouri; and the Bonanza mine at one 

time shipped its product to Everett, Wash.

TRANSPORTATION OF ORES.

Transportation for the ores in this district is afforded by the Nelson 

branch of the Great Northern Railway, which traverses the district 

from Bossburg, in the southwest corner, to Boundary, 4 miles west 

of the eastern edge. Wagon roads connect most of the properties 

examined with Northport.

The Frisco-Standard group of prospects, near the British Columbia 

boundary, about 17 miles in an air line northeast of Northport, are 

at the present time the most inaccessible in this general locality. 

With a comparatively small amount of work the road to these prospects could again be opened and ore hauled 9 miles to Boundary, the 

nearest railroad point.
NORTHPORT DISTRICT. 53 

TOPOGRAPHY.

Columbia River flows through the Northport mining district in a 

broad, flat glacial valley trending southwestward. Tributary streams 

to this river flow southeastward and northwestward from the adjoining hills, the general elevation of which is approximately 3,000 feet 

above sea level. That part of the valley of the Columbia contained 

in this district is about 1,300 feet above the sea.

There seems to be no general trend to the ridges in this district, 

unless it is northwest and southeast. The ridges terminate in benches 

forming several tiers or steps, separated from one another by vertical 

distances of about 500 feet. The ascent from the Columbia to the 

highest point on the ridges is marked by several steep rises separated 

by comparatively flat stretches of country.

Because of the character of the material which forms the mountains 

in this district, erosion has carved gulches and valleys similar to

those in the Metaline district, where Clark Fork occupies somewhat 

similar relations to the surrounding country. Recent gravel benches 

on each side of the Columbia rise to heights of approximately 50 feet 

above the present stream level, and above them stand cliffs of limestone and shale.

GEOLOGY.

The rocks in the Northport area are similar in many respects to 

those in the Metaline district. (See pp. 42-43.) Dark-gray, blue, and 

white dolomites and limestones, alternating with blackish shale, 

quartz-mica schist, and quartzite, constitute the geologic section in 

this vicinity, the series showing more or less dynamometamorphism 

in different parts of the area. (See PI. I, A, p. 56.)

The strata stand almost vertical and strike nearly north and 

south, or a little to the east of north.

Some 7 miles southeast of Northport occurs a large granitic intrusive in the sedimentary rocks, and solutions accompanying this 

magma have locally silicified the sediments in a manner comparable 

to that noted in the Metaline district. Near the contact of this 

intrusive rock the sediments show little or no evidence of contact 

metamorphism, a fact which is indicative of intrusion near the 

surface. Farther southwest, at the Old Dominion mine, 7 miles 

east of Colville (outside of this mining district), contact metamorphic minerals have been developed to some extent. If it is supposed 

that parts of the granitic magma are continuous from the Old Dominion mine north to Deep Lake, a distance of 18 miles, we have here 

evidence that the southwestern continuations of these sedimentary 

rocks were more deeply buried than those found in the vicinity of 

Northport prospects.
54 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

OKE DEPOSITS.

Because of the heavy glacial covering on most of the hills and 

the timber and dense underbrush prevalent in this area, the rocks 

are mostly unexposed. Hence the district has not been thoroughly 

prospected, and it is impossible to outline the real extent of the ore 

deposits.

While there are, no doubt, many prospects in the locality which 

the writer did not have the opportunity of visiting, those which are 

here described are reported to include the more fully developed 

properties in the district. At the time of the investigation developments were so scanty that it was impossible to obtain a clear 

conception of the real nature of the various ore deposits. Because 

of glaciation and the heavy soil covering already mentioned oxidation and concentration of ore minerals have not proceeded to a 

great depth, and sulphides occur abundantly in the croppings of 

the veins.

The district contains three distinct types of ore deposits replacement deposits of the Anaconda type; veins along the contact of 

intrusive lamprophyre dikes, of which the Great Republic is typical; 

and shear zones in dolomite, limestone, and other metamorphic 

rocks, of which the Last Chance, Bonanza, and Young America are 

good examples.

Lead ores carrying more or less silver have been found in practically .all the deposits examined in the southeastern portion of the 

Northport mining district. These ores are almost invariably accompanied by sphalerite or other zinc ores, tetrahedrite, and some 

pyrite. In the northwestern portion of the district pyrrhotite 

seems to be the prevalent ore mineral. This is accompanied by 

chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite, galena, and sphalerite, and the ores 

carry some gold and silver.

MINES AND PROSPECTS SOUTHEAST OF COLUMBIA RIVER.

The deposits examined southeast of Columbia River, with the 

exception of those near Bossburg, are within a short distance of 

the road which runs southeastward from Northport to Deep Lake 

and thence northward to the British Columbia line, a total distance 

of about 26 miles.

LAST CHANCE.

The property belonging to the Jupiter Lead Co., locally known as 

the Last Chance, is situated in the SW. J SE. £ sec. 24, T. 39 N., 

R. 40 E. The lowest adit tunnel is at an elevation of 2,690 feet, or 

some 250 feet below the camp. A fair wagon road connects the 

property with NortHport, 5 miles to the northwest, and in the past 

all the ore has been hauled out over this road. Deep Creek affords 

an abundant supply of water, and timber is plentiful in the vicinity.
NOBTHPOBT DISTBICT. 55

The Last Chance ground is developed by four principal adit 

tunnels and several open cuts, comprising in all several hundred 

feet of development work. Stopes connect the levels. The total 

production, counted as metallic lead, is reported to be more than 

5,000,000 pounds. Of the ore 3 per cent is said to have been in' 

the form of carbonate ores, which contained 42 per cent of lead, 

and the rest in the form of galena ore, which is reported to have 

averaged 55 per cent of lead .without concentration. According to 

the company the ore did not average more than 1 ounce of silver to 

the ton. The zinc content in this particular deposit is exceptionally 

low, only.one penalty for excess content of zinc having been exacted 

and the shipments in general containing less than 15 per cent.

The rocks in the immediate vicinity of the deposit are dolomites, 

varying in color from light gray to dark blue or in places to almost 

black. Dark-colored carbonaceous shales form a part of the sedimentary series a short distance northeast of the workings. No 

intrusive rock of any nature was observed near by. A partial analysis 

of a specimen of dolomite rock taken near the Last Chance showed 

the presence of 21 per cent of MgO. The dark-colored shales contain 

a high percentage of silica and much organic matter.

As exposed in the workings, the ore deposit occupies a shear' zone 

in the sedimentary rocks and is in- part an irregular pockety replacement of the adjoining rock. The ore zone strikes northeast and dips 

approximately 67° NW. It ranges in width from a few inches to 

several feet, and the ore shoots in the property did not appear to be 

continuous, rather taking the form of lenses. Faulting on a minor 

scale is prominent, and pinches and swells are a notable feature in 

the ore shoots. It is possible that the ore was deposited along the 

slipping planes of dolomite, and that later movement took place on 

the same plane with the ore bodies that is, horizontally along the 

strike thus throwing the ore body along and emphasizing the 

lenticular-form.

Specimens from this vein show massive bunches of galena in a 

gangue of brecciated country rock, calcite, and quartz. Associated 

with the galena are some pyrite and sphalerite, and near the surface 

limonite, cerusite, and anglesite. Some ferric sulphate has been 

formed by the action of sulphuric acid on the inclosing dolomitic 

walls. The ore minerals were probably deposited during one period 

of mineralization. This was followed by some faulting and the subsequent deposition of secondary iron and lead minerals derived from 

the alteration of the primary constituents. Where the country rock 

has been more or less replaced, a concentric structure is noticeable in 

the ore, alternate bands of dolomite and lead ores having been noted. 

The ore bodies above the lower tunnel level have largely been worked 

29122° Bull. 550 14 5
56 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

out. It is thought that the mineralization here, as elsewhere in the 

northern part of theMetaline and Northport districts, is due to mineralbearing solutions accompanying the granitic batholith noted in many 

places in northeastern Washington.

TREADWELL.

The Treadwell claims, owned by the Monumental Lead Co., are 

located near Silver Creek, about a mile east of Deep Creek, on the 

west side of one of the low mountains which flank the Calispell Range 

on the west. The claims are about 17 miles distant from Northport 

by wagon road, and are situated near a supply of water and timber. 

They have been developed by means of open cuts and short tunnels 

scattered over several claims, 'the workings having been started 

within a vertical range of approximately 300 feet. Two cabins constitute the surface improvements on the property, no machinery 

having been installed. No large shipments are reported from this 

property.

The rocks in the vicinity of the prospects are dolomites and limestones, with a few intercalated shale beds. The sedimentary rocks 

at the highest workings (3,500 feet in elevation) dip 33° S. 60° W. 

Intrusive dikes greatly resembling those found in.conjunction with 

granitic intrusions are more or less prominent throughout the area. 

These dikes contain large crystals of albite, with some biotite in a 

groundmass composed essentially of orthoclase and plagioclase 

feldspar with quartz. White mica, resulting from the alteration of 

the feldspars,. is a prominent constituent of the altered dikes, and 

associated with it is much chlorite. The dikes range in thickness 

from a few inches to several feet. Fresh specimens are whitish blue 

in color, and the weathered surfaces have a general brownish tone. 

They may represent a certain phase of jninette dikes. Apparently 

the dolomites have not been greatly altered by the intrusion of these 

dikes, only a few crystals of pyrite being noted, accompanied by considerable chlorite. The shales, which are blackish in color, show 

evidence of extreme movement, being broken and faulted in many 

places". Several slips of small magnitude were noted in one of the 

tunnels. The joint planes seem to have general southeasterly and 

northeasterly directions, and one of the intrusive dikes strikes 

northeast.

The ore as exposed by the workings consists of small scattered 

pockets or bunches of galena in dolomite, the general conditions 

greatly resembling those in the Metaline district. There is not 

enough development on any of the claims to warrant speculation on 

the future prospects of the ore bodies.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A. GLACIATED SURFACE OF SHALE CONTAINING MANY QUARTZ LENSES.

X. SECTION OF VEIN FROM ANACONDA NO. 1 PROPERTY. 

Shows parallel banding in the replaced limestone by galena, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 550 PLATE I

A. MINOR FOLDING IN LIMESTONE COUNTRY ROCK AT COPPER KING PROPERTY, NORTHPORT

DISTRICT.

SECTION OF VEIN FROM FRISCO, STANDARD MINE.

Shows mineralized black shales, the dark streaks in general representing 

galena and tetrahedrite and the light spots quartz.
NORTHPORT DISTRICT. 57

SCAM AN.

The Seaman claim is located near the Treadwell claims, in a similar 

geologic section. In a tunnel about 200 feet lower than the upper 

workings on the property is an intrusive dike similar to those at the 

Treadwell deposits. The vein worked on this property dips 53° S. 

30° E., seems to be fairly continuous along its strike, and has an 

average width of perhaps 3 feet. The ore occurs as pockets of galena 

in the vein, which is directly southeast of the intrusive dike. The 

relations of the vein and the intrusive dike exposed in the tunnel 

point to the conclusion that the mineralization was effected by solutions accompanying the dike.

ANACONDA.

The Anaconda prospect, belonging to Mr. Frugal, is 1 mile east of 

Cedar Lake, on the east side of Eed Top Mountain at an elevation of 

4,000 feet, and is about 5 miles from Boundary, the nearest railroad 

point. A shallow shaft constitutes the development work, and so 

far as the writer knows shipments have not been made from this 

property. »

The rocks in the vicinity are light-colored, probably dolomitic limestones and fine-grained greenish quartz-mica schists. The Anaconda 

deposit, which occurs between the two formations, strikes S. 35° W. 

and dips 53° N. 55° W. It is in general about 18 inches wide and 

consists of partly replaced country rock, which shows ribbon structure, 

galena, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite being distributed through the 

rock in distinct bands. (See PI. I, B.) Some quartz is present in the 

vein.

COPPER KING.

The Copper King prospect is several hundred feet southwest of the 

Anaconda and has been developed by a shallow shaft at an elevation 

of 3,700 feet and an adit tunnel about 160 feet long at an elevation of 

3,600 feet; another adit tunnel has been started 100 feet below the first.

The rocks in the vicinity are blue and white limestones, possibly 

dolomitic, with some intercalated shale, the whole series being traversed by small stringers' of quartz in which there is some evidence of 

mineralization by galena, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite. Intrusive 

dikes similar to those in the Treadwell and other deposits were also 

found in this vicinity. In the upper adit, near the contact of an 

intrusive dike in the limestone, was noted mineralization by galena, 

sphalerite, and tetrahedrite.

The vein exposed in the upper adit workings is composed of quartz 

and seems to conform to the trend of the sedimentary rocks, which 

strike N. 35°-45° E. and dip 45°-50° NW. For the most part the
58 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

vein is frozen to the walls, and the limestones on each side do not show 

much replacement by the ore minerals, although local silicification of 

the strata is pronounced. The width of the vein ranges from 6 or 7 

inches up to 1 foot or more. Some faulting is indicated by the gouge 

seen along the contact of the intrusive dikes and the limestone, and 

minor folding was noted in several places. Plate II, A, shows a small 

fold in the sedimentary rocks near, the portal of the lower adit tunnel.

FRISCO-STANDARD.

The Frisco-Standard claims,1 belonging to the Buffalo Syndicate, 

are located at an elevation of 3,600 feet within a few miles of the international boundary on the north and the Metaline mining district on 

the east, being about 12 miles northeast of Deep Lake and 9 miles by '^ 

wagon road from Boundary, the nearest shipping point.

The wagon road which has been built to the claims was, at the time \ 

of the investigation. (August, 1909), impassable in places, but could 

doubtless be reconstructed at a nominal cost. A few old buildings in 

poor repair constitute the surface improvements on the property. 

Only small shipments are known to have been made from this property, the returns of which are not accessible. ?

The rocks in the vicinity of the Frisco-Standard claims are similar 

in many respects to those of the Northport district, consisting of light- . 

colored blue and white dolomites and lime shales with intercalated 

black carbonaceous shales. These .rocks strike S. 63° E. and dip 

30°-50° S. 27° W. near the upper workings, but are at right angles to 

these directions near the No. 6 adit. The dolomites are characterized 

by broken fragments of the same material, which have been cemented 

hi the deposition of the sediments. At first sight these fragments 

somewhat resemble fossils. A partial analysis of a specimen of ' 

this material showed the presence of 21 per cent of MgO. Minor folding is prominent in the sedimentary rocks in this vicinity. A minette 

dike was noted in the No. 6 adit tunnel 160 feet from the portal and -«, 

about 75 feet from the breast of the adit.

The chief developments on this group of claims consist of three 

short tunnels, with short drifts on the veins, aggregating about 800 V 

feet. As exposed by the underground workings the ore bodies are , 

quartz lenses, from several inches to 3 or 4 feet wide. These lenses 

occupy spaces between the bedding planes of the sedimentary rocks, so c 

that pinches and swells are prominent features of them. The quartz \ 

 in general seems to be sparsely mineralized, although in places there 

are comparatively small pockets (see PI. II, B) of galena, sphalerite, r 

and tetrahedrite, while copper stains arid the black oxide of manganese 

are prominent in the outcrops. The walls appear to lack notable

i These claims are outside of the Northport district and apparently do not fall into any of the officially 

recorded districts. For convenience they are discussed as belonging in this district.
NORTHPORT DISTRICT. 59

>

amounts of gouge, and water runs freely through the fissures occupied 

by the quartz lenses. Solutions accompanying the intrusion of minette 

dikes may have effected the mineralization in this vicinity.

KBOUQH.

^ The Keough prospect is about 1 mile south of the Frisco-Standard 

group, in the NE. | sec. 14, T. 40 N., R. 42 E., a few hundred yards 

northeast of Mr. Keough's cabin and about 100 feet higher. A few 

open cuts expose quartz lenses in dolomite near its contact with 

shale: These lenses are slightly mineralized with galena, sphalerite,

] and tetrahedrite and are supposed to contain some free gold.

j

f' W. J. BRYAN.

The W. J. Bryan prospect is located at an elevation of 2,770 feet

1 just east of the south end of Deep Lake and about 380 feet above it. 

Here the dolomite, limestone, and shale series is traversed by small 

fissures filled with broken fragments of the same rocks recemented 

by solutions carrying much lime. Hardly any mineralization was 

noted in- the workings, which are of slight extent. A. little galena

"), was'found in places scattered through the country rock.

i/

MINES AND PROS'PECTS NORTHWEST OF COLUMBIA RIVER.

SUNSET.

The Sunset prospect is located in the southwestern part of sec. 30, 

T. 40 N., R. 40 E., about .half a mile north of Northport, near the 

west bank of Columbia River, at an elevation of 1,350 feet. It is 

developed by a few surface cuts and an inclined shaft about 400 feet

, deep, with short drifts run from this shaft at 100-foot intervals. A 

diamond drill was in operation at the time of the writer's visit 

(August 5, 1909) and had then drilled 283 feet, crosscutting the 

strata from the 400-foot level.

; The rocks in the vicinity are limestones, probably dolomitic, and 

medium-grained quartz-mica schists, which appear to be conform-

, ably interbedded with highly metamorphosed shales. The strata 

have been deformed by folding and faulting. In general the strata 

strike northeast and dip about 60° NW., although marked local 

changes were seen. These sedimentary rocks are cut by rather fine 

grained micaceous dikes that have the composition of .kersantite, 

and are somewhat similar to those seen in the vicinity of deep Lake.

/ The milestones are bluish white and in general of a fine-grained 

texture, although in places a few strata of white marble were noted. 

The schists are stained various colors by the oxides of iron. The 

shales are predominantly lime shales., although some argillites were 

noted.
60 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

The mineralized rock occurs along the contact of the intrusive 

dikes with the metamorphosed sediments, galena, sphalerite, pyrite, 

and tetrahedrite in moderate quantities being associated with much 

pyrrhotite. The ores are said to carry from a trace to an ounce of 

gold and from an ounce to 20 ounces of silver to the ton, with a fair 

percentage of lead. The sedimentary rocks contain veins of quartz 

which in general appeared to be lenticular, ranging in width from a 

few inches to several feet. The vein exposed in the main shaft gave 

out below the 100-foot level, below which only small stringers were 

seen. As a fold was noted between levels No. 1 and No. 4, it is 

possible that the vein follows the trend of the sediments, or else that 

it occupies only a lenticular opening which is perhaps closed below 

level No. 1. The cores from the diamond drill show an alternating 

succession of limestone, shale, and kersantite dikes, with some 

mineralization in the limestones, chiefly by pyrrhotite. This seems 

to occur in general at or near the contact of the sediments and the 

intrusive dikes. .It seems reasonable to suppose that solutions 

accompanying or following the intrusion of these dikes have deposited 

the ores as replacements in the sedimentary rocks.

GREAT EEPUBLIC.

The Great Republic prospect, owned by C. C. Knutson, of Northport, is located within a few hundred yards of the international boundary, in sec. 3, T. 40 N., R. 39 E., close to the Red Mountain Railway 

or the Rossland branch of the Great Northern Railway.

A 40-horsepower. hoist, a 60-horsepower boiler, a pump having a 

capacity of 100 gallons a minute, and a small blower have been 

installed in the main tunnel. At the time of the investigation the 

property was not in active operation,

The principal development on the Great Republic consists of a 

crosscut tunnel 400 feet long, the portal of which is at an elevation of 

2,200 feet. A station has been cut 190 feet from- the portal and a 

winze 110 feet deep has been sunk at this point. Other developments 

consist of a 120-foot inclined shaft sunk on a ledge exposed 50 feet 

..above and a short'distance northeast of the portal of the tunnel and 

shallow surface cuts on other parts of the claim.

The rocks in the vicinity of the prospect are dark-gray limestones 

or dolomites, with intercalated black shales, and fine-grained quartzmica schists of various colors, the whole series apparently being 

conformable and traversed by numerous micaceous dikes. In general 

the strike of the sedimentary rocks is a few degrees west of north and 

the dip is about 30° E. 

On the Great Republic ground two veins have been explored. One 

is at an elevation of 2,250 feet, where a quartz ledge containing much 

pyrrhotite and some chalcopyrite on the footwall dips about 60° E.
NORTHPORT DISTRICT. 61

and strikes approximately north and south. This ledge has been 

explored by an inclined shaft 120 feet deep, pitching 45° E. Although 

the ledge seems to dip in the same direction as the shaft, the pyrrhotite that occurs next to the footwall in the outcrop appears to form a 

separate vein a short distance below the surface, which dips about 60° 

, E., whereas the quartz ledge dips only 45°. According to Mr. Knutson a picked sample of the pyrrhotite vein contains 11.25 per cent of 

copper and $2.40 in gold aud 12 ounces in silver to the ton. '

A deposit on the same property, located at an elevation of 10 or 15

feet below and about 300 feet north of the one just described, has been

developed by a small open cut on the surface. In this cut can be

seen the contact of a micaceous dike with the lime- shale. More or

/ less mineralization has occurred along the contact, and. the ledge,

) which strikes N. 10° W. and dips about 30° E., contains considerable

' iron ore in the form of pyrrhotite, with a little galena and. some chalcopyrite. A picked sample from this ledge is said to have assayed 

12.5 per cent of copper and 19 ounces of silver and $4 in gold to the 

ton.

The main adit tunnel extends through limestone for the first 190. 

^ feet of its course. At this point it encounters a micaceous dike 

>- (kersantite) through which it has been driven for a distance of 190 feet, 

to another contact with the sedimentary rocks. The tunnel extends 

only a few feet beyond the dike. The first contact of the dike with 

the sedimentary rock is heavily mineralized and the quartz vein 

which occurs between the two ranges in width from several inches to 

4 feet. Pyrrhotite is the predominant ore mineral and is associated 

with some chalcopyrite, a little sphalerite, and a few crystals of galena. 

The gangue is composed almost entirely of quartz but contains some 

calcite and recemented fragments of brecciated country rock. The 

ore from the winze sunk on this contact is reported to assay from 2.5 

to 8.5 per cent of copper and 19 ounces silver and from a trace to $8

 * in gold to the ton.

The second contact of the intrusive dike with the sedimentary rock 

is also mineralized. Here a quartz vein about 12 inches in width 

^ shows the same ore minerals in about the same proportions.

The presence of these veins on both sides of the kersantite dike 

leads to the conclusion that the dike has been the dominant factor in

-* their formation.

DOUBLE STANDARD.

The Double Standard prospect is a few hundred feet north of the 

"^ Great Republic, within 700 feet of the international boundary. It

is also convenient to railroad transportation, and small ore bins have

been erected near the railroad track. 

'* The main workings consist of a crosscut tunnel 760 feet long, at

an elevation of approximately 2,200 feet, and a short inclined shaft,
62 OEB DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

the collar of which is several hundred feet northeast of the portal of 

the tunnel, at an elevation of 2,420 feet. A shallow winze has been 

sunk 210 feet from the portal of the tunnel.

The rocks in the vicinity of the Double Standard are similar to 

those near the Great Republic, just described. Here, however, intrusive dikes are more numerous and displace the sedimentary rocks 

to a notable extent. The general trend of the limestones,, shales; 

and schists is north and south, and the dip is 30°-70° E.

The most notable feature in the Double Standard prospect is the 

occurrence of a mineralized quartz vein in an intrusive dike rather 

than along the contact of the dike with a sedimentary formation, 

the general mode of occurrence elsewhere in this vicinity. The 

inclined shaft is sunk on a quartz vein which occurs in the shale and 

accords with it in strike and dip. The ore and gangue minerals are 

similar to those in the Great Republic.

MINES AND PEOSPECTS NEAR BOSSBURG. 

YOUNG AMERICA.

The Young America mine, owned by William Vessey, of Spokane, 

is reported to have been one of the earliest discoveries in the Northport district. It is about a quarter of a mile N. 61° E. of Bossburg, 

a town on the Great Northern Railway.

The underground developments consist of four short tunnels. 

The lowest of these is at an elevation of 1,600 feet. Tunnel No. 1 is 

100 feet higher, tunnel No. 2 is about 30 feet above No. 1, and tunnel 

No. 3 is a few feet below No. 2. A small amount of drifting and some 

stoping have been done in the upper workings.

The rocks in the vicinity of this deposit are massive limestones, 

showing no pronounced bedding and little or no dynamometamorphism. Joint planes are prominent in the country rock and seem 

to follow the general direction of the mineralized section, striking 

N. 75° E. and dipping 15° N. 15° W. The limestone forms almost 

vertical cliffs, the tops of which are 400 feet above Columbia River. 

The sedimentary rocks are cut by an intrusive dike that is exposed 

by an open cut on top of the principal hill, the elevation of which 

is 1,960 feet. The dike trends N. 21° W., dips approximately 60° 

W., and is about 4 feet wide. Some gold and copper are reported 

to have been found along the contact of this dike and the limestones. 

The dike material is greatly altered. One thin section reveals the 

former existence of much feldspar, now almost entirely altered to 

white mica, and some ferromagnesian mineral, now entirely altered 

to chlorite. Pyrite is a prominent constituent of the dike. The 

rock is evidently a very much altered lamprophyre.

The ore deposits occupy a shear zone in the limestone which dips 

at a flat angle a little west of north. Apparently the zone of min-
NORTHPORT DISTRICT. 63

eralization is not over 6 feet wide and contains as partial replacements 

in the limestone irregularly scattered pockets of ore reported to be 

of a high grade. Specimens show a predominance of galena, minute 

specks of sphalerite, and some pyrite. A little quartz is associated 

with the ore. No well-defined mineralized fissure was noted in the 

deposits, although the presence of considerable calcite in fissures 

cutting directly across the mineralized zone indicates solutions which 

were later than those carrying the lead ores.

According to report, several thousand dollars' worth of ore has been 

shipped from this mine. It is said to have averaged about 25 to 

30 per cent of lead and 20 to 50 ounces of silver to the ton.

The mineralization in this vicinity possibly accompanied the intrusion of the lamprophyre dike, which, no doubt, is an accessory 

of the intrusive granitic magma common to this part of the State 

of Washington.

As the underground development is slight, a fair conception of the 

extent of the deposits is impossible. Small pockets of lead and zinc 

ore appear to have irregularly replaced the limestones along an indefinite shear zone and certain joint or bedding planes in the sedimentary rocks. The width of the replacement, as exposed by the 

workings, is only a few feet, and the horizontal extent appears to 

be slight. If, however, the dike exposed on top of the hill has any 

real connection with the mineralization, it seems probable that future 

drifting on the mineralized zone to its contact with this dike might 

uncover other ore bodies.

BONANZA.

The Bonanza mine is situated at an elevation of 2,200 feet', in the 

NE. 1 NW. J sec. 11, T. 37 N., R. 38 E., approximately 3 miles east 

of Bossburg. The ore body was discovered in 1885. Shipments 

aggregating several thousand tons of ore are reported to have been 

made from this mine, the returns from which are not accessible.

The ore body has been developed by an inclined shaft pitching 

at a low angle and six levels, constituting in all over 3,000 feet of 

underground workings. At the time of the writer's visit all the 

levels below the fourth were under water and the information on the 

lower levels was furnished by Mr. F. J. Davey, who at that time 

had a lease and bond on the mine.

The rocks in the vicinity of this deposit are limestones, lime shales, 

carbonaceous shales, and fine-grained quartz-mica schists. These 

are intruded by lamprophyre dikes, similar to those found in the 

vicinity of practically all the deposits in the Northport district. 

A fine-grained gray intrusive rock has the same attitude as the sedimentary formation. This rock is so altered that its original character
64 ORE DEPOSITS" OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

is indeterminable. Plagioclase feldspar forms the main part of the 

rock, which contains also much sericite.

The strata appear to be conformably interbedded and the general 

trend of the formations exposed in the workings is N. 40° W., and 

the dip is 40°-50° N. 50° E.

In general the deposit seems to be lenticular and occupies a shear 

zone lying conformably with the sedimentary rocks and varying in 

width from a few inches to 4 feet. This zone shows evidence of considerable movement; gouge occurs in places in widths ranging from 

a few inches to 3 feet. Apparently the fault planes occupied by this 

deposit served as water channels for solutions which subsequently 

deposited the ore minerals. At the present time water is circulating 

through this shear zone, and the country rock on each side of the vein 

is loose and caves frequently. The vein itself does not seem to be 

continuous all the way down the shaft, although in the drifts and 

stopes to the northeast a continuous shear zone may be seen.

As the water was nearly up to the No. 4 level it was impossible to 

examine the greater part of the mine. Above the No. 4 level the 

vein appears to contain siderite as the principal gangue mineral, 

associated with much brecciated and partly silicified country rock. 

" Steel" galena, some sphalerite, and a little pyrite form the chief ore 

minerals.

According to Mr. Davey the ore contains from 21 to 22 per cent of 

lead, 30 per cent of iron, 2.7 per cent of silica, 10.5 per cent of sulphur, 

and 4.7 ounces of silver to the ton.

At the time of the writer's visit so small a part of the mine was 

accessible for examination that a clear conception of the extent of the 

ore body was impossible. Above the No. 4 level the visible ore shoots

have been worked out. Because of the uncertain nature of the shear

zone it is impossible to speculate on its lateral extension. It does 

not seem improbable that this fault plane may extend for some 

distance in either direction from the shaft, and the future of the deposit may lie in finding other ore shoots along the lateral extension of 

the shear zone. Solutions following or accompanying the intrusion 

of the micaceous dike near the No. 4 level may have effected the 

mineralization.

ORIENT DISTRICT (STEVENS COUNTY PORTION). 

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

The Orient mining district, known also as the Pierre Lake mining 

district, occupies the extreme northwestern part of Stevens County 

and the northeast corner of Ferry County, lying between the international boundary on the north and the ninth standard parallel on 

the south. As recorded in the office of the county clerk of Ferry 

County, under date of February 6,1909, the boundary is as follows:
ORIENT DISTRICT. 65

Beginning at a point where the township line between Tps. 36 and 37 N. in R. 37 E. 

Willamette meridian intersects the west shore of Columbia River; thence northeasterly 

along the west bank of said Columbia River to a point where the north line of T. 38 N., 

R. 38 E. Willamette meridian, intersects the said river; thence west on said township 

line to the section corner between sees. 4 and 5 of said T. 38; thence north to the international boundary line; thence west on said international boundary line to the section 

line between sees. 3 and 4 in T. 40 N., R. 35 E. Willamette meridian; thence south to 

section corner between sees. 33 and 34 on the south line of T. 37 N., R. 35 E. Willamette 

meridian; thence east on said township line to place of beginning.

As thus outlined the district covers about 400 square miles, a little 

over half of which is in Ferry County.

The town of Orient, which is the largest settlement in the district, 

is located in Ferry County only a few miles northwest of the center of 

the area on the Great Northern Railway, and is the shipping point 

for most of the mines within the district. Although the larger portion 

of the Orient district is in Ferry County, most of the claims in this 

district are located east of Kettle River, in Stevens County. The 

mines and prospects in the Ferry County portion of the district are 

described on pages 201-202.

The Great Northern Railway follows Kettle River, which crosses 

the district from north to south. The town of Marcus is located near 

the confluence of the Kettle and the Columbia just outside of the 

Orient district. Rockcut, about 3 miles north of Orient, and Boyds, 

about 11 miles south-southeast of Orient, are other railroad shipping 

points for the district.

CONDITION OF MINING ACTIVITY.

Of the 19 mines and prospects examined by the writer in the Stevens County part of the.Orient district, seven were active, but only 

one, the First Thought, was a regular shipper. This mine and the 

Napoleon are the only ones in the district that have been developed 

beyond a prospecting stage, the remaining 17 usually being worked 

simply enough to comply with the annual assessment requirements. 

This condition, however, is not limited to the Orient camp but is 

equally prevalent in most of the other districts in northeastern 

Washington. The lack of .extensive developments on most of the 

prospects and their general inactive condition tended to make the 

investigation rather difficult.

Wagon roads have been built to nearly all the mines from the nearest railroad stations, and aerial tramways have been installed at the 

First Thought and Napoleon names.

Two mills had been built in this district up to the time of the 

writer's last visit (July, 1910) a 2-stamp mill at the Easter Sunday 

mine and a small concentrating plant at the Kettle River mine. A 

third mill is reported to be in process of construction, to treat the 

surficially decomposed ores of the Napoleon mine.
66 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

TOPOGEAPHY.

The portion of the Orient mining district lying in Stevens County 

includes a part of the divide between Columbia River on the east and 

Kettle River on the west. This divide is formed chiefly by one main 

mountain range, which rises from an elevation of over 1,000 feet at the 

confluence of the two rivers near the southern border of the district 

to maximum heights of approximately 5,000 feet, the general elevation of the range, however, being about 3,000 feet. The axis of this 

main mountain mass has a general north-south trend, and the range 

is cut by deep valleys through which flow the affluents of Columbia 

and Kettle rivers in directions respectively southeast and south. 

Consequently, the axes of the offshoots from the principal range 

trend either northwest-southeast or north-south. This range seems 

to have no generally accepted name but is a continuation of the 

Huckleberry Range, 36 miles to the south. . Glaciation has been active here as elsewhere in Stevens County, 

and broad valleys have been carved out of the mountain mass. The 

valley occupied by Pierre Creek, which empties into Toulou Creek, is 

a striking example of a broad, deep valley whose size is out of all 

proportion to the small stream that flows through it. Detrital 

material fills many of the gulches and is spread out on the tops of 

some of the mountains, offering in some places more or less hindrance 

to prospecting.

GEOLOGY.

Within the Orient district are exposed.rocks thought to represent 

the Proterozoic, Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras.

PRB-CAMBRIAN ROCKS.

The lowest and oldest rocks are schists conformably interlaminated 

with coarse crystalline limestone and quartzite and are thought to be 

of pre-Cambrian age. These rocks occur in the northwestern part 

of the district, where they have a general north-south strike and a 

dip of 15°-20° E. or SE. They are prominent from Laurier southward to Orient, where they pass out of view, dipping under the 

younger rocks, though the contact was not observed. The thickness 

of that part of the series exposed to view in the Orient district probably reaches 2,500 or 3,000 feet. The schists are highly foliated, are 

of general pink and gray tones, are medium to coarse grained, and 

show little chemical alteration. Viewed in thin section under the 

microscope the dark schists are found to contain about equal amounts 

of plagioclase feldspar and hornblende, with much biotite and quartz, 

locally accompanied by subordinate amounts of pyrite and calcite. 

and are probably dynamometamorphosed intrusive masses of quartz 

diorite. The pink schists contain orthoclase, oligoclase, albite, and 

biotite and are probably derived from granite. The limestones are
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A. LENS OF LIMESTONE INCLUDED IN SHALE, GLOBE PROSPECT.

B. MASS OF QUARTZITE SURROUNDED BY INTRUSIVE PORPHYRY, SECOND THOUGHT GROUP.
ORIENT DISTRICT. 67

coarsely crystalline. On weathered surfaces they are dark brown in 

color and on fresh surfaces cream-white. The quartzites show a pronounced schistose structure, are fine to coarse grained, and are 

white, yellow, pink, and red in color. The several rock formations 

vary greatly in thickness. Aplite and diorite dikes are common 

throughout the section.

PALEOZOIC (?) ROCKS.

The rocks thought to be of Paleozoic age occupy a large part of 

Toulou Mountain and extend southward to the edge of the district 

and eastward beyond the eastern boundary. They comprise a 

sedimentary series of interbedded argillaceous shale, limestone, 

quartzite, and schist, together with basic and other igneous rocks 

that have been intruded into the sediments or poured out over their 

surface during their deposition. The rocks are much deformed by

later intrusives and it is impossible to state their dip and strike. In 

a general way the sedimentary beds trend north and south and their 

dip varies from horizontal to vertical and may be in almost any 

direction. Because of the large area occupied by later intrusions it 

is impossible to state the thickness of that part of this sedimentary 

series which is contained within the Orient mining district. Certainly it is several thousand feet. The argillaceous shales are fine 

grained, have a general dark-blue to black color, though in places 

light gray, and are composed largely of quartz, feldspar, and carbonaceous matter. Locally, as at the Easter Sunday mine, these shales 

are cherty, and in the vicinity of the Trojan prospect they include 

bands of a bluish-white material resembling tuff, which contains 

minute phenocrysts of plagioclase and orthoclase feldspar and quartz. 

These shales near the Trojan may represent a much later period of 

deposition than the Paleozoic era. The limestone occurs as "lenses in 

the shale (see PI. Ill, A) and apparently occupies only a small part 

of the section as exposed in this district. It is gray on weathered 

surfaces and white on fresh fracture, and its texture is medium to 

coarsely crystalline. The quartzite also has a rather scanty occurrence. What was seen was of a brownish color and had a fairly 

coarse texture. Quartz-mica-and hornblende schists are present in 

different parts of the area, and both kinds occur on Toulou Mountain. 

They are medium grained, and the color of the former is reddish and 

of the latter green.

Basic rocks .having the composition of gabbro or diabase or a 

related rock magma intruded the sediments or flowed out. over them 

during their deposition and have been metamorphosed along with 

the rest of the series, forming greenstone. The intimate association 

of the greenstone and the sediments is a notable feature of the 

geology of this region. On Toulou Mountain the greenstone is
.68 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

widely distributed. In places it resembles amphibolite, but in general it has the appearance of a more or less altered diabase. Its 

color, as the name implies, is green, its texture is medium to fine 

grained, and its principal constituents are chlorite, hornblende, feldspar, and quartz. Diabase of a fine-grained, even texture was seen 

in many parts of the area. The relations of this rock to the greenstone 

have not been worked out. The diabase is thought to have been 

intrusive, although it may represent old surface flows.

MESOZOIC KOCKS.

Quartz monzonite porphyry in the form of dikes and large intrusive 

masses is present near most of the ore deposits visited in this district. Fresh specimens of this rock are of a general gray color and 

contain phenocrysts of hornblende, andesine and orthoclase feldspar, 

and quartz, but in certain parts of the area the quartz is lacking. 

The texture of the rock is medium to coarse grained. On alteration 

the hornblende changes to chlorite and the feldspars form white 

mica. The age of this intrusive rock is unknown, but it is thought 

to belong to the late Mesozoic or early Tertiary.

TERTIAKY HOCKS.

Lava flows were poured out over the eroded surface of the Paleozoic sediments probably in Tertiary time. In places these lavas 

fill large pre-Tertiary depressions, but were poured out in such 

volume that they now form some of the principal mountains in the 

district. As the flow best exposed on First Thought Mountain is the 

only one that is directly connected with the ore deposits of the district, a detailed description of the others will be omitted. Lava 

flows were seen on top of Toulou Mountain, cover a large part of 

First Thought Mountain, and probably form the upper parts of 

Sulphide and Jumbo mountains. The lava flow in which occur some 

of the deposits on First Thought Mountain is a quartz latite. Fresh 

surfaces of this rock are of a gray-green color, but the phenocrysts of 

hornblende and biotite, which are now largely altered to a dark-green 

chlorite, produce a mottled appearance. The groundmass is exceedingly fine grained, and except for the altered femic minerals and a 

few quartz phenocrysts the rock appears aphanitic in texture. On 

weathering this rock becomes bluish in color, and because of this fact 

the rock in the First Thought mine is locally known as "blue andesite." Latites and andesites are closely related, the former name 

being given to porphyritic or felsitic rocks which contain appreciable 

quantities of orthoclase as well as plagioclase feldspar, together with 

one or more ferromagnesian minerals in this rock biotite and 

hornblende (now altered to chlorite).
ORIENT DISTRICT. 69

Intruded into the quartz latite is a porphyritic rock consisting 

largely of orthoclase feldspar and quartz a rhyolite porphyry. 

(See fig. 5, p. 74.) This rock is gray-brown to gray-blue in color and 

contains phenocrysts of pink and white orthoclase, some of which 

are 5 millimeters long, green hornblende, and quartz. Viewed under 

the microscope in thin section the rock is seen to contain also the 

secondary minerals chlorite and calcite, with some epidote and 

limonite.

The district contains also certain schists of probable igneous origin 

of which no positive conclusion as to age is obtainable. Such of 

of these rocks as occur in connection with ore deposits are mentioned 

in the detailed descriptions.

ORE DEPOSITS.

In that part of the Orient district included within Stevens County

ore deposits are fairly well distributed, although producing mines 

are few. The detailed description of the deposits which follows is for 

convenience arranged by five general localities. Many small prospects 

which the writer did not have the opportunity of visiting are scattered 

over the district.

The ore deposits of the Orient district are all more or less closely 

associated with igneous intrusion. They may be divided, according 

to character, into six classes, described briefly in the following 

paragraphs:

The first class, consisting of deposits in shear zones in quartz latite, 

is well illustrated by the First Thought ore body. Pyrite containing 

gold in a gangue of silica and calcite impregnates fractured quartz 

latite along fault planes and brecciated zones near the contact with 

intrusive rhyolite porphyry, which forms the hanging wall of the 

upper part of the deposit. Four large fractured zones have been 

explored by. the First Thought workings and have been found to 

range in width from a few feet to 110 feet and to extend along the 

strike and along the dip beyond the limits of the present workings. 

As the ore shoots became too lean for profitable extraction under 

present mining conditions, the workings were not pushed to the extremities of the fault zone. The ore mined (38,180.5 tons up to June, 

1910) has averaged $15.50 in gold and half an ounce of silver to the 

ton. Solutions accompanying the intrusion of the rhyolite porphyry 

are thought to have effected the mineralization.

The second class, including segregations and partial replacements 

in amphibolite, is illustrated by the Napoleon ore body. This deposit 

is an amphibolite mass in a sedimentary series cut by intrusive 

monzonite porphyry. Scattered through the amphibolite and replacing it to a greater or less extent are pyrrhotite, pyrite, magnetite, and
70 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

some chalcopyrite. The mineralized zone as developed by underground workings is about 60 feet wide and 300 feet long, and it extends upward 250 feet to the surface. The ores are thought to have 

been brought in by solutions which accompanied or followed the intrusive monzonite porphyry. Much garnet has been developed in the 

amphibolite and the ores may be the result of contact-metamorphic 

origin, the deposit being similar in many respects to those of the sixth 

class.

The third class, comprising small fissure veins and slightly mineralized fault planes, in the several formations, includes most of the 

prospects in the Orient district.' The fissure filling in general is quartz, 

with some brecciated country rock, calcite, and in places siderite, 

the predominating ore minerals being pyrite, chalcopyrite, and pyrrhotite. Some of ,the veins contain galena, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite, and in the Pomeroy and Easter Sunday veins a mineral 

containing lead, antimony, and sulphur was also found, the species 

being indeterminable because of the massive condition of the ore. 

Free gold has been reported from. the Swamp King and Beecher 

prospects. In general the veins of this class are small and are not 

heavily mineralized. These deposits are represented in certain 

workings on the Second Thought, North Star, Globe, Copper Butte, 

Orient, Defender, Easter Sunday, Pomeroy, Kettle River, Little 

Giant, Swamp King, Beecher, and McKinley.

The fourth class comprises ores deposited along the joint planes in 

the country rock in the vicinity of most of the other deposits. In 

places these deposits have been explored, and some of the prospects 

fail to reveal other forms of ore bodies. The mineralization along 

joint planes is scanty in all the prospects visited, and under the 

present conditions of mining such deposits have no commercial value. 

This class includes some deposits on the Globe, Scotia, Orient, Defender, and Trojan properties.

The fifth class of deposits is represented by the Big Iron ore body, 

where schists of probable igneous origin, somewhat resembling 

amphibolite, and an included gray rock composed of quartz and 

feldspar are impregnated and partly replaced by pyrite and some 

chalcopyrite. Quartz monzonite porphyry has intruded these rocks. 

As exposed by surface workings the zone of impregnation and replacement is over 100 feet wide, and its extent along the strike of the 

schists has not been determined, although developments have shown 

it to be several hundred feet. The genesis of these ores is doubtful. 

They were possibly formed by solutions accompanying or following 

the intrusion of the quartz monzonite porphyry.

The sixth class comprises the contact-metamorphic deposits and is 

illustrated by the McNally and the deposits exposed by the upper
ORIENT DISTRICT. 71

workings of the Orient. Both show some mineralization which is the 

direct result of igneous injection. In the McNally limestone has been 

intruded by a rock having the general appearance of diabase, with the 

result that chalcopyrite and pyrite replace the limestone in an irregular manner. Epidote and serpentine have been developed in considerable quantities along the contact of the intruding magma. At 

the Orient prospect garnet and epidote, together with some pyrite, 

have been developed along the contact of an intrusive quartz-orthoclase-hornblende rock in a sedimentary series of shale, limestone, etc. 

The mineral association is indicative of intrusion near the surface.

MINES AND PROSPECTS ON FIRST THOUGHT MOUNTAIN.

FIRST THOUGHT.

General features and history. Of the three properties visited by the 

writer on First Thought Mountain, the First Thought is the only one 

that has been systematically developed and has .made regular shipments. Consequently in the following pages this mine will be more 

fully discussed than the other two. Ehyolite porphyry intrudes 

quartz latite in many places on First Thought Mountain, and the latite 

is more or less impregnated with pyrite for some distance away from 

the intrusive rock. Larger deposits could, however, form only where, 

as at the First Thought mine, the presence of a suitable fractured 

zone offered a proper receptacle for the deposition of ore minerals.

The First Thought camp is located at an elevation of 2,900 feet 

on the southeastern slope of the mountain, just 2£ miles in.an air line 

northeast of Orient, the nearest railroad station. (See fig. 3.) Supplies are brought from Orient over a fair wagon road, the haul of about 

3£ miles involving a rise of some 600 feet between the town and the 

camp. Water and timber are plentiful in the vicinity.

Soon after the Colville Indian Keservation was thrown open to location, the First Thought claim was staked out. It is reported that the 

discoverers sold their location to a Bossburg prospector for a day's 

wages. This man and his associates did a small amount of work 

on the claim and later sold it to P. Burns for $25,000. Development 

was then started systematically and continued for two years, when 

the mine became inactive through litigation which lasted three years. 

Since 1904 the mine has been a continuous shipper, and up to June, 

1910, it had produced 38,180.5 tons of ore, having a gross value of 

approximately $612,000.

Equipment. The surface improvements and mine equipment consist of necessary houses and a 60-horsepower gasoline engine, which 

runs a 7-drill compressor; a 15-horsepower gasoline hoist installed on 

the No. 4 level; a 15-horsepower gasoline engine, which runs the tramway; a diamond drill having a capacity of 500 feet; and an aerial 

tramway 12,880 feet long.

29122° Bull. 550 14 6
72 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Costs. The tramway, which can handle 75 tons a day, cost $11,000 

and has reduced the transportation charges on ore between the mine 

and shipping point from $1.50 to 33^ cents a ton. The average freight

Contour interval lOOjfeet

FIGURE 3. Sketch map of First Thought and Toulou mountains, showing the location of the 

mines and prospects visited.

charge on supplies hauled from Orient is 30 cents a hundred pounds. 

Distillate is used in running all the engines and costs 13£ cents a 

gallon in Spokane, or 21 cents a gallon delivered at the mine, Dur~
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 550 PLATE IV

LEGEND

-- 45-foot level and stope 

 65-foot level and stope 

No. 3 level and stope 

No. 4 level and stope 

No. 5 level and stope 

No. 6 level and stope 

~ No. 7 level and stope

150 Feet

PLAN OF FIRST THOUGHT MINE, STEYENS COUNTY, WASHINGTON

Adapted from company maps, June. 1910

tJMGRAVtlOAND PRINTED BY THE U.S.OEOLOGICAL SUR

House Doc. : 63d Cong., 2d Seas.
ORIENT DISTRICT. 73

ing the year 1909 the distillate consumed in running the compressor 

plant cost $3,084. This makes the annual cost per horsepower (running 10 hours a day) $51.41.* The total cost of mining the ore and 

putting it on the cars for shipment varies between $3.90 and $4.20 a 

ton. Freight and treatment charges in January, 1911, were $6 a 

ton, the total production being then shipped to the smelter at Trail, 

British Columbia. The operating expenses at the mine range from 

$2,000 to $3,000 a month, not including the general manager's salary. 

Development. The ground has been developed by three adit tunnels, one mam shaft extending from the surface to the No. 4 level, one 

main winze extending from the No. 4 to the No. 7 level, drifts, crosstoo Feet

FIGURE 4. Longitudinal section of the First Thought mine.

cuts, raises, etc. The main tunnel of the mine is level No. 4, above 

which are level No. 3, the 65 level, and the 45 level. ° These are all connected with the surface by tunnels and also with the main level by a 

vertical shaft. Levels Nos. 5, 6, and 7 are reached by the winze and 

are, respectively, 45, 90, and 130 feet below the No. 4 level. Plate IV 

gives a plan of the workings and figure 4 a section of the mine.

Geology. Igneous rocks of two distinct kinds are exposed in the 

vicinity and in the workings of the mine. The approximate distrii The Kootenai Power Co. charges $42 per horsepower per annum for power at Rossland, British Columbia, and this can be used continuously 24 hours a day.
74 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Upper workings along 

this contact

bution of these rocks in this locality may be seen by referring to 

figure 5. The ridge just west of the workings is composed of a 

rhyolite porphyry, which forms the main hanging wall of the First 

Thought ore body. Just east of the rhyolite porphyry occurs a rock 

here described as quartz latite. It is known locally as "blue andesite," the resemblance of the weathered rock to andesite being pronounced. Its general altered condition in the workings makes exact 

determination impossible, but rocks thought to form a continuation 

of those encountered in the mine were determined as quartz latite. 

While the relation between these two kinds of rock is riot proved, 

the rhyolilte porphyry appears to have been intruded into the quartz 

latite, and subsequent faulting along the contact has caused considerable brecciation, which was 

apparently much more severe 

in the quartz latite than in the 

rhyolite porphyry. Faults at 

right angles to the main fault 

have occurred, three of large 

magnitude having been exposed by the underground 

workings.

In several places in the main 

area of quartz latite are small 

patches of rhyolite porphyry, 

apparently intrusive into the 

quartz latite. Three small 

areas of rhyolite porphyry are 

represented on figure 5 and 

many others were seen in the

general locality. The rhyolite 

porphyry may be another 

phase of the quartz monzonite

FIGURE 5. Geologic and topographic sketch map of the porphyry SO Widely distributed 

area about the First Thought mine. m the Q^fc district<

Ore deposit. The ore deposit of the First Thought mine is a series 

of mineralized fault-breccia planes, the principal one of which lies 

along the contact between rhyolite porphyry and quartz latite. (See 

fig. 5.) The general direction of this fault plane (which for convenience is designated the "contact fault") is northwest and the 

dip is to the southwest, ranging from 40° S. 50° W. in the 45 stope 

(see PI. V, A) to 70° S. 80° W. on the No. 3 level, below which the 

dip is more or less constant. This fault zone varies in width from 

15 to 110 feet, and it has been explored by underground Workings 

for more than 500 feet along the strike and probably continues some 

distance farther. Its length as measured along the dip is known to

1,000 1,000 Feet

Contour interval 50 feet

Rhyolite porphyry Quartz latite
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 550 PLATE V

A. FIRST THOUGHT MINE. 

Showing 65 slope and steep bluff in which upper workings are situated.

B. PART OF UNITED COPPER CAMP. 

Ore bin of the Copper King in the background.
ORIENT DISTRICT.' 75

be over 300 feet. It is probable that this fault continues down 

beyond the present limits of exploration. Three faults of smaller 

magnitude occur in the quartz latite and adjoin the main contact 

fault. These may be called the apex fault, the No. 3 fault, and the 

No. 4 fault. The first and second strike approximately north-south 

and dip 40°-50° E. The junction of these with the main fault causes 

considerable widening of the brecciated zone, which in places extends 

back from the hanging wall 110 feet. The length of these two faults 

along their dip has never been determined, as the ore shoots they 

contained became of too low grade, for profitable extraction above 

the main (No. 4) level, and large quantities of low-grade ore still 

remain in these fault breccia planes. Above the gulch level the 

length of these minor faults along their strike is limited on the north 

by a precipitous cliff (see fig. 5 and PI. IV, p. 72), and on the south 

these lesser shear zones seem to terminate in the main contact fault.

The No. 4 fault joins the main contact fault some 10 feet above 

the No. 4 level. It strikes N. 70° E. and dips 40°-50° N. 20° W. 

It has been explored along the dip to a point a few feet above the 

No. 7 level and has been found to extend along the strike for over 

100 feet. The average'width of this fault zone is approximately 25 

feet.

Extensive brecciation of the country rock has accompanied the 

faulting in this locality. The shear zones are now represented by 

fragments of rock ranging from a quarter of an inch to 1 foot or 

more in diameter, which have been cemented by siliceous and calcareous solutions. The result somewhat resembles a flow breccia. 

Accompanying the zones of more intense movement are numerous 

fissures extending out into the adjoining rock for various distances.

Siliceous solutions carrying pyrite have permeated the shear zones, 

depositing silica and pyrite and in places impregnating and replacing 

the quartz latite for short distances. Subsequent movements caused 

a shattering of the mineralized mass, and calcareous solutions were 

introduced which deposited calcium carbonate, this being especially 

prominent in the workings below the No. 4 level. The silica is a 

dense creamy-white mineral which does not closely resemble quartz, 

while the calcium carbonate is massive and bears little resemblance 

to calcite. The valuable metals are contained in the pyrite that 

impregnates the quartz latite and occurs in minute quantities in the 

dense white silica. In the upper workings the silica has been ironstained to some extent through the decomposition of pyrite, and the 

glory hole shows throughout the country rock numberless stringers 

of silica, locally stained a dull-yellow color by limonite. Analyses 

of the ore from this mine are given below.
76 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON. 

Analyses of ore from First Thought mine.

Silica ...............................................................................

Lime...............................................................................

Iron ................................................................................

Tellurium. ..........................................................................

1

65.5

8

10

14

2.10

99.60

2

72.30

1.10

3.60

17.70

3.90

Trace.

99.60

1. Analysis of ore from mine for year 1908, furnished by Alexander Sharpe, manager.

2. Analysis made by Horace G. Nichols, of Ymir. British Columbia, for Mr. Sharpe. Mr. Nichols reported the approximate composition of the ore as follows: Rock, 90; FeS2 , 7.5; CaC03 ,1.96; total, 99.46.

The ore that has been mined and shipped has averaged $15.50 in 

gold and 0.5 ounce of silver to the ton.

The richer portions of the ore shoots in all-but the No. 4 fault zone 

have pitched to the southeast, the pitch in the No. 4 zone being to 

the northwest. No marked change in tenor has been noted as depth 

has been attained in the mine. In this connection it should be remembered that the deepest workings (in July, 1910) were only 260 

feet in a vertical direction below the outcrop. In the zone of superficial alteration oxidation is incomplete and there has been little 

mechanical concentration of gold. Primary pyrite is present in the 

deposit up to the surface.

Origin of the ores. The ores are thought to have originated in the 

siliceous solutions accompanying the intrusion of the rhyolite porphyry, which forms the hanging wall of the upper part of the deposit. 

As this hanging wall has been found in the lowest workings and as the 

richer ore shoots have invariably been found at the junction of the 

main contact shear zone and an offshooting fault, it does not seem 

unreasonable to suppose that other offshoots from the main contact 

fault exist below the No. 7 level. As the ore has been invariably 

richer at the junctions of the faults, it is natural to suppose that if 

other branches of the main fault or of offshoots from the main fault 

are found they will also contain rich ore shoots.

SECOND THOUGHT.

The Second Thought group of claims is located just south of the 

First Thought camp, the north side line of the Second Thought claim 

joining the south end of a part of the First Thought group. Figure 

3 (p. 72) shows the approximate location of the Second Thought 

camp and the main shaft. The developments consist of a 50-foot 

vertical shaft on the Second Thought claim and several small open 

cuts on other claims. No production is reported from this group.

The rocks in the vicinity are mainly quartz latite intruded by 

rhyolite porphyry or quartz monzonite porphyry. A succession of 

intrusive masses, having a general north-south trend, were seen in
ORIENT DISTRICT. . 77

walking across the claims toward the North Star prospect. Plate 

III, B (p. 66) shows a lens of quartzite included in a mass of intrusive 

quartz monzonite porphyry.

Some mineralization by pyrite has taken place at and near the 

contact of the intruding magmas. Where small fault zones are 

present, as exposed in the shaft on the Second Thought claim and in 

a shallow shaft on the Searchlight claim, the pyrite is more abundant. 

The deposits are not well defined and represent a local impregnation 

of the country rock by pyrite, together with a partial filling of joint 

planes and small fault fissures by pyrite and limonite. The strike 

of the faults is in general north and south and the dip is about 70° E. 

Assays of the pyritiferous material are reported to show about $2 in 

gold to the ton, and some of the ore from the surface on the Searchlight claim is said to have assayed $8 a ton. Some calcite is present 

in the fracture zones.

NORTH STAB.

The North Star prospect is located on the southeastern slope of 

First Thought Mountain at an elevation of 2,400 feet, just east of the 

Second Thought group and southwest of the First Thought group. 

The principal development consists of a 400-foot drift on the vein 

and a 90-foot crosscut from the end of the drift. The general direction of the drift is N. 50°-60° W. No production is reported from 

this property.

In general, the rocks are similar to those in the vicinity of the First 

Thought group, and where the quartz latite is exposed by the underground workings on the North Star property it shows evidence of 

considerable faulting. Rhyolite porphyry and quartz monzonite porphyry are not conspicuous in the territory explored by the main 

drift, although outcrops of the latter are plentiful near by.

The vein exposed by the main drift has a general strike of N. 

50°-60° W. and a dip ranging from 70° NE. to 70° SW. and occupies 

a fault plane in quartz latite. The width of the shear zone averages 

about 6 feet, and the vein filling is principally gouge, with some 

calcite and quartz. A small amount of pyrite is scattered through 

the vein, assays of which are reported to have showed $1.50 in gold 

to the ton.

PROSPECTS ON TOTTLOU MOUNTAIN.

At the time of the writer's investigation none of the prospects 

examined on Toulou Mountain had reached the .producing stage, 

although of the six visited three were carrying on more or less development work. The locations of these prospects on figure 3 (p. 72) 

represent only in a general way the positions of the prospects, as the 

workings on practically all the groups extend over several claims.
78 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

GLOBE.

The Globe group of claims is located about 3£ miles southeast of 

Orient, on the southwestern slope of Toulou Mountain. A secondary 

road connects these prospects with the town of Orient, the nearest 

railroad point. Water is obtained in the vicinity, and timber is 

plentiful. *

The underground developments are three adit tunnels on the 

patented Eva B. claim, and a 50-foot shaft on the Hattie R. claim. 

The portals of the tunnels are at elevations of 2,295, 2,500, and 2,700 

feet, and the shaft is located a short distance west of the lowest adit 

at an elevation of 2,275 feet. The two upper adits are short, but 900 

feet of work has been done on the lowest one.

The rocks in the vicinity are similar to those already described in 

the paragraphs on the geology of the Orient district. A sedimentary 

series of argillaceous shale and some included strata of limestone 

containing sills of rock resembling a very fine grained quartz latite, 

has been severely intruded by monzonite porphyry, which occupies a 

considerable portion of the ground covered by the claims. The rock 

that resembles quartz latite is locally more or less silicified and near 

the intrusive porphyry masses shows much pyrite.

The upper tunnel does not expose any well-defined vein, but in the 

joint planes of the rock are a few stringers of hematite carrying a 

small amount of galena. These stringers are irrregular and terminate 

within a few inches. The middle tunnel exposes some pyrite in the 

sedimentary rock near its contact with the intrusive monzonite 

porphyry. The lowest tunnel exposes only calcite veinlets in the 

monzonite porphyry and some pyrite in the country rock near its 

contact with the intrusive.

The shaft has been sunk on a small fissure which strikes N. 60° W. 

near the collar of the shaft and N. 87° W. 35 feet below. The dip is 

approximately 76° NE. The fissure is only a few inches wide and is 

filled with gangue and brecciated country rock containing a little 

pyrite, chalcopyrite, and pyrrhotite. Assays of ore from this shaft 

are reported to show only small values in copper.

The Scotia prospect is about half a mile a little east of south of the 

Globe prospect and is connected with it by trail. The developments 

consist of an open cut at an elevation of 2,600 feet, a 150-foot adit 

tunnel 100 feet higher, another open cut at an elevation of 2,825 feet, 

and a shaft still higher on the south end of Toulou Mountain. At the 

time of the writer's visit the shaft house and the timbering in the shaft 

were burning, having been ignited by a forest fire.
ORIENT DISTRICT. 79

The rocks in the vicinity of the workings form a continuation of 

the series found near the Globe prospects. Here, however, two other 

kinds of rock are present schist and a sedimentary rock which 

much resembles quartzite. The schist is greenish and contains 

phenocrysts of quartz, feldspar, and hornblende. It may be a partly 

metamorphosed intrusive igneous dike in the sedimentary series. 

The hornblende in the rock is secondary, and the feldspars are indeterminable. The schist contains small veinlets of pyrrhotite in which 

are included scattered aggregates of pyrite and chalcopyrite. The 

quartzitic rock is of a brownish tone and has a fairly coarse grained 

texture. Near its contact with the common intrusive of the area 

(the monzonite porphyry) it contains small amounts of chalcopyrite, 

pyrrhotite, and pyrite.

The open cut, at an elevation of 2,600 feet, is approximately 8 by 

10 by. 15 feet in size. It has revealed small veinlets in joint planes,

mineralized by pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and their oxidized 

products. The adit tunnel exposes the same ore minerals along joint 

planes in the sedimentary rock, and at the contact of this rock with 

the intrusive monzonite porphyry. The small open cut located at an 

elevation of 2,825 feet is in schist, traversed by small veinlets containing the same association of minerals. The shaft was inaccessible.

COPPER BUTTE.

Less than half a mile northeast of the Globe prospect and at 

approximately the same elevation is the Copper Butte prospect, 

which has been developed by an inclined shaft about 200 feet deep. 

A small amount of drifting has been accomplished, and a short tunnel 

taps the shaft on the 100-foot level. A 15-horsepower hoist has been 

installed in the shaft house.

The rocks in the vicinity are very similar to those found near the 

Globe workings, and the mineralization occurs along a fault of small 

magnitude. Some chalcopyrite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite in a gangue 

of brecciated country rock and gouge form the vein, which strikes 

N. 35° W. and dips 20°-70° NE.

ORIENT.

The workings on the Orient prospects are located on a spur which 

projects southwestward from the central part of Toulou Mountain. 

They are easily accessible by wagon road from the town of Orient, 

which is only 2£ miles a little west of north of the prospects. At 

the time of the writer's visit this property was inactive. The developments consist of three shallow shafts and an adit tunnel.

The rocks in the vicinity are a part of the sedimentary series 

already referred to, intruded by monzonite porphyry and a greenish 

rock resembling vogesite, which may be a basic phase of the intrusive
80 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

mass so common to this part of the Orient district or which may represent a part of the diabase magma that has invaded the* sedimentary 

rocks. Included in the green rock are fragments which appear to 

be silicified limestone. A thin section of this rock viewed under 

the* microscope reveals the presence of phenocrysts of hornblende 

(which may also be seen megascopically), orthoclase, and silica, the 

last presumably representing the fragments of silicified limestone 

included in the rock. Near the contact of the greenish rock and the 

sedimentary beds garnet and epidote have been extensively developed. 

The adit tunnel, the lowest working examined, is located at an 

elevation of 1,700 feet, or 300 feet above the camp. It has been 

driven N. 12£° E. for a distance of about 300 or 400 feet. Several 

faults, having a general northwest strike, were seen in the tunnel. 

Little ore was observed in the workings, but some pyrite sparsely 

scattered through the country rock was seen on the dump. About 

135 feet above the tunnel a shallow shaft has been sunk on a series 

of veins which trend almost due east and west. These veins occur 

at and near the contact of the intrusive green rock with the silicified 

limestone and contain some pyrite. The joint planes in the country 

rock also contain the same mineral. All the ore-bearing fissures 

and joints are small. Another shallow shaft, located at an elevation 

of 1,900 feet, or 65 feet above the one just described, exposes a 

similar association of rocks with perhaps less mineralization. A 

third shaft, located at an elevation of 2,100 feet, has been sunk on a 

small fissure which strikes east and west. Another vein outcrops 

a few feet north of this and strikes N. 75°-W. Both veins show 

pyrite and limonite in their outcrops, but the ore on the dump is 

principally pyrite.

DEFENDER.

The Defender group of claims is about 1^ miles southeast of 

Orient, on the western slope of Toulou Mountain. It comprises 11 

claims and a fraction, two claims being owned outright and the rest 

held by annual assessment work. A shaft house containing a onehorse whim has been built on the Denver claim.. The locality marked 

"Defender" on figure 3 is that of the Denver shaft, which is about 

1,000 feet southeast of the center of the group of claims. Water 

and timber are plentiful in this locality.

The principal developments consist of small open cuts and shallow 

discovery shafts on all the claims and a 106-foot inclined shaft on 

the Denver claim.

The geology in the vicinity of these claims is somewhat similar to 

that of the contiguous camps, the most notable feature being the 

presence of a sheared phase of the greenish hornblende rock found 

in the -Orient workings. This rock, which contains hornblende, 

quartz, and feldspar phenocrysts, has been more or less meta-
ORIENT DISTRICT. 81

morphosed, and somewhat resembles amphibolite. On the Snowflake claim, immediately southeast of the Denver claim, at an elevation of 1,900 feet, a shallow shaft has been sunk on a fissure vein 

in this rock. The vein is about 18 inches wide, strikes N. 45° W., 

and dips 65° N. 45° E. This vein is supposed to be a continuation of 

that worked in the Denver shaft. Siderite, calcite, sphalerite, and 

quartz are prominent constituents of the vein. As the Denver 

shaft was partly full of water, an examination of the vein exposed 

in it was impossible. The shaft pitches at an angle of 65° N. 45° E., 

this direction being the same as the dip of the vein exposed on the 

Snowflake claim. The discovery shaft on this claim, located at an 

elevation of 2,200 feet, has been sunk in the intrusive monzonite 

porphyry common in this part of the Orient district. Some of the 

joint planes in this rock are slightly mineralized by sulphides and 

oxides of iron. The discovery shaft on the Gold Crown claim is 

about 1,200 feet a little east of north of the Denver shaft, at an elevation of 2,415 feet. It is said to be 22 feet deep and is now practically filled with water. This opening is in monzonite porphyry 

near its contact with the sedimentary rock, the shaft passing out of 

the intrusive mass a short distance below the collar. Small fissures 

in the intrusive rock are mineralized by pyrite, pyrrhotite, a little 

chalcopyrite, and their accompanying oxidized products. The intrusive dike, which is here about 60 feet wide, is said to carry $3 to 

$4 in gold to the ton.

TROJAN.

The Trojan prospect is located just below the western edge of the 

top of Toulou Mountain, the camp and lowest adit tunnel level 

being situated at an elevation of 2,850 feet and the highest workings 

examined 400 feet higher. The tunnels may be reached by a trail 

along Bear Creek, the distance from Orient being about 2 miles. 

The developments consist of three tunnels and a shallow shaft, 

making in all several hundred feet of work.

The rocks in the vicinity represent a higher and apparently a less 

disturbed portion of the sedimentary series than that found elsewhere 

on Toulou Mountain and they may belong to an era much later than 

the Paleozoic. Shales with included strata of tuff and tuff fragments 

constitute the rocks in the lower tunnel. These strike S. 85° W. 

and dip 15° N. From 100 to 200 feet higher strata of bluishwhite tuff are prominent. This rock contains fragments of plagioclase and orthoclase feldspar and quartz, with some small pieces of 

rock resembling slate. Apparently resting on top of it is a dense, 

compact greenish rock that contains phenocrysts of plagioclase 

feldspar and much chlorite. It is impossible to determine the exact 

nature of this highest rock, as the ferromagnesian minerals, have been
82 ORE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

entirely altered to chlorite and the feldspars are largely changed to 

sericite and calcite. The rock is no doubt of igneous origin and probably represents a flow upon the top of the sedimentary series. Monzonite porphyry cuts the sediments here as elsewhere on Toulou 

Mountain. The relation of the intrusive porphyry to the green rock 

occurring above the sediments could not be definitely determined.

Mineralization is practically absent in the rocks explored by the 

workings visited by the writer. In the upper tunnel small quantities 

of pyrite and a little pyrrhotite were seen in the gouge formed between the contact of the sedimentary rocks'and the intrusive magma.

PROSPECTS EAST OF PEERRE LAKE.

Of the prospects examined.east of Pierre Lake only one, the Easter 

Sunday, was active at the time of the writer's visit. Since that 

time this property also has closed. Shipments of ore from this 

vicinity have been small, only about 20 tons having been sent out 

from the Easter Sunday and none from the other prospects. The 

Big Iron is the most northeasterly deposit examined in the Orient 

mining district and the farthest from a shipping point, as well as 

the most inaccessible.

BIG IRON.

The Big Iron prospect is located at an elevation of 3,600 feet on 

the east side of Sulphide Mountain and is about 15 miles by a poor 

wagon road from Orient and 12 miles from Rockcut, the two nearest 

railroad points. The grade is not an easy, orie and involves several 

steep hauls.

The ground has been developed by means of shallow shafts and 

several open cuts, all the shafts being inaccessible because of the 

presence of water. No ore is known to have been shipped from this 

prospect.

The rocks in the vicinity consist of a series of schists of probable 

igneous origin, which strike east and west and stand nearly vertical. 

These evince considerable dynamometamorphism and contain intercalated dikes of a less sheared igneous rock having a fine-grained, 

even texture and a gray color. These rocks have been intruded by 

monzonite porphyry. The schists are distinctly cleavable, are very 

much jointed, have a medium to fine-grained texture, are green, 

yellow, and gray in color, and are more or less similar to amphibolites resulting from the metamorphism of diabase or related rocks. 

Small veinlets of quartz are included in the lamination planes in the 

schists, and chalcopyrite and pyrite are scattered throughout the 

rock, occupying small openings along the lines of fissility and the 

joint planes. The included gray rock is composed essentially of 

feldspar and quartz, with much pyrite, chlorite, and calcite. Its 

original character is indeterminable. The intrusive monzonite porphyry is similar to that found throughout the Orient district.
ORIENT DISTRICT. 8&

The ore deposit represents a zone of sulphide impregnation and 

replacement in the schists and the included gray rock. As exposed 

by the workings the zone is over 100 feet wide and may have greater 

dimensions. The full extent of the mineralization along the strike of 

the schists (east-west) is not known but developments have proved 

it to be at least several hundred feet. Pyrite is the principal ore 

mineral and is accompanied by some chalcopyrite. Both minerals 

have weathered on the surface, forming a small gossan of limonite.

It is possible that future developments might show that this zone 

of impregnation and replacement is large enough to be worked on the 

scale of the low-grade disseminated copper deposits in other parts of 

the country.

POMEROY.

The Pomeroy prospect is a mile and a half due west of the Big Iron, 

on the south slope of Sulphide Mountain, at an elevation of 3,550 

feet. It is about a quarter of a mile south of the Easter Sunday, on 

the same wagon road, which is in much better condition between 

these properties and Orient than it is farther east, toward the Big 

Iron..

The ground has been developed by a vertical shaft, which at the 

time of the writer's visit was nearly full of water. Shipments of ore 

are not reported from this prospect.

The rock in which the vein occurs appears to be a schist derived 

from metamorphosed diabase or related rock. A fine-grained greenish rock resembling meta-andesite was also found on the dump. The 

ore on the dump contains much quartz, with sphalerite as the predominant ore mineral, accompanied by pyrite, galena, chalcopyrite, 

and a mineral containing lead, antimony, and sulphur, the species 

not being'easily determinable owing to the fine-grained intergrowth of 

the ore. Details of the vein can not be given, as it was not exposed.

EASTER SUNDAY.

The Easter Sunday is 9 miles due northeast of Orient, or by the 

wagon road about 12 miles. At the time of the writer's visit the 

deposit was being worked by the Forest Mining & Milling Co., which 

was carrying on experiments with the ore to determine its amenability 

to cyanidation. One shipment of a little less than 20 tons of ore is 

reported to have been made from a shallow shaft about 200 feet north 

of the main working shaft. A partial analysis of this ore is as follows:

Partial analysis of ore shipped from Easter Sunday mine.

Fe.................................................... per cent.. 6. 5

Si02 ................................................... .do.... 68.9

CaO....................................................do.... 6

Cu......................................................do.... 1.21

Au..........................................ounces to the ton.. . 44

Ag......................................................do.... 12.4
84 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

The property is equipped with two 100-horsepower boilers, one 

100-horsepower Corliss engine, one Gates crusher, two 1,000-pound 

stamps, one Wilfley table, and small experimental cyanide tanks, 

zinc boxes, etc. The underground developments are a 130-foot inclined shaft pitching about 50°-55° N. 65° E., and two short levels 

run at 70 and 100 feet from the collar, making in all some 550 feet of 

workings. A diamond-drill hole, started 185 feet east of the collar 

of the shaft, has been sunk vertically to a depth of 480 feet.

The rocks in the vicinity are dark, distinctly banded cherty argillites which are impregnated with pyrite. Intruded into this shale 

series is the monzonite porphyry commonly found throughout the 

Orient district.

The ore body consists of a quartz vein parallel to the direction of 

schistosity of the shales, which strike N. 25° W. and dip 20°-60° N. 

65° E. The vein ranges from 2 to 6 feet in width and appears to 

follow the curves of the inclosing strata, dipping about 50° N. 65° E. 

down to the 70-foot level, where it flattens out for a distance of 50 

feet and then pitches northeast at a steep angle. An examination 

of the vein below the 70-foot level was impossible because of the 

presence of water in the shaft. Near the 70-foot level the main vein 

breaks up into several parallel stringers a few inches in width which 

traverse the shales. On the 70-foot level an intrusion of monzonite 

porphyry cuts off the vein. The ledge is reported to have been found 

again in the 100-foot level. In general the quartz appears to be 

rather barren, containing some pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, 

galena, and an indeterminable massive gray mineral containing lead, 

antimony, and sulphur.

Cyanide tests were discontinued during the summer of 1909, and 

presumably because of the scarcity of the ore no further shipments 

were made to smelters. According to the records the diamond drill 

penetrated a large ore body at a vertical depth of 146 feet. Assays 

of the contents of the ledge at this depth are not at hand. The company reports that the drill passed through 64 feet of vein material.

MCNALLY.

The McNally prospect is approximately 3 miles northeast of 

Pierre Lake, on the north side of Pierre Creek, at an elevation of 

2,600 feet. Rockcut, the nearest shipping point, is 5 or 6 miles 

distant by wagon road. The prospect was idle when visited by the 

writer, and no ore is reported to have been shipped from it.

The developments consist of a small open cut and two short adit 

tunnels, one located at an elevation of 2,650 feet, or 50 feet above 

the cabin, and the other at an elevation of 2,800 feet. These workings 

are situated at or near the contact of a fine-grained grayish-green 

intrusive rock, probably a diabase, in crystalline limestone. The
ORIENT DISTRICT. 85

general strike of the intrusive body is east and west. Faults having 

a general northwest trend were noted in both rocks, and fissures filled 

with calcite are prominent. Epidote and serpentine have been 

developed in considerable quantities along the contact of the intruding 

magma.

The ore body is an irregular replacement in the limestone by 

chalcopyrite and pyrite, the latter probably predominating. The 

extent of this replacement has thus far not been determined. Oxidation of the sulphides has taken place and hematite has been deposited 

along joints and fissures in the limestones. This deposit has evidently 

been formed by contact metamorphism near the surface.

OTHER MINES AND PROSPECTS.

Of the six deposits examined in the vicinity of Rockcut, five are in 

Stevens County. The Jenny prospect, in Ferry County, is described

on pages 202-203. Only one of these prospects, the Kettle River, was 

active at the time of the investigation. All are in an early prospecting 

state, and only small shipments are reported to have been made from 

the Little Giant, Swamp King, and Beecher. Rockcut is the nearest 

and most convenient railroad point and fair wagon roads lead to 

most of the camps.

Napoleon mine, near Boyds, in the southeastern part of the district, 

is the only one examined in that vicinity.

KETTLE RIVER.

The Kettle River group of claims is located about a quarter of a 

mile north of Rockcut, on the east bank of Kettle River. Three of 

the claims in this group have their end lines on the river and extend 

eastward 1,500 feet, taking in a considerable portion of the steep 

hillside directly east of the river. The camp and the principal 

workings, including a small mill, are all situated near the river and 

30 to 100 feet above it. An ample supply of water is afforded for all 

milling purposes and timber is plentiful in the vicinity. Wood is 

used for fuel for the boilers. At the time of the writer's investigation the property was being developed underground and a small concentrating mill had been nearly completed. Shipments of ore or 

concentrates had not then been made.

In the mill the ore is dumped from the hoisting bucket over a 

4 by 7 foot grizzly with 1^-inch spaces, the oversize going direct to a 

Blake breaker reported to be capable of crushing 100 tons to 1^-inch 

cubes in 24 hours. From the breaker the ore (with the undersize from 

the grizzly) goes into an ore bin and thence by an automatic feeder 

into a set of 24 by 24 inch rolls, from which it goes into two 3-cell 

jigs, 23 by 26 inches, thence through fine-grinding rolls into four 

hydraulic classifiers, and thence over a vanner and a table. Water
86 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

is obtained from Kettle River by a pump, the capacity of which is 

reported to be 10,000 gallons an hour, and is stored in a tank. Other 

machinery consists of a vertical engine, a Lidgerwood steam hoist, 

a high-speed automatic engine, said to be capable of developing 

40 to 50 horsepower, a 50-horsepower boiler, and a 9 by 11 inch 

compressor, which will develop enough air to run four drills.

The claims have been developed by a vertical shaft, which in 

July, 1910, was 150 feet deep. From this a 20-foot drift and a 

15-foot crosscut had been run. On the surface near the collar of the 

shaft a 60-foot drift had been driven along the contact of an intrusive 

dike and schist.

The rocks in this vicinity are older than any others so far mentioned in the detailed descriptions and probably represent the upper 

part of the lowest geologic unit within the area. Schists showing pronounced foliation are interlaminated with coarse crystalline limestone and quartzite, the whole series being traversed by dioritic 

dikes of varying composition and proportions. The different strata 

appear to be conformable and the whole series in this vicinity strikes 

approximately north and south and dips 15°-30° E.

The schists are of a general gray tone, are medium to coarse 

grained, and show little chemical alteration. They are probably 

derived from dynamometamorphism of masses of quartz diorite 

intruded into the sedimentary rocks, although they may be sedimentary schists resulting from the erosion of quartz diorite. Viewed 

under a microscope thin sections of the schist show about equal 

amounts of plagioclase feldspar and hornblende, with much biotite 

and quartz. Pyrite and calcite are subordinate constituents of the 

rock. The quartzites are white to pink in color, are fine to coarse 

grained, and show in some places a pronounced schistose structure. 

The strata of quartzite range from a few inches to several feet in 

thickness. The limestones are coarsely crystalline, forming a good 

marble, and are apparently quite free from impurities. Weathered 

surfaces are dark brown in color, but fresh fractures are cream-white. 

Where observed the thickness of the limestones ranged from 2 to 6 feet.

The intrusive dikes of diorite which cut directly across the lamination planes have caused considerable metamorphism along their 

contacts, epidote, garnet, diopside, actinolite, and biotite having 

been developed on a large-scale.

Near the collar of the shaft a vein is exposed by a 60-foot drift 

along the contact of an intrusive diorite dike and schists. This 

vein, which has a strike of N. 60° E. and a dip of 80° N. 30° W., 

has an average width of several inches and contains some galena, 

sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite in a gangue of quartz, calcite, 

and .dolomite. A small cross fissure has a strike of N. 35° W. and 

a dip of 61° N. 55° E. The shaft was started on a vein which pitches
ORIENT DISTRICT. 87

out of the shaft's course a few feet below the collar. In the downward course of the shaft several small veins were encountered, one 

of which strikes S. 70° E. and dips approximately 45° S. 20° W., 

and another, exposed on the 150-foot level, strikes east and west 

and dips 60° S. These veins all show considerable displacement 

and represent filled fissures at or near the contact of intrusive diorite 

dikes. Those observed were of small magnitude, the largest being 

5 feet wide and the ore course less than 12 inches, while the general 

average was considerably less. For the most part the fissures are 

closed, although vugs were noted, some of them filled with quartz 

and dolomite crystals. Specimens of ore show an original deposition 

of sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite, followed by fracturing and 

brecciation of the country rock and vein material and later by 

deposition of galena, chalcopyrite, and pyrite. The gangue is 

principally quartz and brecciated country rock, with some calcite 

and a little dolomite.

So little drifting has been done, on the veins that it is impossible 

to gain a clear conception of the extent of the ore deposits. Where 

exposed the ore shoots appeared to be pockety, and the veins were 

small and of rather uncertain persistence. The mineralization in 

this locality is probably due to solutions accompanying the intrusion 

of the diorite dikes.

LITTLE GIANT.

The Little Giant prospect is located at an elevation of 2,460 feet 

about 2 miles northeast of Rockcut and a quarter of a mile east of the 

north fork of Sand Creek. A wagon road has been built to the camp. 

In the shaft house is installed a donkey hoist and a boiler. Some 

prospecting has been done by diamond drilling, the results of which 

are not accessible. Small shipments of ore are reported to have been 

made from the prospect, but at the time of the investigation it was 

idle.

A shaft, practically full of water at the time of the writer's visit, 

constitutes the principal development. In a small open cut a-few 

feet from the shaft house a more or less sheared diorite strikes approximately east and west and dips slightly to the south. A dike rock 

having the composition of camptonite cuts the diorite in a northeastsouthwest direction. In places the metamorphism of the diorite 

has resulted in the formation of amphibohte. - On the dump was 

found a dark-colored rock having a felsitic groundmass and large 

phenocrysts of orthoclase and plagioclase feldspar with much biotite. 

This is probably a dike rock connected with some granitic intrusion.

Galena, pyrite, and a little chalcopyrite in a gangue of quartz, 

calcite, and some siderite occur in small fissures in the sheared diorite. 

Some epidote was noted and the carbonates of copper are present in 

small amounts.

29122° Bull. 550 14 7 '
88 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

SWAMP KING,

Adjoining the Little Giant on the east is the Swamp King, which 

was also inactive when visited. A small amount of ore is said to 

have been shipped from this prospect. The developments, which1 

expose diabase cut by camptonite dikes, consist of a short tunnel in 

which a shallow winze has been sunk pitching 45° E. Faulting is 

prominent and two veins, separated .from each other by a horse near 

the portal, join to form one vein a short distance beyond. The 

strike of the vein is N. 20° E. and the dip approximately 60°-80° E. 

Quartz containing some pyrite forms the filling of the vein, in which 

free gold is reported to have been found.

BEECHER.

The Beecher prospect, located at an elevation of 2,400 feet, is about 

2 miles a little northeast of Rockcut, just south and 200 feet above 

the east branch of Sand Creek. It was idle when visited. A wagon 

road extends within a short distance of the shaft house. The developments consist of a shallow vertical shaft and some drifting on the 

vein. A whim constitutes the only machinery on the ground. Two 

shipments are reported from this prospect, aggregating about 22 tons 

of ore carrying a fraction over 1 ounce of gold to the ton and a trace 

of silver.

The shaft and drifts have revealed a tight quartz vein in diabase. 

The vein strikes N. 47£° E. and stands about vertical in the stopes 

about 50 feet below the collar of the shaft. The average width of 

the vein is about a foot, although on the northeast and southwest 

extension of the stopes only a few feet each side of the shaft it almost 

pinches out, and midway in the stopes it is in places "as much as 2 feet 

wide. The vein as exposed in August, 1909, appeared to have been 

nearly stoped out. Quartz is the main gangue mineral, and is accompanied by some calcite, and the vein contains some galena and limonite, the latter presumably having resulted from the oxidation of 

pyrite, which is doubtless also the source of the free gold reported 

to have been found.

In an open cut a few feet west of the shaft two small veins are 

exposed, striking, at right angles, one north-south and the other 

east-west. The former dips to the west and the latter to the south. 

At the junction of the two a noticeable quantity of limonite is present.

MCKINLEY.

The McKinley group of claims is about 2£ miles a little east of north 

of Rockcut in a direct line, the distance by wagon road and trail 

being somewhat greater. The claims have been prospected by 

several shafts to depths of 10 to 40 feet and by small open cuts. No
ORIENT DISTRICT. 89

machinery is installed on the ground and shipments are not reported 

from the property, which was idle when, visited by the writer.

The prevailing rock in the vicinity is medium to fine grained diabase. 

This rock is locally sheared, and amphibolite has been formed near the 

zones of movement. Vogesite dikes containing some pyrite cut the 

diabase.

On claim No. 6, at an elevation of 3,050 feet, a shaft has been sunk 

38 feet on the incline and.exposes a vein in a fault fissure in diabase. 

The vein strikes N. 60° W., dips 45°-60° NE., and ranges from a few 

inches to 1 foot in width. Near the bottom of the shaft the vein splits 

up into several stringers. The footwall is sheared and the resulting 

amphibolite is called slate by the prospectors. The vein filling is 

quartz, with gouge and limonite. Small quantities of gold are said 

to have been found in the vein. Another shallow shaft on the same 

claim, on a: vein which strikes N. 15° W. and stands about vertical, 

shows the same relations of country rock and vein filling.

Several hundred feet south of claim No. 6, toward claim No. 1, is a 

small exposure of reddish-green shale. Because of the dense underbrush and the mantle of other rock covering it, no definite conclusions could be reached as to the relation of the shale and the 

diabase.

On claim No. 1, at an elevation of 2,850 feet, a quartz vein in 

diabase has been stripped for a distance of 24 feet. The vein strikes 

N. .20° W. and dips 30°-40° N. 70° E. It contains some pyrite, 

specks of azurite and malachite, and a little calcite, and is reported 

to have yielded small quantities of gold.

NAPOLEON.

General features. The Napoleon mine is located near the south 

end and on the west side of the ridge which lies between Kettle Kiver 

and the Columbia, near their confluence. Boyds is the nearest 

railroad point, and a wagon road has been built to the mine from the 

main route along Kettle River. Marcus, about 6 miles to the south, 

is the nearest settled town.

The claim is reported to have been among the first located after the 

opening of the Indian reservation to mining operations, and it has 

since shipped a large quantity of low-grade ore. The various owners 

were bought out in 1905 by P. Burns & Co., who controlled the mine 

for a time, later selling it to the British Columbia Copper Co. At .the 

time of the writer's investigation the mine was just being opened 

again for a few months' run. The ore is shipped to the company's 

smelter at Greenwood, British Columbia, where it is used as a flux. 

The mine is worked only part of the time, enough ore being mined in a 

few months to supply the smelters' need for a fluxing ore of this kind 

for a much longer period.
90 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

An aerial tramway with, one terminal at the main level of the mine 

and another at the railroad siding, more than 1,000 feet lower and 

about a mile west of the camp, affords an easy and economical means 

of handling the ore for shipment. The machinery installed in the 

power house and in the mine is efficient and the cost of mining operations is low.

A mill is reported to be under construction for extracting the gold 

found in the superficially decomposed iron sulphide ores, of which 

there is a large amount, limonite being prominent in the upper parts 

of the hill in which the workings are located. A permanent camp 

with ample accommodations, for the miners has been built at the 

mine.

Development. The ore body has been developed by three principal 

tunnels. The lowest or main level is at an elevation of 2,350 feet, 

the altitude of the camp. Crosscuts and drifts have been run, and a 

quarry or glory hole has been excavated near the top of the hill, at an 

elevation of 2,600 feet. Some diamond drilling has been done. On 

the main level there is about 800 feet of work, including drifts and the 

adit tunnel. Surface workings and workings in oxidized ores amount 

to 1,230 feet, while shafts, raises, and winzes approximate 310 feet. 

About 4,000 cubic yards of surface stripping has also been accomplished.

The portals of the three main levels are situated on the north side 

of the hill, that of level No. 2 being 300 feet southeast of the portal of 

the main level, and that of No. 3 about 200 feet southeast of No. 2 

and 160 feet above. The quarry is 450 feet south of and 250 feet 

above the portal of the main adit tunnel.

Geology. The oldest rocks in the vicinity of the Napoleon mine 

are probably members of the sedimentary series found on Toulou

Mountain, which are thought to be of Paleozoic age. In this vicinity, 

however, the sedimentary rocks have been so altered by metamorphic 

processes and by the intrusion of monzonite porphyry that they occupy 

only a small portion of the hill in which the workings are located, 

and unaltered phases of the rock could not be found. As exposed by 

the quarry workings, amphibolite, which is the ore carrier, occupies 

a part of the section of the .older rocks and trends in a general eastwest direction. Other exposures of the amphibolite were seen, however, which trend approximately north and south. The sediments 

have been so disturbed that they are not now definitely recognizable, 

nor can their original positions or directions of dip and strike be 

determined. Lamprophyre dikes, adjuncts of monzonitic or granitic 

intrusion, were also found in the workings.

The amphibolite is of a fine-grained, even texture, is green, and 

contains irregular patches of ore. Actinolite has been developed
OBIENT "DISTRICT. 91

along faults in the amphibolite,' and throughout the rock the augite 

is largely changed to hornblende. This amphibolite may represent a 

metamorphosed diabase intrusive into the sedimentary rocks or 

it may be the result of contact metamorphism of limestone caused 

by the'intrusion of monzonite porphyry. Garnet is found in irregular 

patches through the ore. The monzonite porphyry is medium to 

coarse grained, is grayish blue, and is composed of phenocrysts of 

andesine and hornblende (now partly altered to chlorite) in a groundmass of orthoclase and quartz. Near the intrusive contacts of this 

rock some pyrite is found in the porphyry and a further alteration 

of the hornblende phenocrysts is noticeable.

The ore body. Scattered through the amphibolite and replacing it 

to a greater or less extent are pyrrhotite, pyrite, some magnetite, and 

a very small amount of chalcopyrite. These unaltered ore minerals 

unaccompanied by their oxidized products, extend for a distance of

135 feet or more above the floor of the main stope in level No. 1, 

above which more or less limonite is associated with the iron sulphides, which extend in places clear up to the glory hole. The general 

trend of the ore body, like that of the main mass of amphibolite, is 

east and west. As developed by underground workings the mineralized zone is approximately 60 feet wide and 300 feet long. The 

vertical distance from the top of the glory hole to the main level is 

250 feet, but the extent of the ore body below, this level has not yet 

been definitely determined. The ore shoot seems to pitch to the east, 

but not enough data on the extent of the mineralized section are 

obtainable to warrant any definite conclusion on this subject. Solid 

masses of iron sulphides are not so common as partly replaced 

amphibolite, and as the replacement is rather irregular, it is not 

possible with present developments to determine the general trend 

of the shoots. A large part of the ore body above level No. 1 has 

already been stoped out.

Above level No. 2 there- is a great deal of limonite, resulting from 

the oxidation of the iron sulphides. As it is reported to contain appreciable quantities of gold, liberated by the process of oxidation, it 

may prove a source of considerable revenue. The run of mine ore 

is said to contain approximately 33 per cent iron, 12 per cent sulphur, 

10 per cent lime, 30 per cent silica, 0.3 per cent copper, a trace of 

silver, and from 0.05 to 0.1 ounce of gold to the ton.

Origin of the ores. The intimate association of the ores with 

amphibolite and especially the presence of garnet in the ores point 

to contact-metamorphic action, and it is thought that the ore may 

have been deposited by solutions accompanying or following the intrusion of the monzonite porphyry.
92 OBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTEBN WASHINGTON.

CHEWELAH DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

The Chewelah mining district occupies about 432 square miles 

in the south-central part of Stevens County, its northern border 

lying midway between the northern and southern extremities of the" 

county. (See fig. 2, p. 39.) As recorded in the "office of the mayor 

of the town of Chewelah the boundaries of this district are as follows:

Commencing at the southwest corner of sec. 31, T. 31 N., K. 39 E., Willamette 

meridian; thence running north along the range line between Rs. 38 and 39 to the 

township line between Tps. 33 and 34; thence east along said township line to the 

range line between Rs. 42 and 43; thence south along said range line to the township 

line between Tps. 30 and 31; thence along said township line to the place of beginning.

Chewelah, the largest town, is about 2 miles west of the center 

of the district, on the Great Northern Kailway, which traverses the 

western half of the- district. The towns of Addy, Blue Creek, and 

Valley are also located on the railway and afford shipping points for 

the mines and prospects in their vicinity. Practically all the ore 

shipped from the Chewelah district has. been sent out from Chewelah.

CONDITION OF MINING ACTIVITY.

When the writer was in the Chewelah district in July, 1909, of the 

twelve properties examined, only one, the United Copper, was making 

regular shipments and these were rather small. On five of the others 

a small amount of development work was in progress, but this was 

mainly to cover the annual assessment requirements, and doubtless 

most of the other properties are similarly active during a part of the 

year. The railway is not far from any of the properties visited, and 

the smallness of the shipments from this camp must be credited to 

some cause other than lack of transportation facilities. Of all the 

properties examined only the United Copper had a large tonnage of 

ore blocked out ready for mining. On the Copper King considerable 

underground work has been done, but little of it has been confined 

to developing ore bodies. The other mines that have shipped ore 

have been gouged of the rich portions of the shoots, and little was 

being done to uncover or block out other ore bodies. The rest of the 

properties examined are in a prospecting state.

No mills or smelters had been erected in the Chewelah district.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The Chewelah district lies between the Calispell Range on the east 

and the Huckleberry Range on the west, in the Colville Valley, 

through which Colville River meanders in a general northwesterly 

course. The valley is in some places several miles wide; elsewhere 

the foothills of the two ranges are separated from each other by less
CHEWELAH DISTEICT. . 93.

than a mile. Chewelah Creek and Cottonwood Creek are the chief 

tributaries to Colville River from the eastern part of the district, and 

Dunn Creek (also called Stranger Creek) and Wright Creek from the 

western part. No one of these streams has a large flow of water.

The elevation of that part of the Colville Valley contained in the 

Chewelah district is about 1,600 to 1,700 feet. The mountain ranges 

on each side have a general elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 feet, though 

individual peaks rise to more than 5,000 feet. The slopes of all the 

mountains are gentle and the mountain tops are rounded, showing 

the results of glacial action. Debris fills many of the smaller valleys 

and in places covers the tops of the mountains to a depth of 30 or 40 

feet, making prospecting exceedingly difficult.

GEOLOGY.

KINDS OP ROCKS.

The rocks in the Chewelah district consist of a thick series of 

apparently conformably interbedded argillite, quartz-mica schist, limestone, lime shale, dolomite, and quartzite, all thought to be of Paleozoic age. These rocks have a general north-south strike, and they 

dip at various angles between 20° E. and 20° W., locally standing 

vertical. The total thickness of the sedimentary rocks exposed in 

the district is probably several thousa-nd feet. Because of the poor 

exposures and the lack of detailed work it is impossible to state the 

thickness of the individual rock formations, but it, probably varies 

from several feet to several hundred feet, the argillite, lime shale, and 

quartz-mica schist occupying the larger part of the area.

On the west side of the valley, in the locality of the Hartford group 

of claims, a diabase magma has invaded the sedimentary rocks and 

displaced them to a considerable extent. Diabase is present in other 

parts of the area, but was not definitely recognized in connection with 

deposits visited elsewhere in the Chewelah district. The age of this 

rock is very uncertain. It is later than the sediments which it 

intrudes and probably earlier than the granite intrusion found in 

parts of the district.

In the vicinity of Eagle and Quartzite mountains (see fig. 6),.on 

the east side of Colville Valley, is a large mass of intrusive granite. 

Dikes that presumably accompanied the granitic magma are present 

throughout the sedimentary series. No positive evidence as to the age 

of this intrusion was found, but it is thought to be Mesozoic, because 

of the great number of granite intrusions which took place throughout 

the Pacific States during the Mesozoic era. Still later intrusive rocks 

were seen in the vicinity of the Windfall and Nevada properties. As 

these and some others have only a local significance, they will be 

described in the detailed discussion of the mines and prospects.
94 QBE. DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.

The argillites occurring in the Chewelah district are fine grained 

and in places closely resemble slates. They are dark gray to black 

in color and have a slaty cleavage. Their composition varies considerably, the chief constituents being quartz, feldspar (now largely 

altered to white mica), and carbonaceous matter. Some chlorite is 

present in places and this tends to give the rocks a greenish color.

Quartz-mica schists 

are present in many 

varieties and in diverse 

colors, the most prevalent being a lustrous silvery white, though 

darker schists are also 

found. The varying 

amount of iron oxide in 

the rocks has much to 

do with the diversity of 

color. In general, these 

rocks have a fine-grained 

texture and on cleavage 

surfaces feel smooth and 

are easily scratched with 

a knife blade. This characteristic is due to the 

presence of mica, oriented in a direction parallel to the planes of

schistosity. Other varieties are harder and contain more quartz. The 

relative abundance of 

quartz and mica to a 

large extent determines* 

the texture and general 

appearance of the rock. 

The quartz-mica schists 

in this locality are closely related to the argillites in texture and 

cleavage, and with the addition of carbonaceous matter they would 

be closely similar in composition also.

The lime shales very closely resemble the argillites, but are distinguished by a lighter color and .the presence of much calcium 

carbonate, which on weathered surfaces is rather prominent. These 

rocks are a variety of impure shaly limestone.

2 Miles

Contour interval 100 feet

'Dolomite and < Quartz-mica schist, Quartzite Granite

limestone- lime shale, argillite, etc.

FIGURE 6. Sketch map of Eagle and Quartzite mountains.
CHEWELAH DISTBICT. 95

Coarsely crystalline to fine-grained blue, white, yellow, and green 

limestones occur in this district. In the vicinity of the Blue Star 

mine and elsewhere near the base of Eagle Mountain is a coarsely 

crystalline white rock resembling marble. An analysis of a specimen 

of this rock by J. G. Fairchild, of the United States Geological Survey, showed it to contain 27.5 per cent CaO and 23 per cent MgO. 

It is thus a typical dolomite.

The quartzite varies in texture from very fine grained to coarse 

grained and in color from white to yellow, red, and a dark gray or 

black. A quartzite conglomerate composed of small quartzite 

fragments cemented by calcium carbonate was seen in the Copper 

Queen workings, 10 miles north of Chewelah.

IGNEOUS ROCKS.

The diabase is of a fine-grained, even texture, and in places showed 

some schistosity. Light.to dark green colors are characteristic of 

the rock, and where exposed in the vicinity of the Hartford group 

it appeared fresh. The chief constituents are plagioclase and 

-augite, and the structure is typically diabasic. Where the rocks 

have undergone some shearing the constituent minerals have assumed 

a more or less parallel arrangement, and alteration has changed the 

augite to' hornblende and subsequently to chlorite.

The granite occurring near the base of Eagle Mountain is of 

medium to coarse grained texture, and of a general pinkish-gray color. 

Viewed in thin section under the microscope the rock is seen to 

contain a large proportion of orthoclase, a little microcline, and 

still less oligoclase, also much quartz and hornblende, the last-named 

mineral having been largely altered to epidote and chlorite. Some 

white mica has been developed in the feldspars, and a small amount 

of magnetite is present.

Lamprophyre dikes, adjuncts of a granitic intrusion, are found 

throughout the area. These are composed of a ferromagnesian 

mineral (such as augite, hornblende, or bio.tite) and feldspar, and 

some of them contain a small amount of quartz. Plagioclase feldspar also forms a large percentage of the rock. Various kinds of 

dike rock were seen within the district, although kersantite is probably more common than any other. The - dikes are readily distinguished by their high content of biotite. Where augite or hornblende is the predominant basic mineral associated with plagioclase 

the rock is called camptonite. The dikes are generally dark colored, 

and the biotite, augite, or hornblende is usually easily recognized 

without the aid of a microscope.

ORE DEPOSITS.

All the ore deposits examined in the Chewelah district are thought 

to be more or less closely associated with igneous intrusion, and 

they have many characteristics in common. For convenience of
96 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

discussion tliey are grouped in four classes, which are described in 

the. following paragraphs:

The first class, consisting of quartz veins in the lamination planes 

of schists, can be illustrated best by a brief discussion of the 

United Copper and Copper King. These deposits occupy lenticular 

receptacles of varying dimensions in the bulged strata of quartzmica schist, argillite, lime shale, etc. Plate VI (p. 100) shows on a 

very small scale the mode of occurrence of these veins and the similarity in the shape of the receptacles now occupied by ore and gangue 

minerals on each side of the main vein. As exposed in the United 

Copper workings the vein has been proved for a length of 750 feet 

and for a vertical distance of 425 feet, and it is probable that these 

dimensions will be increased by further exploration. The width of the 

ore-bearing zone ranges from a few inches to 20 feet, pinching and 

swelling of the vein having been noticed in many places, so that no 

average can be stated. The gangue is composed chiefly of quartz, with 

which are associated much calcite and siderite. Gouge is not prominent in the United Copper vein, although it is noticeable in the one 

vein which has been opened in the Copper King. The ore minerals 

in both deposits are similar in the oxidized zone, but leaching has 

proceeded to a greater depth in the Copper King, because of the 

open character of that vein, than in the United Copper. The ore 

minerals in the zone of oxidation are limonite, malachite, and some 

azurite. Chalcopyrite and pyrite are the chief ore minerals in the 

unoxidized portions of the two deposits, and in the major part of the 

United Copper vein exposed in workings from the main level these 

minerals are accompanied by arsenopyrite and tetrahedrite in varying amounts. In general the ore minerals are rather sparsely scattered through the vein filling, although in places rich shoots were 

seen. Some of the tetrahedrite is thought to be the result of enrichment by leaching of the upper portions of the vein and subsequent 

deposition below. The ore in the. United Copper vein carries about 

0.01 ounce of gold and 5.35 ounces of silver to the ton and 2.5 per 

cent of copper. That shipped during 1908 had a gross value of 

approximately $9.59 a ton. Solutions, accompanying or following 

the intrusion of the kersantite dikes formed as adjuncts of granitic 

intrusion in several localities not far removed from these mines are 

thought to have brought in the gangue and ore minerals which now 

fill the veins.

The second class, consisting of irregular replacements along shear 

zones and fault planes in dolomite and limestone, is represented by 

the Blue Star and Nevada deposits, with which the Delmonico (Enterprise) has also many characteristics in common. The Blue Star 

and Nevada occur near igneous contacts, and the Delmonico is prob-
CHEWELAH DISTRICT. 97

ably closely related to igneous intrusion, although no intrusive rock 

was seen in its immediate vicinity. The mineralization was scanty 

and irregular, forming small pockets scattered through the dolomite 

and limestone. Because of this fact much dead work is involved in 

mining the ore, and the future of the deposits is uncertain. Galena, 

tetrahedrite, and sphalerite constitute the chief ore minerals in all 

these deposits. In the Blue Star they are accompanied by chalcopyrite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite, with some azurite, malachite, cerusite, and anglesite. The gangue minerals are chiefly quartz and some 

brecciated country rock, with calcite. Barite forms an important 

part of the gangue in the Blue Star. Contact-metamorphic minerals 

are not prominent in the strata through which the intrusive rocks 

have cut. Some actinolite associated with the ore minerals was seen 

in the limestones in the vicinity of the Nevada deposit. The ores of 

this class are thought to owe their origin to solutions accompanying

or following the intrusions already referred to.

Deposits of the third class, quartz veins in diabase, limestone, 

schist, and associated rocks, are common in the Chewelah district. 

In general these deposits very much resemble those of the first class, 

but because of their small size and the diversity in the vein filling 

and country rock they are grouped separately. The Hartford, Liberty, Jay Gould, Delmonico, U. S. Copper Gold, and Windfall are 

included in this class. These veins range from a few inches to 3 or 

4 feet in width and are all more or less lenticular. They are sparsely 

mineralized by one or more of the ore minerals galena, tetrahedrite, 

sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and arsenopyrite, and the accompanying oxidized products limonite, chrysocolla, azurite, and malachite. All the ores are said to yield some gold, silver, and copper. 

They are thought to owe their origin to solutions accompanying or 

following the dikes (adjuncts of granitic intrusion), which are so 

widespread throughout the Chewelah district.

The fourth class, comprising small quartz veins and partial 

replacements in a conglomerate of quartzite fragments cemented by 

calcium carbonate, is represented by only one deposit examined by 

the writer in the Chewelah district. In the workings on the Copper 

Queen ground, 10 miles north of Chewelah, small quartz veins occur 

in some of the fault and joint openings in the conglomerate, and a 

small amount of the calcium carbonate cement has been replaced. 

Pyrite, chalcopyrite, and a little tetrahedrite, together with the oxidation products limonite, malachite, and azurite, are sparingly scattered through the quartz veins, and to a minor extent replace the 

calcium carbonate cement. The mineralization is scanty and the 

veins are irregular, so that the ore deposits have little continuity.
98 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

MINES AND PROSPECTS ON THE EAST SIDE OF COLVTLLE VALLEY.

Of the twelve mines and prospects examined in the Chewelah mining district, nine are located on the east side of Colville Valley. Of 

these only one, the United Copper, was being actively developed at 

the time of the investigation. Considerable work, however, has been 

done on the Copper King, Blue Star (Eagle), and Jay Gould, from 

which fairly large shipments of ore have been made. .The other 

deposits examined on the east side of the valley have not been 

extensively developed.

UNITED COPPER.

General features. The United Copper mine is located 4 miles in 

an air line northeast of Chewelah, or by wagon road about 5£ miles. 

The camp is situated in a steep draw on the western slope of Eagle 

Mountain, at an elevation of 3,000 feet. Plate V, B (p. 74) shows a 

part of the United Copper camp and the Copper King ore house, and 

figure 6 (p. 94) shows the general location of the United Copper vein 

and its relative position on Eagle Mountain. Grading for a railroad 

spur from Chewelah to the portal of a lower crosscut tunnel had been 

partly finished in 1909. On the completion of the tunnel and the 

railroad spur ore transportation will be simple and economical. As 

the camp is about 1,300 feet above Chewelah and no divides have to 

be crossed in going to it, the freight haul is not very expensive. 

Timber is plentiful in the vicinity, and wood is used as fuel in the 

boilers. Water sufficient for domestic use and present mining purposes is found in the immediate locality of the camp.

History and production. The United Copper holds title by assessment work to seven full claims and five fractions, none of which were 

patented up to July, 1910. The original claim of this group is said 

to have belonged to Mr. Sheppler, of Chewelah, who held it for 15 

years. On August 1, 1906, he sold it for $20,000 to the present company, which has developed the ground under the. direction of Conrad 

Wolfle, of Spokane. The production of the United Copper mine to 

1910 is reported to be about 5,000 tons of ore having a gross value of 

approximately $50,000. - .

Equipment. Bunk houses, a power house, and an ore house constitute the principal surface improvements on the property, and the 

machinery installed comprises two steam boilers of 40 and 125 horsepower; one compressor, capable of furnishing 600 cubic feet a minute, 

and engine; one compressor, capable of furnishing 300 cubic feet a 

minute, and engine; a small hoist, drills, and accessories.

Development. The underground -developments consist of a main 

adit tunnel started at the level of the camp and driven southeastward 

some 700 feet to the vein, which in July, 1910, had been followed for
CHEWELAH DISTRICT. 99

a distance of about 750 feet in a direction S. 21° W. 1 From a point 

50 feet back from the breast of the drift a 300-foot crosscut had been 

run in a westerly direction. Some 200 feet beyond the point where 

the vein is first encountered there is an upraise of 275 feet to the surface. Some stoping has been done in connection with-the upraise 

and a 122-foot drift has been run on the vein 100 feet above the main 

level. (See fig. 7.) A 150-foot winze has been sunk below the main 

level from a point a few feet northeast of the upraise, and 50-foot 

drifts run in both directions along the vein some 60 feet below the 

main level. This winze slowly fills with water up to the tunnel level 

if not pumped out. The ground-water level is locally within the range

LONGITUDINAL. SECTION

DOUBLE-COMPARTMENT SHAFT

FIGUHE 7. Longitudinal and cross sections of the United Copper mine.

of the depth of the winze. A shaft whose collar is at an elevation of 

3,375 feet has been sunk in the hill just south of camp (see fig. 6, 

p. 94) and is reported to be down 150 feet. Short drifts have been 

run on the 100-foot level. Water is said to have,been encountered 

in the lower part of this shaft. A new working tunnel is now being 

driven from a point in the gulch (see fig. 6) to tap the vein some 600 

feet below the present main level. In March, 1911, this tunnel had 

been carried in 500 feet. The company expects to tap the extension 

of the United Copper vein 3,500 feet from the portal of the lower 

crosscut.

1 A personal communication from Mr. Wolfle, dated Mar. 27,1911, states that this drift was then 200 

feet longer and that an ore shoot extended 100 feet along it. An upraise to the old shaft (see flg. 7) is also 

reported to have been finished.
100 OEE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Costs. The cost of mining is placed by the company at $1.50 a ton 

of ore mined. .This probably does not include exploration and development work. The freight rate on ore assaying "$10 a ton or less 

is $1 a ton.' The charge for treatment of this ore at the Granby 

smelter is $1.75 a ton, and when the United Copper shipped to 

Northport the charge was $1.50 a ton. The cost of transportation 

of ore from the mine and loading into cars for shipment is estimated 

at $1.50 a ton. This makes a total cost of $5.75 or $6 a ton of ore 

mined, shipped, and smelted. On the completion of the railroad to 

the lower level the transportation charge on the ore from the mine to 

Chewelah ought to be considerably reduced.

Geology. The rocks exposed by the workings on the United Copper 

ground are a part of the sedimentary series so prevalent in the eastern 

portion of the Chewelah district, comprising very fissile lime shales, 

quartz-mica schists, and argillites, showing every range, in color from 

silvery white to gray, red, and black. In general the rocks are fine 

grained and show along cleavage planes a lustrous surface. More or 

less cubical jointing is pronounced in the schists. The rocks have a 

general north-south trend and stand nearly vertical. In the vicinity 

of the vein along the main level the shales strike N. 21° E. Intruded 

into this formation, as a rule nearly parallel to the schistosity of the 

shales, are dikes of kersantite, adjuncts of granitic intrusion. These 

range in texture from medium to coarse grained, in color from a bluish 

white to almost black, and in width from a few feet to 100 feet or 

more. They are composed chiefly of plagioclase feldspar and biotite. 

The dike exposed in the United Copper mine is 30 feet wide where 

cut about 600 feet from the portal t»f the main adit tunnel.

Ore deposit.- Along the lamination planes of the schists bulging has

taken place, with the consequent formation of lens-shaped openings

of various dimensions, a series of which are occupied by the vein 

exploited by the United Copper Co. Plate VI, which is a reproduction of a photograph of part of the vein, shows on a very small scale 

the walls of schist, the small stringers on each side of the principal 

lens, and the similarity in the shape of the receptacles now occupied 

by the gangue and ore minerals. The length of this lens or series of 

veinlets and roughly parallel lenses as explored by the underground 

workings is 750 feet. The upraise to the surface extends through 275 

feet of vein matter, arid the winze below the level is said to extend 

150 feet through similar material, but as it was filled with water 

within 30 feet of the main level at the time of visit, only the upper 

portion was accessible for examination. The highest part of the hill 

through which the vein would trend if continuous has an elevation 

of 3,500 feet (see fig. 6, p. 94), and this would give a possible vertical range of 500 feet above the main level. The upper workings, 

located at an elevation of 3,375 feet, are presumably on the same
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

SPECIMEN SHOWING STRUCTURE OF THE UNITED 
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A. VIEW IN UNITED COPPER MINE.

Shows a quartz vein included between walls of shale, the shale on each side showing some mineralization 

by tetrahedrite, in which the vein itself is rich.

JS. FAULTED VEIN NO. 2, GERMANIA MINE. 

A true fissure vein in granite. Shows some mineralization by wolframite.
CHEWELAH DISTRICT. 101

mineralized.zone and the breast of the drift (July, 1910) was approximately under these workings. The vertical distance actually explored is 425 feet, and it is probable that the vein continues through 

a vertical range of 525 feet and possible that it extends on up the hill, 

having thus a vertical range of 125 feet more. As the workings below 

the main level are confined to the single winze, which was nearly full 

of water when visited, they furnished few data regarding the continuity of the vein in depth. Because of the type of receptacles for the 

vein filling, the width of the ore zone is irregular, pinches and swells 

being common. .Where the walls of the bulged portions of the openings along the lamination planes of the schists have by movement 

been brought into juxtaposition, the receptacle for the vein filling has 

been enlarged, and by the same movement other parts of the vein are 

pinched. (See PI. VI.) In places the mineralization extends several 

feet out into the country rock on each side of the well-defined ore zone, 

occupying small stringers and lenses along the lamination planes of 

the schist. Plate VII, A, from a photograph taken in a small stope 

about 15 feet above the adit tunnel level, shows the main vein and 

small quartz lenses on each side. In width the ore zone ranges from 

practically nothing to 20 feet, the average being indeterminable 

because only a relatively sm'all part of the zone has been explored. 

As exposed in the main drift the average width is about 4 feet, while 

in the stope above the main level the average width of that part 

exposed to view is approximately 10 to 12 feet. Only a small part 

of the ore body has been stoped out. The vein filling is principally 

quartz, with which are associated calcite and siderite, the latter minerals in places predominating. Gouge is not prominent, although it 

occurs here and there along the vein and is especially noticeable in 

some cross fractures that are older than 'the mineralization. The 

principal ore minerals are chalcopyrite and pyrite, accompanied by 

arsenopyrite and tetrahedrite (gray copper) in varying amounts. The 

ores from the upper workings are chiefly limonite and malachite, the 

latter in places having a beautiful radial structure. In general the 

ore minerals are rather sparsely distributed through the vein filling, 

although in places rich shoots have been uncovered for short distances. The general alignment of the ore minerals is parallel to the 

lamination planes of the schist, but vein structure of this sort is not 

uniformly present, the patches of sulphides occurring irregularly 

spaced throughout the vein. The more or less leached condition of 

the upper part of the vein and the presence of much tetrahedrite ip. 

the workings above the main level point to the conclusion that the 

tetrahedrite is in part the result of enrichment. .Below permanent 

ground-water level this mineral will probably become less and less 

prominent as the workings grow deeper. Some assays of picked specimens of this gray copper ore showed 27.2 per cent of copper and 0.1
102 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

ounce of gold and 326.8 ounces of silver to the ton. These figures, of 

course, are not representative of the run of mine ore, the average of 

which, according to smelter returns for 10 months during 1908, is 

shown below. .

Average assay of run-of-mine ore shipped to Northport smelter by United Copper Co.

during 1908.

Gold.....................................ounces to the ton.. 0.0105

Silver................................................. do,... 5.35 >

Copper.............................................per cent.. 2.481

Iron.........'.................,................:........do.... 14.182

Silica. .............................................. .do.... 35.55

Sulphur................................................do.... 3.101 ,

Lime................................................. do.... 10.638

Alumina.............................................. do.... 7.827

With gold at $20.67 a fine ounce, silver at 53 cents a fine ounce, and 

copper at 13.2 cents a pound, the average gross value of the ore 

shipped during 1908 was $9.596 a ton.

Origin of the ore deposits. The numerous kersantite dikes throughout the area are presumably adjuncts of the intrusive magma which 

formed the granite seen in the vicinity of the Blue Star and Redwood 

and elsewhere on Eagle Mountain. Solutions accompanying or following this intrusive magma are thought to have effected the mineralization in the area. The intrusive kersantite dike cut in the main 

workings of the United Copper mine may have caused the disturbance in the strata which formed the receptacles for the ore deposits, 

or the strata may have been bulged by other pressures and subsequently filled by solutions accompanying or following the intrusion.

CHEWELAH COPPEE KING.

General features. As the Chewelah Copper King mine is located 

only a few hundred feet east of the United Copper, in a similar geologic section, containing more or less similar veins, the description of 

means of access, water, timber, costs, and geology need not be 

repeated. The camp consists of the usual buildings necessary for 

mining on a small scale. When visited the Copper King mine was 

inactive.

About 5,000 tons of ore is said to have been shipped from this 

property, the contents of which averaged 0.01 to 0.02 ounce of gold 

and 3.1 to 3.4 ounces of silver to the ton, 2.5 per cent of copper, 14 

to 30 per cent of silica, 5 to 38 per cent of iron, 5 to 20 per cent of lime, 

and 2 to 5 per cent of sulphur. The cost of mining, shipping, and 

smelting this ore, exclusive of development costs, should approximate that of the United Copper $5.75 to $6 a ton.

Development. The chief underground developments are confined 

to one working, which for convenience may be called the main level.
CHEWELAH DISTRICT. 103

This starts near the creek level (see fig. 6, p. 94) on a vein and 

extends some 60 feet in a direction N. 15° E. Beyond this point it 

turns to the west and extends for a short distance, and then zigzags 

in a general northerly direction for several hundred feet. In one of 

the numerous crosscuts run from this main working a mineralized 

zone was cut on the west and drifted on for about 100 feet and stoped 

to a height of over 100 feet above the floor of the main level. This 

is the only large stope in the mine. Two winzes whose depth is 

unknown, as they were filled with water when the mine was visited, 

have been sunk below the main level one at the portal and another 

under the stope. A shaft said to be about 90 feet deep has been 

sunk on a vein some 300 feet above this level, and short crosscuts 

have been run east and west from the bottom of this shaft. An adit 

tunnel, known as the new Copper King tunnel, has been started 

about a quarter of a mile west of the camp and 200 feet lower than 

the main level. At the time of the writer's visit (July, 1909) 500 

feet of work had been done on this tunnel.

Geology. The rocks exposed by the Copper King workings are 

similar in most respects to those in the vicinity of the United Copper; 

in fact, they form a continuation of the same series. More faulting is 

evident in rocks exposed in the Copper King workings and many 

slips and shear zones were seen. These are rilled with gouge, and 

some are probably postmineral. Kersantite dikes are exposed in 

the main level of the Copper King, and in one place the dike has been 

faulted.

Ore deposit. The ore deposit explored by the stope above the main 

level is similar in many respects to that exposed in the upper workings of the United Copper. Because of the postmineral movements 

channels for the circulation of water have been afforded, and consequently the sulphide minerals have been more or less thoroughly 

leached from the upper part of the deposit. The ore body that has 

been stoped is exposed by underground workings for a length of 100 

feet and to a height of more than 100 feet above the main level. 

This ore body probably extends up to the surface (about 300 feet) 

and in each direction along the strike beyond the present limits of 

exploration. In width the mineralized zone ranges from a few 

inches up to several feet, but the average is not determinable because 

of the small amount of development on the ore body proper. Other 

exposures of veins were seen, but these veins were merely crosscut and 

not drifted on nor stoped, so that little information is available as to 

their extent. The deposits stand nearly vertical and occupy shear 

zones and bulged receptacles along the lamination planes of the 

country rock. (See Pl» VI.)

The vein filling is chiefly quartz, calcite, gouge, and siderite, the 

last-named mineral occurring generally in separate veins parallel to 

29122° Bull. 550 14 8
104 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

the general trend of the deposit, although in places it is scattered 

through the vein. Chalcopyrite, pyrite, and tetrahedrite are distributed through the vein in small quantities. Some vugs in the 

vein are lined with beautiful greenish calcite crystals. The deposit 

that has been stoped shows chiefly the oxidized minerals, limonite 

and malachite, the former very profusely and the latter but sparingly 

distributed through the vein.

Origin of the ores. The ores owe their origin to exactly the same 

agencies as those which formed the United Copper deposit, the 

Copper King representing a continuation of the same vein system. 

Local physical factors have controlled the impoverishment and 

enrichment of the veins to such an extent that the deposits as viewed 

from the workings on the main levels appear somewhat dissimilar. If 

the veins are persistent below ground-water level, they doubtless 

assume many more characteristics in common.

Future of the mine. If the veins exposed are continuous into the 

United Copper ground, the first two veins cut in the United Copper 

adit tunnel, which were quite barren of ore minerals, probably represent the continuation of the Copper King veins.

Because of the leached condition of the vein that is stoped in the 

Copper King mine, it seems reasonable to suppose that some enriched 

ore will be found at a greater depth in the same vein. The ore so 

far found in the other veins could easily be concentrated, and if gray 

copper should be developed by future explorations the introduction 

of flotation processes or canvas tables for concentration would save 

this mineral, which is often lost by ordinary methods of concentration.

STROBECK.'

Several prospects belonging to or under the management of Mr.. 

Strobeck were examined because of their proximity to the United 

Copper and Copper King mines. On most of these prospects the 

developments consist of small shallow surface cuts through the glacial 

debris. These cuts expose the geologic relations of the underlying 

beds, and by their aid several of the geologic boundaries have been 

roughly outlined on figure 6 (p. 94). Ore minerals are scarce or 

entirely lacking in almost all these prospects.

The most extensively developed prospect in this group is the 

Keystone, several hundred feet east of the United Copper mine, on 

the south side of the same gulch. On this prospect an adit tunnel 

having one branch crosscut is located at an elevation of 3,150 feet 

and has been driven for a distance of 312 feet. The rocks exposed 

are quartz-mica schists and lime shales similar in many respects to 

those of the United Copper and Copper King. These rocks strike 

N; 15° E. and dip 75°-80° S. 75° E. and the adit tunnel foUows the 

general strike of the formation in a direction S. 13£° W. Quartz and
CHEWELAH DISTRICT. 105

calcite stringers are present in lenses along the lamination planes of 

the schists but appear to be barren of ore minerals. An intrusive 

kersantite dike exposed in the workings somewhat resembles those in 

the United Copper and Copper King, though biotite.is much more 

prevalent and forms a large part of the dike. This dike is also an 

adjunct of granitic intrusion.

DELMONICO (ENTERPRISE).

The Delmonico or Enterprise prospect is on the northwestern 

slope of Eagle Mountain, a few hundred feet south of the main road 

to the United Copper and Copper King mines, about 4 miles by 

wagon road northeast of Chewelah. A shallow shaft (locked at the 

time of the writer's visit) constitutes the principal underground 

development. Small shipments are reported to have been made 

from this prospect.

Yellowish crystalline limestones are the only rocks exposed in the 

immediate vicinity of the camp. These have a general north-south 

strike and a steep dip and are traversed by joint planes, the principal 

ones having a northwest-southeast direction. Small quartz stringers 

from a fraction of an inch to several inches in width traverse the 

limestone in all directions. The limestone on each side of the quartz 

stringers is silicified for short distances. Galena, tetrahedrite (gray 

copper), and sphalerite, associated with some chrysocolla, azurite, 

and malachite, are rather sparsely distributed in the quartz stringers. 

The ore's are reported to carry considerable silver, which is probably 

contained in the tetrahedrite.

Although no intrusive rocks were seen in this immediate locality, 

similar mineral associations were observed in quartz veins in limestone 

of the same type near igneous contacts at no great distance away.

BLUE STAR (EAGLE).

The Blue Star mine is on the western slope of Eagle Mountain at 

an elevation of about 3,000 feet and is 3£ miles in an air line northeast 

of Chewelah, or about 4£ miles by wagon road. (See fig. 6, p. 94.) 

This mine is reported to have been among the first producers in the 

district, and the statement is current in Chewelah that $80,000 

worth of ore has been shipped from it.

As. the mine was inactive when visited and the shaft full of 

water it was impossible to obtain authentic information en many of 

the features which should be noted in this sketch. The developments 

consist of a shaft said to be more than 200 feet deep and a main level 

on which there are about 1,000 feet of crosscuts and drifts and above 

which there is a small amount of stoping.

Coarsely crystalline white dolomite, resembling marble, fine to 

medium grained blue limestone, and medium to fine grained gray-
106 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON".

blue quartzite are the sedimentary rocks in this locality. These 

rocks are apparently conformable, strike in a general northwest direction, and dip about 65° SW. at this particular locality, although a 

north-south strike and a nearly vertical dip prevail generally throughout the sedimentary series on Eagle Mountain. Dikes of kersantite, 

adjuncts of granitic intrusion, cut the sedimentary rocks in the Blue 

Star workings.

As exposed in the main level the ore occurs in pockets and irregular 

replacements along shear zones and fault planes in dolomitic limestone. To judge from the small stopes above the main level the ore 

shoots ranged from a few inches to 3 or 4 feet in width and from 

several feet to 50 feet or more in length. The ore is not continuous 

along any one zone but is irregularly scattered through the dolomitic 

limestone and appears to be absent in the quartzite exposed in the 

workings. Galena, tetrahedrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and 

pyrrhotite constitute the chief ore minerals and are associated with 

cerusite, anglesite, malachite, azurite, limonite, and other oxidized 

products. The gangue minerals are quartz, barite, calcite, and more 

or less brecciated country rock. The distribution of these ores is 

not even and they form irregular shoots, so that much dead work is 

involved in their extraction. A few shipments of. ore aggregating 

315 tons, made to the Tacoma smelter several years ago, are reported 1 to have averaged 0.068 ounce of gold and 27.4 ounces of 

silver to the ton and 39.6 per cent of lead; the copper content was 

not determined.

JAY GOULD.

The Jay Gould mine is 3£ or 4 miles by wagon road a little north of 

east of Chewelah, at an elevation of 2,700 feet. It was idle when visited but was more accessible to examination than most of the other 

inactive properties. Several shipments of ore are reported to have 

been made from the Jay Gould.

The developments consist of several surface cuts and an inclined 

shaft some 200 feet deep, from which two levels several hundred feet 

long and 100 feet apart have been run. The property is equipped 

with a hoist and a small amount of machinery.

Limestone, quartz-mica schist, argillite, and lime shales constitute the major part of the geologic section in this locality and represent a continuation of the, sedimentary series found on Eagle Mountain. These rocks are intruded by granite similar to that found in 

many other parts of the Chewelah district. Some of the dikes accompanying the granitic intrusion, and containing a high percentage 

of ferromagnesian minerals contain also some pyrite which is reported 

to carry 60 cents a ton or less in gold. During 1910 much talk was 

current in Chewelah and vicinity regarding these " peculiar ore

1 Northwest Mining News, vol. 2, No. 6, p. 122,
CHEWELAH DISTRICT. 107

bodies," and several persons were tempted to try to mine the dike 

for its gold content.

The sedimentary rocks have a general east-west strike and dip 

20°-50° S. 10°-20° W. In places near the workings the strata strike 

northeast and stand nearly vertical. The intrusion of the granite 

has caused numerous local changes in the strike and dip of the sedimentary rocks, and they are cut by many faults.

In the faulted limestones are large veins of quartz, some of which 

are several feet wide and several hundred feet long. Running in all 

directions through the country rock are small veinlets of quartz, in 

places occupying small lenses between the lamination planes of the 

schists and shales and elsewhere filling small fractures that cut 

directly across the planes of schistosity. In the Jay Gould workings 

two large quartz veins are exposed, one that extends from the surface 

to a depth of .130 feet, and another that is explored on the 200-foot

level. Innumerable quartz veinlets are to be seen throughout the 

workings. The quartz is sparsely mineralized by pyrite, sphalerite, 

galena, and chalcopyrite, with which is associated some tetrahedrite. 

The ore minerals also replace the country rock to a slight degree, 

forming small pockets. The workings are not extensive enough to 

warrant conclusions regarding the size of the ore shoots.

U. S. COPPER GOLD.

The U. S. Copper Gold prospect is about 3 miles a little north of 

east of Chewelah, half a mile south of the Jay Gould. A wagon road 

has been built from the prospect to a road running into Chewelah, 

and the distance between the two places by this route is about 3£ 

or 4 miles.

The developments consist of a 340-foot adit tunnel, the portal of 

which is at an elevation of 2,550 feet, and a short adit tunnel 100 

feet higher. The rocks are silicified limestone, shaly in part, and 

quartz-mica schist, in places resembling quartzite. These rocks 

strike northwest.and dip at a steep angle northeast. Intruded into 

the sediments are dikes of quartz diorite and quartz monzonite porphyry. The quartz diorite, which has been locally sheared, is a 

medium-grained gray rock containing much quartz, plagioclase feldspar, hornblende, and small patches of garnet. The quartz monzonite porphyry is a medium-grained gray rock containing quartz, 

orthoclase and plagioclase feldspar, and hornblende.

Small veins of quartz are irregularly scattered through the silicified 

limestone and contain some chalcopyrite and pyrite and the oxidized 

products malachite, azurite, and limonite. The ore is reported to 

carry some gold as well as copper. Developments on the mineralized zone are so scanty that few data are available as to the extent 

of the ore deposit.
108 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

WINDFALL.

The Windfall prospect is about a quarter of a mile south of the 

U. S. Copper Gold. It has been developed by an adit tunnel 600 

feet long, the portal of which is at an elevation of 2,600 feet, and a 

small open cut 175 feet higher. The rocks containing the deposit 

are silicified limestones. Quartzite also forms a part of the geologic 

section in this locality. These formations strike approximately 

north and south, and stand nearly vertical. Quartz diorite, contaming a small amount of pyrite and a few crystals of garnet, and 

quartz monzonite porphyry have intruded the formations, and where 

exposed in the adit tunnel these rocks occupy a large part of the 

working.

In the silicified limestone in the upper workings is exposed a quartz 

vein about 3 feet wide. This vein strikes north and south and stands 

nearly vertical. It is sparsely mineralized by arsenopyrite, pyrite, 

and chalcopyrite, which have been more or less oxidized so that in 

places the vein is highly stained by limonite and malachite. Developments on the vein proper are so meager that speculations in 

regard to the future of the deposit are futile.

COPPEK QUEEN. 1

The Copper Queen prospect, on Chewelah Creek about 10 miles 

almost due north of Chewelah, is the most northerly deposit examined by the writer in the Chewelah mining district. A wagon road 

extends to a cabin on the prospect, at an elevation of 2,300 feet.

The developments consist of several short adit tunnels, short drifts, 

and shallow winzes, aggregating about 600 feet of underground 

workings. The portals of three adit tunnels are at elevations of 

2,360, 2,425, and 2,500 feet.

Quartzite and a conglomerate formed of quartzite fragments 

cemented by calcium carbonate are the prevailing rocks in this immediate vicinity. These rocks strike N. 50° E. and stand nearly vertical. Included in the quartzite conglomerate is a fine-grained dark 

bluish-green rock, showing slight schistosity and composed almost 

entirely of feldspar, now altered to sericite, and a ferromagnesian 

mineral, now altered to chlorite. Small veinlets filled with dolomite 

traverse this rock.

In the underground workings many faults were seen and joints 

are prominent. Small quartz veins are present along some of the 

fault and joint planes in the conglomerate. These veins are sparingly mineralized by pyrite associated with a little chalcopyrite and 

some tetrahedrite (gray copper). The calcium carbonate cement in 

the quartzite conglomerate has also been replaced to some extent by

i This prospect should not be confused with the Copper Queen near the Copper King, on Eagle 

Mountain.
CHEWELAH DISTRICT. 109

ore minerals. The oxidation products malachite, azurite, and limonite stain much of the conglomerate in the vicinity of the faults and 

joint planes. The veins are lenticular and irregularly spaced, so 

that the ore deposits have little continuity.

PROSPECTS ON THE WEST SIDE OF GOLVILLE VALLEY.

The three properties examined on the west side of Colville Valley 

were all doing a small amount of development work when visited, 

although none of them had reached the producing stage. Blue Creek, 

6 miles northwest of Chewelah, is the nearest shipping point.

HARTFORD.

The Hartford group of claims, comprising four full claims and a 

fraction, owned by the Krug Gold & Copper Mining Co., is 1£ miles 

northwest of Blue Creek, on the eastern foothills of the Huckleberry 

Range. A wagon road extends between the claims and Blue Creek. 

No large shipments of ore are reported from this group. Water and 

timber are plentiful in the locality. The developments consist of an 

adit tunnel 340 feet long (August, 1910), the portal of which is at an 

elevation of approximately 2,300 feet, numerous shallow surface cuts 

or trenches on quartz veins, and a shaft 35 feet deep.

The rocks in the vicinity are a part of the sedimentary series of 

limestone, quartzite, argillite, lime shale, etc., which prevails throughout most of that part of the Chewelah district examined by the 

writer. In the vicinity of the deposits, however, these rocks have 

been so intruded by diabase and a rock now altered to chlorite schist 

that they occupy only a small area, the diabase covering the larger 

portion of the surface. Subsequent metamorphic processes have 

sheared the whole series, and the result is a very intimate association 

of intrusives and sediments, all of which show some schistosity-in the 

vicinity of the ore deposits. Later dikes such as commonly accompany dioritic or granitic intrusions are found throughout the section. 

In the small exposures of limestone seen the strike is north and south 

and the dip approximately vertical. A high bluff of quartzite about 

half a mile north of the Hartford group extends for several miles east 

and west.

More or less pyrite with a little chalcopyrite is disseminated through 

the zones of movement in the diabase and the associated sediments, 

but the ore deposits which the company is trying to develop are 

quartz veins occurring in several places on the claims. The adit 

tunnel is being driven for the further development of one of these 

veins and the possibility of crosscutting others. One open cut at an 

elevation of 2,500 feet, on top of the first high ridge east of the portal 

of the adit tunnel and approximately 200 feet above it, shows a series 

of quartz veinlets in limestone which is included between sheared
110 ORE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

diabase on the east and chlorite schist on the west. The chlorite 

schist is only a few feet wide, and beyond it is more sheared diabase. 

Other open cuts and trenches show quartz veins in diabase, having an 

average width of 3 feet, an average north-south strike, and a westerly 

dip at a small angle. One vein was seen that dipped to the east. As 

water fills all the excavations after they are several feet deep, further 

sinking has not been attempted. These quartz veins are in general 

. sparsely mineralized, but are reported to contain small amounts of 

gold, silver, and copper. . The vein which near the surface appeared to contain more ore 

minerals than the others is opened by a shallow shaft on the Bismark 

claim. This opening is about 900 feet northwest of the portal of the 

adit tunnel and exposes a quartz vein 2 to 3 feet wide that is fairly 

well mineralized by galena and tetrahedrite, associated with some 

pyrite, chalcopyrite, and sphalerite and the oxidized products azurite, 

malachite, and limonite. An assay of a specimen from this vein, by 

Lewis & Walker, of Butte, Mont., for Mr. August Krug, general manager of the Hartford group, showed the ore to contain 0.49 ounce of 

gold and 94.2 ounces of silver to the ton and 4.8 per cent of copper.

LIBERTY.

The Liberty Copper Co.'s prospect is located at an elevation of 

2,300 feet, 2£ miles southwest -of Blue Creek, on the northern slope of 

a small spur which extends northeastward from the lower part of the 

Huckleberry Range. The developments consist of an adit tunnel 

528 feet long (July, 1909), an 80-foot drift, and several shallow sur- 

'face cuts. Shipments of ore are not reported from this prospect.

Argillites, lime shales, and quartz-mica schists constitute the major 

part of the geologic section in .this locality. Where exposed by the 

underground workings these rocks show considerable faulting, strike 

approximately north and south, and stand nearly vertical. In one of 

the open cuts, however, at an elevation of 2,550 feet, the sedimentary 

rocks strike southeast and northwest. Dark-colored medium to 

coarse grained diorite dikes containing a large percentage of augite 

intrude the sedimentary series in a direction almost at right angles to 

their planes of schistosity.

Small quartz veins are included in the schist and shale and, though 

in general barren where exposed, are in places slightly mineralized by 

pyrite, chalcopyrite, and a small amount of tetrahedrite. One larger 

quartz vein was encountered at the breast of the 80-foot drift which 

branches off from the main adit tunnel some 30 feet from its portal. 

This vein in places carries some ore minerals. Small quantities of 

gold, silver, and copper are reported to occur in these ores.
DEERTRAIL DISTEICT.- Ill

NEVADA.

The Nevada prospect is located at an elevation of 3,000 feet about 

5 miles southwest of Blue Creek. A wagon road extends within a 

mile of the prospect, and from the end of it a trail has been built to 

the camp. Shipments are not reported from this prospect. The 

developments consist of a shallow shaft about 30 feet deep and a few 

feet of drifts from the bottom of the shaft.

Quartz-mica schist and intercalated strata of limestone, quartzite, 

and lime shale occupy a large part of the area in the immediate 

vicinity of the Nevada workings. These rocks have a general northeast strike and dip about 45° NW. Some 600 feet" east of the workings a light-colored fine-grained felsitic intrusive rock containing 

some phenocrysts of biotite and plagioclase feldspar cuts the sedimentary rocks in a general northeast-southwest direction. This 

rock, which greatly resembles aplite, was seen for a distance of 

2,000 feet along its contact with the sedimentary series. Contact 

metamorphic minerals, such as epidote and actinolite, have been 

developed to some extent in the limestone. Sphalerite and galena, 

associated with quartz, actinolite, and a small amount of tetrahedrite, 

replace the limestone in an irregular manner. The pockets of ore 

thus formed range from a few inches to a foot or more in diameter, 

but no continuous ore shoots were observed in the Nevada workings. 

Some pyrite was seen along joint planes and small fractures in the 

quartzite east of the workings. The ore is reported to carry an 

appreciable quantity of silver, besides the lead and zinc.

Because of their irregularity in size and distribution, the mining 

of the ore pockets found in the Nevada workings is uncertain. Ore 

is much more abundant in the limestone than elsewhere in this particular series, although quartz lenses in the lime shale may also be 

mineralized. Solutions accompanying or following the intrusion 

just east of the camp have no doubt effected the replacement of the 

limestone and the deposition of ore in this vicinity.

DEERTRAIL (CEDAR CANYON) DISTEICT. 

LOCATION.

The Deertrail (Cedar Canyon) mining district is just north of the 

Spokane Indian Reservation and occupies the extreme southwestern 

part of Stevens County. The writer was unable to find any definitely 

recorded boundaries for this district.

Springdale, on the Great Northern Railway, 25 miles by wagon 

road from Deertrail, is at present the nearest railroad station and is 

the shipping point for the district. Turk, a small settlement about 

2 miles northwest of the Deertrail camp, is the present post office, the
112 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

one at Deertrail having been discontinued. The completion of the 

proposed railroad along Spokane River will make parts of this 

district much more accessible and afford cheaper transportation of 

ores.

CONDITION OF MINING ACTIVITY.

The Germania tungsten mine was the only active property in the 

Deertrail mining district in the summer of 1910, when the writer 

made his investigation. Deertrail, 2 miles north of the Germania 

camp, was once the center of much mining activity, and large shipments of silver ore are reported to have been made from the veins 

exploited by the several mining companies, but most of the richer 

ore has no doubt been extracted. Most of the mines that have 

shipped in the past, among them the Deertrail, Elephant, Legal 

Tender, Providence, Victor, Seal, and Queen, are on patented claims. 

Hence annual assessment work is not'necessary and as the tenor of 

the ores does not justify mining under present conditions the workings 

have been in disuse for several years and are now for the most part 

inaccessible. The charred remains of some of the buildings that have 

been partly destroyed by a forest fire add desolation to the general 

abandoned appearance of the camp.

The lead-silver deposits here described are not those of the mines 

. which in the past have been the more prominent shippers, but those 

which could be seen. All the workings visited are of small extent.

The account of the Germania tungsten deposits and vicinity is 

more complete, as the workings were all in good condition, the 

deposits were being actively developed, and much information of 

general interest was obtained through the courtesy of the operators.

A small copper smelter has been erected at Turk to treat the ores 

from the Copper Butte mine but has never been successfully operated. 

The mill located on the Germania ground was in successful operation 

at the time of the investigation. The process of treatment of the 

ores is described in detail on pages 122-123.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The part of the Deertrail district examined is situated on a series 

of ridges having a general north-south trend and forming the southern 

part of the Huckleberry Range. These ridges slope gradually down 

to Columbia River on 'the west, Spokane River on the south, and the 

Colville Valley on the east. The general elevation of the tops of the 

ridges in this vicinity is approximately 3,800 feet, or 1,200 to 1,600 

feet above the valleys. In general the gulches have gentle slopes and 

the valleys between the ridges are usually broad and show-the result 

of glacial action. Water is plentiful in most parts of the district and 

the small streams that flow through many of the gulches afford an 

abundant supply for domestic use. The hillsides are largely covered 

by evergreen trees, which furnish a supply of timber.
DEEETRAIL DISTRICT. 113 

GEOLOGY.

Argillite, lime shale, quartz-mica schist, limestone, dolomite, and 

quartzite intruded by a large mass of granite and many accompanying 

dikes occupy the part of the Deertrail district examined by the writer. 

The sedimentary rocks are thought to be of Paleozoic age, and the 

granite is believed to have been intruded during Mesozoic time. The 

sedimentary rocks are slightly dynamometamorphosed and bear 

marked resemblances to most of the sedimentary rocks occurring in 

other parts of northeastern Washington. The intrusive granite is 

also very similar to that found in many of the other mining districts 

in this part of the State.

SEDIMENTARY ROCKS.

The general trend of the sedimentary rocks is north and south, but 

in the immediate vicinity of the Germania and Deertrail camps it is 

about N. 21° E. The dip ranges from 45° to 90° and may be to the 

east or west. The rocks appear to be conformably interbedded, and 

the thickness of any one formation ranges from a few feet to 100 feet 

or more. The quartz-mica schists and argillites probably occupy the 

largest part of the geologic section, the total thickness of which is 

several thousand feet.

The argillites and lime shales in this district have many characteristics in common. They are of a fine-grained texture, somewhat 

resemble slates, and are very fissile. The colors which predominate 

are gray-green and black, although lighter shades were seen here and 

there. The argillites are composed essentially of quartz, feldspar 

(now largely altered to white mica), and carbonaceous matter. Chlorite is so abundant in some of the shales as to make them in reality 

chloritic schists. The lime shale represents very impure, shaly limestone or argillite containing a high percentage of calcium carbonate.

The quartz-mica schists form much of the second prominent ridge 

west of the Germania camp and a part of the ridge in which the 

Germania workings are located. They are medium to coarse grained 

in texture and are highly schistose. The prevailing color is dark 

gray, although some red, yellow, and pink schists were seen. They 

are harder than the quartz-mica schists in the eastern part of the 

Chewelah district, but closely resemble those on Huckleberry Mountain several miles west of Chewelah, about 12 miles northeast of 

Deertrail.

Coarsely crystalline blue-white, white, and yellow limestones aiid 

dolomites were seen in this district. Some of the limestone contains 

much serpentine, and the dolomites contain as much as 22 per cent 

ofMgO.1

i Analysis by J. G. Fairchild, chemical laboratory, United States Geological Survey
114 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON. .

The quartzite is a medium to coarse grained pink rock which shows 

no schistosity. It does not appear to be as widely distributed in the 

vicinity of the ore bodies as the sediments already described.

IGNEOUS ROCKS.

As in many other places throughout northeastern Washington the 

sedimentary rocks of the Deertrail district are intruded by large 

masses of granite. In the vicinity of the Germania camp granite is 

more prominent than farther to the north in the Deertrail camp. 

Granite is also reported to occur a short distance east of the Germania 

camp. A thin section of a fresh specimen of the granite viewed 

under the microscope showed the rock to contain large proportions 

of quartz, orthoclase, oligoclase, and biotite, with a little microcline 

 and some albite. The feldspars have been slightly altered to white 

mica, although the rock in general is remarkably fresh.

Dikes, presumably later eruptive phases of the same magma, are 

present in all parts of the sedimentary series. They contain more of 

the ferromagnesian minerals, augite, biotite, and hornblende, and the 

feldspars are predominantly plagioclase. Some of the dikes found in 

the Deertrail camp may be classed as camptonite.

ORE DEPOSITS.

DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTER.

The deposits examined in the Deertrail district and those which 

have been the most .productive in the past are confined mainly to a 

narrow strip of country not over 2 miles wide and extending in a 

general north-south direction about 5 miles. (See fig. 8, p. 117.) 

Other deposits are located outside of this belt, and there is no reason 

to believe that they should not be as well mineralized as those within 

it, but lack of time prevented an examination of the whole district.

All the deposits seen may be classed as quartz-filled fissure veins, 

but because of the diversity of vein filling they will be discussed in 

three groups, according to the chief metals in the ores tungsten, 

lead-silver, and copper.

1. The veins carrying tungsten ores are represented by the deposits 

on the Germania ground. These deposits occur in granite and the 

hard, compact variety of quartz-mica schist. The main workings are 

located in granite and expose a quartz vein having an average width 

of 2 feet, which has been proved for a length of 400 feet along its 

strike and 200 feet on the supposed continuation of the vein, and to a 

depth of 193 feet. This vein has been faulted both to the east and 

to the west. Where exposed in the workings, the displacements have 

been only a few feet. Fluorite and tourmaline also form a small part 

of the gangue. The chief ore minerals are wolframite, which forms
DEERTRAIL DISTRICT. 115

about 5.5 per cent of the vein filling, and scheelite. Galenobismutite 

in small quantities is scattered through the quartz and occurs in 

fractures in the wolframite and carries about 1 ounce of silver to the 

ton. Other minerals in the vein are pyrite, chalcopyrite, molybdenite, and arsenopyrite. Limonite is prominent in the upper 

workings and some secondary ferritungstite 1 was seen.

2. The group of veins carrying lead-silver ores in reality comprises 

all the deposits within the area, even the tungsten veins containing 

some lead-silver ores in the form of galenobismutite. The chief 

deposits of this group, however, are different in nature from the" 

tungsten veins. They range from a few inches to 6 or 7 feet in width 

and are reported to continue along their strike.for long distances. 

Faulting of the veins was noticed in several of the workings, but the 

displacements were in general only a few feet. Most of these leadsilver quartz veins occupy fissures or shear zones along the lamination 

planes of the sedimentary rocks. The Orchid, however, which is 

reported to be a lead-silver deposit, occurs in granite. The vein 

filling is mainly quartz, with which are associated some barite and a 

little calcite. The chief ore minerals are galena, sphalerite, and 

tetrahedrite. Sphalerite is said to increase in proportion toward the 

lower levels of the jnines. Pyrite and chalcopyrite are also present 

in the ores. The croppings almost invariably show some malachite 

and much limonite. Native silver has been found in the upper levels 

of some of the mines.

3. The writer did not have an opportuntity to examine any considerable copper deposit in the Deertrail district. One prospect near 

the gulch level, about 4,000 feet southeast of Cedarville, showed a 

deposit having many characteristics in common with the lead-silver 

veins explored higher on the mountain side.

ORIGIN OF THE ORES.

The minerals in the tungsten deposits and the lead-silver veins are 

thought to owe their origin to the granite magma, evidences of the 

intrusion of which are found throughout the district. Solutions 

accompanying or following its intrusion or that of the dikes which are 

adjuncts of it are believed to have effected the mineralization. At 

least two periods of mineralization can be recognized in these deposits. 

The tungsten veins were probably the first formed. In the fractures 

of the wolframite some galenobismutite is found, showing a second 

period of mineralization. The formation of the fissures that are now 

filled with the lead-silver quartz veins may have accompanied the 

intrusion of the dikes which appear to be closely related to the main 

granite mass. Solutions accompanying or following the intrusion of

1 This new mineral, ferritungstite, has been described by W. T. Schaller in U. S, Geol. Survey Pull. 

509, pp. 83-84, 1912.
116 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN" WASHINGTON.

these dikes are believed to have brought in galena and sphalerite and 

perhaps tetrahedrite, although this last mineral may represent a third, 

period of deposition. Superficial alteration has enriched the upper 

portions of the lead-silver veins by the formation of rich secondary 

silver sulphides. As there was no opportunity of studying the copper 

deposits in this district, little can be said regarding them.

LEAD-SILVER DEPOSITS.

The following detailed descriptions represent prospects from which 

little or no ore has been shipped, the larger properties having been 

inaccessible to examination for reasons stated on page 112. The vein 

worked in the Seal and Queen mines is thought by persons in the 

Deertrail district to extend some distance northeast of those mines, 

and several prospects have been located along its supposed northeast 

continuation.

BROOKS.

The Brooks claim adjoins the Queen on the northeast (see fig. 8) 

and has been prospected by a 50-foot shaft whose collar is at an 

elevation of 3,900 feet, a small open cut 600 feet northeast of the shaft 

and 75 feet lower, and an apex open cut. The shaft has been sunk 

hi greenish-black lime shale, and at the depth of 50 feet had not 

encountered a vein.- The first open cut is on a quartz vein 5 to 7 

feet wide, which strikes with the formation that is, N. 25° E. In 

the immediate vicinity of the open cut the sedimentary rocks dip 

45° SE., but a short distance beyond they stand nearly vertical. A 

camptonite dike 2 or 3 feet wide intrudes the lime shale and limestone 

3 feet east of the quartz vein. The limestone in the immediate 

vicinity contains some serpentine. Ore minerals are scarce in the 

quartz vein, which is stained by malachite and limonite. Probably

some sphalerite, galena, and gray copper have been leached from the 

cropping of this ledge.

SUNDAY MORNING.

On the Sunday Morning claim, which joins the Saturday Night on 

the northeast, 460 feet of development work has been'accomplished. 

A 20-foot crosscut at an elevation of 3,525 feet leads to a 180-foot 

drift on a quartz vein. Another crosscut 50 to 100 feet lower and 

northeast of this working is said to be 260 feet long. In July, 1910, 

the prospective vein had not been encountered in this crosscut. 

"Where exposed in the upper working the quartz vein is about 18 

inches wide, and on each side of it are small stringers of quartz separated 

from the main vein by 6 to 24 inches of country rock. The strike of 

this vein is to the northeast and the dip about 80° NW. Some gouge 

was noted on each side of the vein. The quartz is cellular and contains small patches of galena, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite. Limonite 

and malachite stain parts of the vein. Many vugs in the vein are 

partly filled with quartz crystals, and some barite is present.
DEEETEAIL DISTRICT. 117

Tuck Cedarvflle

*

LITTLE PRANK.

On the Little Frank, a fractional claim just north of the Sunday

Morning, an 8 to 10 foot crosscut taps a 12-inch quartz vein contained

in the limestone and shale series. No drifting has been done on this

 vein. Some galena, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite are present in the

ores, together with malachite and limonite.

HOODOO.

On some of the larger properties several hundred feet of crosscuts 

could be examined, but most of those workings were found to be caved 

before the vein which 

had been worked in the 

past was reached. The 

Hoodoo workings, however, were in good condition, and a vein was 

well exposed in them 

and will be described 

here.

The west side line of 

the Hoodoo claim adjoins the east side line 

of the Deertrail. (See 

fig. 8.) The portal of 

the adit tunnel is located at an elevation of 

3,610 feet. The rocks 

through which the 

workings penetrate are 

a part of the metamorphosed sedimentary series which occupies a large portion of 

the Deertrail district. 

These rocks appear to 

be much more contorted in the vicinity 

of the Deertrail camp 

than they are 1 mile to 

the west. They have a general northeast strike and dip from 

45° SE. to 90°. Intruded into these rocks, apparently along the 

lamination planes, are dikes of camptonite and other more or 

less basic phases of the granitic magma. A quartz vein 2 to 3 feet 

'wide is exposed in both branches of the Hoodoo crosscut. In the 

north branch the vein is about 3 feet west of an intrusive dike, and in 

the south branch it is about 30 feet west of the dike. A few feet of

"RAILCAMP

FIGUBE 8. Sketch map showing the approximate position ol some 

of the claims in the vicinity of the Deertrail camp.
118 ORB DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

drifting beyond the intersection of. this vein with the crosscut has 

shown the vein to be faulted to the west about 6 feet. The vein has 

the same trend as the sedimentary rocks, striking N. 50M500 E., and 

dipping 45° SE. It has been but slightly developed.

Quartz forms the principal vein filling and is associated with some 

barite and brecciated country rock. The vein is sparingly mineralized 

by pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, and some tetrahedrite. 

The ores on the dump show also some malachite and limonite.

GERMANIA TUNGSTEN DEPOSIT.

LOCATION AND MEANS OF ACCESS.

The Germania camp is, in an air line, just 3 miles south of Turk 

and 17 miles a little south of west of Springdale, the distance by 

wagon road from Turk being about 4 miles and .from Springdale 

about 25 miles. The former Deertrail post office and the Deertrail 

mining camp are 2 miles north of the Germania camp. Springdale, 

a town on the Great Northern Railway, is at present the most accessible shipping point. A railroad down Spokane River has been projected for some time, and if built will probably pass within 7 miles 

(in an air line) of the Germania camp. As only concentrates are 

shipped from the Germania and as the shipments up to the-time of 

writing (April, 1911) had not exceeded 30 tons every two months, 

the transportation of ore has not been a very important factor in 

the growth of the mine. However, with better facilities for shipment, the costs will naturally be somewhat reduced, and hauling in 

supplies of all sorts will be less expensive and more easily accomplished. The office, mill, and lower workings are at an elevation of 

approximately 3,400 feet in a small draw on the east side of a long 

timber-covered ridge which projects southeastward from the southern 

part of the Huckleberry Range.

Wood for fuel, mine timbering, building, and other purposes is 

plentiful in this locality and enough water for domestic use and 

milling is available near by.

The company owns sec. 13, T. 29 N., R. 38 E., and holds title by 

annual assessment work (concentrated chiefly on the main workings) to about 50 other claims scattered over parts of sees. 12, 14, 23, 

and 24, T. 29 N., R, 37 E., and sec. 18, T. 29 N., R. 38 E.

HISTORY AND PRODUCTION.

The claim known as the Bismarck was located by John Horn in 

1894. The present company, after two years of litigation, bought 

sec. 13 and four-fifths interest in the claims of Horn's successors.

Up to the end of December, 1910, the Germania Co. had mined and 

concentrated 1,647 tons of crude ore, which produced 82.35 tons of 

concentrates containing 70 per cent of W03 . These figures are said 

to represent mining operations covering a period of about five months,
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 350 PLATE VIII

PLAN OF THE GERMANIA CAMP, SHOWING THE MAIN LEVELS AND THE LOCATION OF SOME OF THE LESSER WORKINGS.
DEEBTKAIL DISTRICT. 119

EQUIPMENT.

The mine is equipped with a small concentrating plant, described 

on pages 122-123. The power house contains an 80-horsepower 

boiler, a compressor and engine, a 15-horsepower 

induction motor, a small slide-valve engine, and 

numerous accessories. The camp and mine are 

lighted by electricity.

DEVELOPMENT.

The principal developments (see fig. 9 and 

PI. VIII) consist of three levels. The portal of 

the lowest, No. 3, is at an elevation of 3,400 

feet, that of No. 2 at an elevation of 3,472 feet, 

and that of No. 1 at an elevation of 3,593 feet. 

The bottom level is 431 feet below the top of 

the ridge into the east side of which these levels 

have been run. On these levels 570 feet of crosscutting and 520 feet of drifting have been accomplished, and between the levels and the surface 

there are four shafts constituting over 300 feet 

of work. Small stopes have been made at several 

places in the mine. Besides these main workings 

there are numerous short adit tunnels, drifts, 

shallow shafts, open cuts, and crosscuts, the 

locations of some of which are shown in Plate 

VIII, others being scattered over the claims some 

distance away from the main camp.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Advantageous tunnel sites are afforded by the 

long, narrow ridge which rises rather abruptly 

above the camp on the west. This ridge is one 

of a series of ridges that project from the main 

backbone of the Huckleberry Range and terminate in lower ridges which extend down to 

Spokane River, 7 to 12 miles to the south. 

Offshoots from .these ridges are numerous, and 

the valleys between them are narrow .draws and 

gulches, which toward their lower parts widen 

out to form relatively smooth and rolling country. 

The highest peaks in this locality are. from 4,500 

to 5,000 feet above sea level; 8 miles to the west Columbia River is 

only 1,500 feet above the sea.

GEOLOGY.

The rocks of this locality have been discussed at length on pages 

113-114. The only rock encountered in the main Germania workings 

29122° Bull. 550 14 9
120 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

is a biotite-quartz-orthoclase granite, thought to be of Mesozoic age, 

intruded into the sedimentary quartz-mica schist, quartzite, dolomite, 

limestone, and argillite which extend throughout a large portion of 

the Deertrail district. (See pp. 10-22.) South and north of the 

Germania camp these sediments have a general north-south strike 

and a dip of 45° E. to 45° W. Veins carrying tungsten ore have 

been found in the granite and in the quartz-mica schist.

ORE DEPOSITS.

Character and distribution. As exposed by the main workings on 

the Germania ground the ore deposit occupies a fissure in granite 

(see PI. VII, B, p. 101) and has been developed underground for a 

distance of 400 feet along its strike^and 200 feet on the supposed continuation of the vein. Its vertical extent has been proved for a 

distance of 193 feet and it probably extends up to the top of the ridge. 

Only a small part of the ore body has been stoped out. The average 

width of the deposit is about 2 feet, though in some places is over 

3 feet wide and in others it nearly pinches out. . Postmineral faulting has in several places broken the continuity of the vein. Where the 

movements have been transverse to the strike of the vein the faulting 

has apparently thrown the vein to the west, although it is said to 

have been thrown to the east at one place. The displacements have 

ranged from 7 to 30 feet. The granite exposed in the mine workings 

is very much jointed, and a series of block faults may exist, in which 

case displacements to the east would be as likely to occur as those 

to the west. Some faults extend parallel to the strike of the veins. 

Along all the fault planes more or less gouge has been developed and 

some secondary pyrite has been deposited.

The general strike of the vein is N. 17°-25° E. and the dip 65°-70° 

S. 65°-73° E. The vein filling is chiefly quartz of a massive variety 

which is mostly pure white but in places has a slight-bluish tint. It 

contains also some black tourmaline and green fluorite. The vein 

is mineralized in an irregular, more or less pockety manner by 

wolframite, with which are associated considerable pyrite, some 

chalcopyrite, arfsenopyrite, galenobismutite, molybdenite, pure-white 

scheelite, and secondary ferritungstite. Plate IX reproduces a piece 

of polished ore from this vein and shows the distribution of the wolframite and pyrite in quartz.

Quartz veins occur in several of the other workings and a few of 

them carry some tungsten minerals in their outcrops. These veins 

range from.a few inches to 3 or 4 feet in width, but could not be 

traced continuously along their outcrops for any considerable dis-
U. J|. GEOLoaiCAL SURVE'

OCCURRENCE OF WOLFRAMITE IN QUARTZ, GERM

The dark crystals are wolframite, the gray pyrite, and the w
DEEETEAIL DISTRICT. 121

tance, owing in part to the overburden which is prevalent in this 

country, and in part to the lenticular character of some of the veins and 

to the faults which displace them. Two of the veins seen consisted 

almost wholly of ore minerals, containing only a little quartz and other 

gangue. One of these veins, 2 inches wide, is- in the north tunnel 

(fig. 10), and the other, 4 to 6 inches wide, in an adit tunnel whose 

portal is located on the south side of the ridge just across the line of 

the Spokane Indian Reservation. Wolframite and pyrite constitute 

the chief minerals in both of these veins, neither of which has thus far 

been shown to have any considerable extent.

The ore in parts of the stopes above the main workings concentrates 

20 into 1, representing a recovery said to be 88 to 90 per cent. From 

these figures the distribution of the tungsten minerals in parts of the 

vein can be fairly well appreciated. In other words, the tungsten 

minerals in the ore shoots represent 5.5 per cent of the vein filling. 

As the scheelite and ferritungstite occur in very subordinate quantities, and as the ferritungstite is a product of alteration of other tungsten minerals, the percentage given may .be taken as representative 

of the distribution of wolframite in the ore shoots. Next to wolframite in order of abundance comes pyrite. In the portions of the 

vein exposed to view pyrite appeared more abundant in. the upper 

workings than lower down.

The wolframite occurring in these veins is a- brownish-black tungstate of iron and manganese. An analysis of some of the wolframite, 

by R. C. Wells, of the United States Geological Survey, showed it to 

have the following composition:

Analysis of wolframite from Germania tungsten mine.

[R. C.-Wells, analyst] 

Si02 ......................................................... 0.36

MnO......................................................... 4.93

Fe203 as FeO......................... i.....................'.. 18. 68

W03 ......................................................... 75. 73

Undetermined in Fe203 ........................................ .22

This mineral inclines to ferberite and, like true ferberite, carries 

an excess of iron oxide. Mr. Wells states that CaO, MgO, Mo03 , 

and rare earths are not present in the specimens analyzed by him. 

The concentrates from the jigs are said to contain 68 to 72 per cent 

W03 , those from the tables 60 to 65 per cent, and those from the 

vanner 55 to 60 per cent.

The scheelite occurring in the ores is of uncommon whiteness and 

appears to have crystallized contemporaneously with the wolframite, 

with which it is intimately associated in some of the specimens 

examined. Scattered through small fractures in the tungsten ores
122 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

and more noticeably through the quartz are small stringers and 

aggregates of thin, needle-like crystals of a mineral determined by 

Mr. Wells to be galenobismutite or cosalite, the mineral composition 

being nearer that of galenobismutite. Analyses made by Mr. Wells 

show the composition of.this mineral to be Pb 25.24, Bi 56.92, S 17.03. 

As the galenobismutite carries also some silver and occurs in appreciable quantities in the vein, it might pay to save this mineral, which 

is now lost in concentration. An assay made by E. E. Burlingame 

& Co., of Denver, of run of mine quartz carrying some of this mineral 

showed the presence of 1 ounce of silver and 0.02 ounce of gold to 

the ton.

Origin of the ores. The quartz veins containing the ores which 

have just been described are thought to have been derived from the 

intrusive granite magma. After or during the cooling of the intrusive 

mass fissures were formed, and these have been filled with quartz, 

wolframite, fluorite, and pyrite, with smaller quantities of tourmaline, 

scheelite, galenobismutite, molybdenite, chalcopyrite, and arsenopyrite. These minerals in the main probably crystallized about 

contemporaneously, and subsequent fractures have been filled to 

some extent by galenobismutite and secondary pyrite. The deposition of the primary minerals probably marks the close of one period 

of igneous activity in connection with this granite magma. The 

association with tourmaline is indicative of deposition under considerable heat and pressure.

TREATMENT OF ORES.

The ore goes directly from the ore bins to a 7 by 10 inch Blake 

breaker, where it is crushed to 1^ inches or .less, thence to 10 by 16 

inch rolls, and thence to revolving screens of 8 and 4 mesh. Ore 

which passes through the 8-mesh screen goes to a classifier; thence 

the sands go to a jig. The overflow goes to another classifier, the 

first sands from this going to a four-compartment 3-inch Richards 

pulsator jig, the second sands to a Card table, and the overflow to a 

Wilfley table. The material that will not pass the 8-mesh screen 

passes the 4 mesh and goes to two jigs, where coarse concentrates 

and middlings are made. The middlings, together with the middlings from the first jig, are elevated to Gates 10 by 16 inch recrushing 

rolls and thence sent through the revolving screens again. The flow 

sheet (fig. 10) illustrates diagrammatically the process of treatment. 

The drop of the first jig is 1J inches and of the other two 1 inch.

The company at present is considering a change in the process of 

treatment of these ores that will involve the substitution of revolving 

screens of 3,10, 6, and 4 mesh for the 8 and 4 mesh, the addition of a 

sorting table, grizzlies, a larger crusher (15 by 9 inches), another ore 

bin, a feeder, another set of rolls, another jig, a Ffue vanner, and a
DEERTEAIL DISTRICT. 123

Bartlett table. The flow sheet of the proposed mill is shown in 

figure 11, and the machinery for it is reported to be on the ground.

Classifier

4 com p. 3"

Richards

pulsatorjig

LEGEND 

_ Ore 

,._ Middlings 

® Concentrates

FIGURE 10. Flow sheet of Gennania mill.

The costs of mining and milling the ore are estimated by the company at $8.75 a ton of crude ore. The concentrates are shipped to

LEGEND 

_ Ore

| Ore gate 

^Sorting table

\Grizzley

Lr} Capacity ISOtons 

l5"* 9' -3 Revolving screens

__ _ , ___^ ^064-

Ore

_._ Middlings 

____. Tailings

® Qpncentrates

'Settling-tank

Richards 

classifier

Downie rolls I4"x 24"

Elevator

lett table

Frue vanner

FIGURE 11. Flow sheet showing proposed plan of treatment in the mill of the Germania Co.

Cassel, Germany, in lots of 25 to 30 tons, at a cost of $16 a ton.1 

This makes the cost of producing 1 ton of concentrates about $200.

This is only $2 a ton more than the freight rate to New York City.
124 OEE DEPOSITS OF NOBTHEASTEEN WASHINGTON". 

OTHER DEPOSITS IN STEVENS COUNTY.

The deposits described under the above heading are more or less 

isolated in that other deposits of note had not (up to July, 1909) 

been actively developed in their vicinity. As they represent widely 

separated localities and are mined under diverse conditions, no attempt will be made to present a general discussion of the geology and 

ore deposits, which will be treated in the individual descriptions.

COLUMBIA RIVER GOLD MINING CO.

General features. -The claims of the Columbia River Gold Mining 

Co. are located on the northwest side of Gold Hill, a domelike mountain which rises, over 1,000 feet above the town of Meyers Falls, 

on the Great Northern Railway, 3 miles east of Columbia River 

and about the same distance southeast of Marcus. The lower 

workings, consisting of an adit tunnel and several laterals, are located 

at an elevation of 1,675 feet, about half a mile northeast of Meyers 

Falls. Water and timber are to be had in the vicinity.

Work is said to have been done on these claims intermittently 

since 1899 and continuously during the years 1905 to 1908. The 

property was idle when visited (August, 1909). Three shipments 

of sorted ore are said to have been made from the upper workings, 

850 feet above the adit tunnel one of 15 tons to the Granby smelter 

and one of 20 tons and another of 18 tons to the Northport smelter. 

These shipments are said to represent a total gross production of 

about $1,505 from this prospect.

A 50-horsepower engine and compressor, two drills, and a blower 

constitute the machinery at the lower workings, and a 25-horsepower 

hoist and a skip are installed at the upper workings.

The ore deposit has been developed by an inclined shaft, the collar 

of which is located near the top of Gold Hill on its southeast side, 

at an elevation of 2,525 feet. The shaft pitches 45° NW. and is said 

to be 300 feet deep and to have a 50-foot drift 150 feet below the 

collar. At the time of visit water filled the shaft within 130 feet 

of the top. An adit tunnel at an elevation of 1,675 feet on the west 

or northwest side of Gold Hill, near its base, has been driven 2,300 

feet in a direction N. 80° E. Some 2,000 feet from the portal a 

crosscut has been driven at right angles to the adit for 265 feet, and 

from this there are several short drifts.

Geology. The rocks exposed in the workings are a thick series 

of black carbonaceous shales, which strike approximately N. 60° E. 

and dip 45°-80° NW., the steeper inclination being more prevalent. 

Intercalated in these shales are strata of limestone, lime shale, 

and conglomerate composed of fragments of carbonaceous shale. 

The whole series is apparently conformable, has suffered some
OTHER DEPOSITS IN STEVENS COUNTY. 125

dyhamometamorphism, and has been locally silicified. It forms a 

part of the sedimentary series of rocks present -throughout Stevens 

County. Intruded into these rocks, apparently along the lamination 

planes, are light and dark colored dikes having essentially a granitic 

composition. The dark-colored dikes are fine grained and contain 

also much carbonaceous matter and .minute fragments of shale. 

The light-colored dikes are coarse grained and resemble silicified 

granite. Quartz and feldspar are the chief constituents of both 

rocks, and. they are thought to have accompanied or followed the 

intrusive granite which is present throughout northeastern Washington. Small fragments of the rock through which these dikes have 

passed were taken up by the invading magma.

Ore deposit. In August, 1909, the long crosscut tunnel had not cut 

the continuation of the vein which it had been driven to intersect, 

unless one or more of the small barren quartz veins seen in the drifts 

from this crosscut represent its continuation. In the 850 feet of 

vertical distance between the two workings the vein may have pinched 

out, been faulted, or changed its course completely. Not enough 

work had been done on the vein in the shaft to prove its persistence 

in any direction.

As exposed in the shaft, the vein ranges from 3 to 6 feet in width 

and contains lenticular ore shoots that are from less than an inch 

to several inches in width and from a few inches to several feet in 

length. The strike of the vein is N. 18° E. and the dip 45° N. 72° W., 

although the directions of both change to some extent in the short 

distance the vein was exposed. The hanging wall of the deposit is 

the light-colored porphyritic rock already referred to and the footwall 

is black carbonaceous shale. Faulting is indicated by the formation 

of gouge on the footwall. The gangue is chiefly brecciated country 

rock and gouge cemented by quartz, with some siderite and calcite. 

The ore minerals are chiefly chalcopyrite, pyrite, and tetrahedrite. 

Some molybdenite was seen in fractures in the rock.

The ores are thought to owe their origin to solutions which accompanied or followed the intrusion of the dikes, adjuncts of granitic 

intrusion, which cut the sedimentary rocks.

SILVER QUEEN.

The Silver Queen workings are about 3 miles south of Kettle Falls, 

which is on the east bank of Columbia Eiver, and 3 miles southwest 

of Meyers Falls, a station on the Great Northern Railway and the 

nearest shipping point. The property was idle when visited and 

nothing is known of its early history. As only a small amount of 

development work has been done, the shipments must have been 

small, if any were made. A small compressor plant, hoist, and pump 

constitute the machinery installed in the shaft house.
126 . ORE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

The workings are located at an elevation of 1,970 feet on the 

western slope of the extreme northwestern projection of the Huckleberry Range, where it slopes gradually down to the confluence of 

Colville and Columbia rivers. The developments consist of an 

inclined shaft about 100 feet deep, which pitches 45° SE., and three 

short drifts from the shaft, two at the bottom and one 30 feet from 

the collar.

Blue and white medium to fine grained limestone and intercalated 

lime shale and argillite constitute the rocks in which the workings are 

located. These rocks are similar in many respects to those found in 

other parts of the-area and form a part of the sedimentary series 

which prevails throughout northeastern Washington. They have a 

general northeast strike and dip about 45° SW. Minor folds were 

seen in the workings, so that a part of the strata stand vertical and 

other beds are more or less inclined. The sedimentary rocks are 

cut by dikes of the kind that commonly accompany granitic intrusion, and less than a quarter of a mile away from the workings is a 

fine-grained light-colored granite. This rock is probably also intrusive 

.into the sedimentary series, although no actual contacts were seen.

The ore deposit occurs in quartz lenses following the lamination 

planes of the sedimentary rocks and ranging from a few. inches to 3 

or 4 feet in width. The mineralization is scanty and in general the 

quartz is barren, although some tetrahedrite, sphalerite, galena, 

chalcopjrrite, and pyrite occur here and there in the quartz. The 

ores are thought to have accompanied solutions which were introduced by the intrusion of the granite and granitic dikes common in 

this part of Washington.

OLD DOMINION.

The Old Dominion Mining & Milling Co. has in the past produced 

about $610,000 worth of lead-silver ore. Most of this has come from 

the Old Dominion and Ella mines, which represent workings on claims 

bearing these names. For convenience the property as a whole will 

be referred to as the Old .Dominion.

Location. The claims are located 6£ miles almost due east of Colville, one of the largest towns on the Great Northern Railway, 89 

miles north of Spokane. By wagon road they are about 7£ miles 

from Colville, and the elevation of the lowest level is 1,300 feet higher, 

or 2,925 feet. Hauling freight between the two places offers no 

serious difficulties, and water and timber are abundant in the vicinity.

Ten patented claims are owned by the company, and in the past it 

has controlled 43 others by development work concentrated on one 

or more of the patented claims.

History. Patrick and William Kearney, J. Z. Alexander, and 

Alfred Bernoit discovered ore on this ground in 1883, while they were
OTHEK DEPOSITS IN STEVENS COUNTY. 127

descending the slope from Dominion Mountain, which they had 

ascended to find out their position in relation to the surrounding 

country. Assays of the material which they took to Spokane were 

encouraging and they returned and located several claims. These 

locations are said to represent the first recorded mineral discovery in 

this part of the country. Ore was packed into Spokane on horses at 

a cost of $100 a ton, and later was hauled in wagons at a cost of $40 

a ton. It was then shipped by rail to Tacoma, Wash., or Helena, 

Mont. These men are said to have obtained about $400,000, almost 

entirely from ground within 75 feet of the surface. About 1899 the 

mine was transferred to E. G. Brickel, then president of the Traders 

National Bank of Spokane, who had lent money to the former owners. 

Mr. Brickel caused a mill to be erected on the ground, and during the 

period of his ownership the production of the mine is said to have had 

a value of about $100,000. After his death G. B. Dennis, of Spokane,

the present owner, bought the mine from the Brickel estate'in 1892 

for $160,000. Mr. Dennis has informed the writer that he took out 

$100,000 worth of ore and has invested funds in the property, including the purchase price, to the extent of $506,000.

Equipment and development. As the mine was idle when visited, 

the mill and power house were not open to inspection, and it is therefore impossible to give authentic information pertaining to the equipment of the plant. The mill is reported to have had a daily capacity 

of 60 tons and to .have been equipped with a crusher, jigs, tables, and 

vanners. The power house is said to have contained an 80-horsepower boiler, an 80-horsepower engine, a 6-drill air compressor, and 

a blower.

The chief developments on the ore bodies consist of extensive workings on the Old Dominion and Ella claims, but these do not reach 

much more than 100 feet below the surface. The general elevation 

of these upper workings is approximately 3,375 feet, and they are 

450 feet vertically above the lowest adit tunnel, which has been 

driven for a distance of 2,127 feet northeastward from a point just 

above the gulch level. The breast of this adit tunnel (September, 

1909) is about 300 feet south of and a little more than 450 feet below 

the shaft on the Ella claim. (See fig. 12.) From the breast nearly 

3,000 feet of crosscutting has been accomplished. Level No. 2, which 

is 157 feet above No. 1, is about 500 feet long, and level No. 3, which 

is 93 feet above No. 2, has also about 500 feet of work. A prospectus 

issued by the company states that over 13,000 feet of development 

work has been done.

Topography. Dominion Mountain is the most prominent peak in 

the vicinity of Colville and forms one of the noticeable landmarks in 

this part of the Calispell Range. Its sides are bare, and as it is
128 ORE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

rather isolated, its domelike form is very conspicuous. The elevation 

of the summit has been stated to be about 4,500 feet above sea level, 

but no accurate surveys have been made. Certainly it rises several 

hundred feet above the highest workings on the Old Dominion group. 

Dominion Mountain forms one of the western outliers of the Calispell 

Range, with which it is connected by a series of ridges and less prominent peaks.

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

FIGURE 12. Longitudinal section and plan of |the Old Dominion workings, adapted from prospectus

issued by the company.

Geology. The rocks seen between Colville and the Old Dominion 

mine are a part of the sedimentary series of argillite, lime shale, limestone, dolomite, etc., which prevail over a larger portion of northeastern Washington. In the immediate vicinity of the Old Dominion 

mine limestone and dolomite are the only representatives of this 

series. These rocks are intruded by dikes of normal biotite-orthoclase-quartz granite, which is remarkably similar to the granite 

intruding the sediments in most of the other mining districts within 

the area studied.
OTHER DEPOSITS IN STEVENS COUNTY. 129

Pure white marmarized limestone seems to be the predominant 

rock. It is highly recrystallized and in places is very siliceous, having been almost completely replaced by silica. Some of the limestone 

is highly magnesian and could be classed as a dolomite. The strata 

have retained their original bedding planes throughout the dynamometamorphism which has greatly changed their original texture and 

position. They now strike northwest-southeast and stand nearly 

vertical, and their planes of lamination are parallel to the intrusive 

granite on the northeast. The limestone is considerably broken up 

near the contact with the granite and the brecciated fragments are 

cemented by silica. Contact-metamorphic silicate minerals are 

absent, and this fact suggests that the intrusion of the granite took 

place at no great depth.

Various phases of the intrusive granite are present near the Old 

Dominion workings. In the vicinity of the -surface cuts on the Ella

and Old Dominion claims the intrusive rock is considerably altered, 

consisting of quartz, very much altered feldspar, and entirely altered 

ferromagnesian minerals, present only as chlorite and limonite, which 

stain the granite to a greenish or yellowish color. Lower down, in the 

fresher phases, the alteration is confined chiefly to the ferromagnesian 

minerals, which are completely changed to chlorite. Still lower 

down, in the No. 1 adit tunnel, fresh granite is found. Viewed in thin 

section under the microscope the fresh rock is seen to consist of 

orthoclase and oh'goclase, with some albite, quartz, and biotite, all 

the mineral constituents showing only slight alteration. Some white 

mica and chlorite are present, the former resulting from the alteration 

of the feldspars and the latter from biotite.

Ore deposit. Ore bodies hi limestone, having an irregular lenticular 

shape and generally pitching only about 20° into the hill, have been 

stbped out hi various workings located on the Old Dominion and 

Ella claims. These deposits and others have been found at places 

2,500 feet apart along the strike of the granite intrusion, within a 

horizontal distance of 125 feet of the contact. The richest deposits 

occurred within 100 feet of the surface. Other deposits were nearly 

vertical, following the general trend of the intrusive granite. Some 

of the stopes extend-for 300 feet along the strike of the contact; 

others are smaller. They have an average width of 6 to 8 feet. In 

horizontal extent at right angles to the contact the flat-lying ore 

bodies average less than 30 feet. All the ore bodies were connected 

by a network of fissures and joints, the fissures being largely filled 

with brecciated limestone fragments cemented by silica. Postmineral faults are reported but were not seen because it was impossible to inspect many of the workings. Adit tunnels Nos. 1, 2, and 

3 were mostly inaccessible. It was possible to examine No. 1 to a 

point 500 feet from the portal, but at that point the tunnel was caved.
130 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

The mineralization was an irregular replacement of the limestone, which was more highly mineralized along fractures than elsewhere. The ores in the upper workings are said to have been galena 

and rich secondary silver sulphides, together with cerusite and anglesite. Sphalerite was found in the lower levels, and an ore body containing chiefly pyrite is reported to have been found in the lowest 

level. The gangue minerals are quartz, calcite, and siderite. Shipments from the upper workings showed the ore to contain 100 to 

400 ounces of silver to the ton and 13 to 60 per cent of lead.

Solutions accompanying or following the intrusive granite no 

doubt formed these deposits. They are exceptionally rich near the 

surface and if they extend to.any considerable depth will probably 

be found to decrease greatly in value. They are also not likely to 

prove continuous over great distances. In the vicinity of the intrusive granite dikes there may be other rich deposits near the surface, 

which, have not yet been discovered. Sphalerite will probably 

increase in proportion if deposits lower down are worked, and this in 

turn will probably give way to pyrite. (See discussion on the genesis 

of the lead and zinc ores, pp. 26-27.) The future of the mine lies in 

finding other replacements and mineralized fractures in the limestone 

near the surface along the strike of the intrusive granite dikes.

TUNGSTEN KING. 1

The Tungsten King claims are 30 miles a little west of north of 

Spokane, in the SE. i sec. 16, T. 30 N., R. 42 E. This is about 

10 miles almost due north of Deer Park and 5 or 6 miles northeast 

of Loon Lake, both of which are stations on the Great Northern 

Railway. There is a good wagon road from Deer Park to a point 

within 2 or 3 miles of the deposits, and from this point a road has

been constructed to the claims.

The topography of the region is characterized by broad valleys 

and gentle slopes. Glacial debris is scattered over most of the 

mountains, and the valleys are choked with it. The country is well 

timbered and watered. . The deposits are located at an elevation of 3,500 feet near the head 

of a small gulch on the southeast side of Big Blue Grouse Mountain. 

(See fig. 13.)

A continuation of the mountain extends eastward for about a mile 

and forms Little Grouse Peak. These two peaks constitute the 

southwestern extension of the dividing range between Burnt Canyon 

and Ecks Creek and are a part of the Calispell Range. The top of 

Big Blue Grouse, the highest mountain in the immediate vicinity, is 

probably'not over 3,800 feet above sea level; the elevation of the 

valley in which Deer Park and Loon Lake are located is approximately 2,200 feet.

i Reprinted largely from Bancroft, Howland, Notes on tungsten deposits near Deer Park, Wash.: U. S. 

Geol. Survey Bull. 430, pp. 214-216, 1910. >
OTHER DEPOSITS IN STEVENS COUNTY. 131

The rocks in the vicinity of the deposits are principally arenaceous 

shales, probably of Paleozoic age, metamorphosed to quartz-mica 

schists of various colors. The original bedding planes of the rocks 

do not appear to have been greatly changed, being very even, with 

fairly uniform structure. The rocks are deeply oxidized and the 

various colors, from white to red and yellow, seem to be due to the 

amount and degree of oxidation of the iron present in the schists. 

The dip of the rocks is about 30°-60° SW., and the strike is to the 

northwest, but there are many minor and in places abrupt changes 

in both strike and dip.

Contour interval 100 feet

FIGURE 13. Sketch showing the relative position of the Tungsten King prospect and Big Blue Grouse

Mountain.

A short distance to the northeast granite has been found, but no 

contacts of this rock and the schist were visible, so that the true 

relations of the two can not be positively stated. The schists are 

said to dip away from this granite in all directions, the granite probably being an intrusive mass.

The Tungsten King claims have been opened by two short prospect 

tunnels about 50 feet apart vertically,.an 80-foot inclined shaft 250 

feet above the lower tunnel, and several shallow open cuts. (See 

fig. 13.) The workings are scattered, and so far no large shipments 

have been made.

The ores occur in lenses of quartz which follow in general the bedding planes of the shales and in small fissures similarly filled that cut 

across the country rock. A number of the quartz lenses are opened 

in the workings, and, as exposed along the outcrop, they show a thickness of 1 to 6 feet. The outcrops are largely covered by debris but a 

few of the quartz lenses can be followed on the surface for a hundred
132 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

feet or more. The gangue is composed entirely of quartz, generally 

white but here and there smoky and in many places iron stained.

A partial analysis of the tungsten mineral, by R. C. Wells, of the 

United States Geological Survey, showed the presence of 23.9 per 

cent of MnO, which indicates a typical hubnerite.1 The crystals of 

hubnerite are commonly twinned and form in places along the walls 

of the vein in bunches over an inch thick, smaller crystals being scattered through the quartz in an irregular fashion. They are also 

present in most of the outcrops of the lenses. Plate X is reproduced 

from a photograph of a part of one of the veins. The crystals of hubnerite are easily distinguished, and their occurrence in the quartz vein 

is clearly shown. The country rock seems to be quite free from 

hubnerite. In general the quartz lenses are rather lean. Here andthere, however, fairly massive bunches of hubnerite can be seen; 

the most conspicuous of these noted in July, 1909, was. at the foot 

of an inclined shaft, where a small shoot 2 inches wide extended across 

the bottom of the vein for a distance of 6 feet. The quartz veins have 

been broken and fractured since the deposition of the minerals, and 

minute fissures extend across the ledges and country rock.

The other metallic minerals present are pyrite and argentiferous 

cosalite, of which the latter might possibly be economically important. 

Although in places the hubnerite and cosalite occur together, this 

association is not common, the bismuth mineral, it is said, being 

found mainly in the lenses, which are down in the gulch, and not occurring in the workings high up on the hill, although there seems to be 

no logical reason for its absence in these outcrops. Like the hubnerite, the cosalite is scattered through the quartz, though apparently 

not so abundant. The crystals are long and fibrous and have about 

the hardness of gypsum, the weathered surfaces of the bismuth mineral 

being rather yellow and resembling antimony oxide. A picked specimen of ore contained, according to an assay made by Ledoux & Co. 

for the United States Geological Survey, 27.20 ounces of silver and 

$2.48 in gold to the ton. A specimen of cosalite was examined by 

R. C. Wells, of the Survey, who has furnished the following analysis. 

The second column represents the analysis reduced to gangue-free 

basis, without moisture.

Analysis of cosalite from Tungsten King claims.

Moisture.............................................. 0.17

Gangue.............:................................. 2.19

Bismuth.............................................. 45.25 46.44 . Lead................................................ 33.66 34.54

Sulphur............................................... 16.58 17.01

Silver...................................:............ ..80 . .82

Copper............................................... 1.16 1.19

99. 81 100. 00

»The theoretical limit is 23.4 per cent MnO. This specimen may Have contained some oxide.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

QUARTZ LEDGE IN QUARTZ-MICA SCHIST, TUNGSTE

Showing distribution of hu'bnerlte in the vein
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

PANORAMA OF REPUBLIC, WASH.
EEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 133

The composition above given is intermediate between that of galenobismutite and that of cosalite, but nearer cosalite, whose theoretical 

composition is 2PbS.Bi2S8 (S 16.1, Pb 41.8, Bi 42.2). Galenobismutite has the formula PbS.Bi2S3 (S 17.08, Pb 27.6, Bi 55.40). Mr. 

Wells thinks it doubtful if the molecular ration has any definite meaning in minerals of this character, and says: "Possibly the two sulphides, PbS and Bi2S3 , are capable of forming solid solutions of one 

in the other or have been precipitated together from a state of colloidal solution."

Pseudomorphs of hematite and limonite after pyrite are present 

in large numbers in the wall rock and in the quartz lenses. These 

crystals vary from those of microscopic size to 2-inch cubes, and the 

pyrite is in all stages of alteration. In places the pseudomorph itself 

ia nearly decomposed and only the skeleton of. the crystal remains. 

These cubes are developed on a larger scale in the vein than in the 

wall rock, into which they seem to extend only a foot or so. In the 

immediate vicinity of the quartz ledges the country rock is locally 

silicified and highly stained with iron oxides.

The origin of the deposits is probably due to the waters which accompanied the intrusion of the granitic rock a short distance to the 

northeast.

In view of the scattered nature of the ore and the haul of 10 miles 

to the railroad station, concentration at the claims would probably

be advisable.

FERRY COUNTY.

REPUBLIC (EUREKA) DISTRICT.

By WALDEMAB LINDGREN and HOWLAND BANCROFT. 

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

The Republic mining district, formerly known as the Eureka district, is located in Ferry County, near the western border of the area 

covered by this reconnaissance. (See fig. 2, p. 39.) Republic, the 

principal town in the district (PI. XI), is 24 miles south of the international boundary. The boundaries of the district are recorded in 

the office of the county clerk of Stevens County and are reported from 

that office as follows:

Beginning at the dividing line of Stevene and Okanogan counties at a point where 

the said county line leaves the dividing line between the north half of the Colville 

Indian Reservation, thence north on said county line 21 miles, thence due east to the 

summit of the highest range of mountains dividing the watersheds of Kettle River and 

Columbia River on the east side and Curlew Creek and the Sanpoil River on the west 

side, following the summit south to the dividing line of the north half and the south 

half of the Colville Indian Reservation, thence west to place of beginning.

As thus outlined the district occupies an area of about 440 square 

miles. This includes the area occupied by the Belcher mining district 

(described on pp. 166-179). Much of the Republic district was not 

studied in detail in the present investigation.
134 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Plate XII is a geologic and topographic map of an area of 32.8 square 

miles, which forms a part of the Republic quadrangle as mapped by 

the United States Geological Survey and includes within its boundaries 

the principal mines in the Republic district.

MEANS OF ACCESS.

Republic, the principal town of the district and the county seat 

of Ferry County, is located about 1 mile southeast of the center of the 

area mapped on Plate XII, just east of the confluence of Eureka 

Gulch and Granite Creek, the latter emptying into Sanpoil River 

about a mile southeast of the center of the town. Along Eureka 

Gulch, which has a direction approximately north and south, and the 

lower part of Granite Creek, for 6 miles northward from the Sanpoil, 

are located the principal producing mines of the district. 

The Great Northern Railway runs daily freight and passenger 

trains to Republic, and the Spokane & British Columbia Railway 

maintains a triweekly service between Republic and Danville. A 

railroad has been surveyed down Sanpoil River, and if completed 

will place the district in more direct communication with Spokane.

During the investigation Republic was said to have a population 

of 1,500 inhabitants. Electric light and water are supplied to the 

town by the North Washington Power & Reduction Co.

HISTORY OF THE DISTRICT AND CONDITION OF MINING INDUSTRY.

M. H. Joseph, who has long been a resident of Republic, has written 

several papers on the camp. The following historical data are taken 

mainly from Mr. Joseph's article "Mines in Ferry County," published 

in the Republic News-Miner August 27, 1909, and from Bulletin 1 

of the Washington Geological Survey, written by Joseph B. Umpleby 

in 1910.

The Republic camp first became actively prospected immediately 

after the opening of the north half of the Colville Indian Reservation, 

February 21, 1896. Although it was locally well known that this 

district contained some prominent lodes, few people were on hand to 

stake out claims when this part of the reservation was formally thrown 

open to mineral locations. On February 21 the Black Tail, Sanpoil, 

Lost Lode, Copper Bell, Iron Mask, Lone Pine, Last Chance, Trail, 

Tenderfoot, and Macawber were staked out. Four of these are said 

to have been staked by Philip Creasor and Thomas Ryan, who were 

among the first to locate claims.. On March 5 these men located the 

Republic. The Mountain Lion, Quilp, Pearl, Surprise, Black Tail, 

North Sanpoil, Ben Hur, Trade Dollar, Little Cove, Knob Hill, 

Princess Maud, Morning Glory, and many other locations were made 

in the early days of the camp.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

GEORGE OTIS SMITH, DIRECTOR BULLETIN 550 PLATE XII

Base from Republic quadrangle, U.S.Geological Survey

SECTION ALONG LINE A A'

Geology by WaldemarLindgrenand Howland Bancroft 

67 ' Surveyed in 1909

Tb

LEGEND

Glacial deposits and stream gravels

Andesite Lake beds

Lava flaws and Tnffaceotts iit

brt'ccia part

O

o

UJ

o 

o

,8

3

2

Mine

Tib

SECTION ALONG LINE B B ' *

GEOLOGIC MAP AND SECTIONS OF THE REPUBLIC MINING CAMP, FERRY (X)UNTY, WASHINGTON

Scale "«60T 

I______'/z______o_____________i 2 Miles

Contour intervaTlOO feet 

1914

. Hoen&Co., Lith.
REPUBLIC DISTRICT. 135

Although the results of the assays on the first samples taken from 

the district are reported to have been rather discouraging, a little 

further prospecting uncovered ore which gave returns showing higher 

values. . Within a few years three mills had been erected in the 

district, treating rather unsuccessfully much of the ore from the camp. 

A "boom" was inaugurated and the activity in stock manipulation 

was at its height in 1899. The collapse soon followed.

Umpleby'* says:

Active mining continued up to the spring of 1901, when the large custom mill and 

also the Republic mine were closed down. From that time until the coming of the 

railroads in 1902 and 1903 little work was done. But with ready transportation to 

British Columbia and coast'smelters operations revived, and for some time shipments 

approximating 1,000 tons a week were made. This did not continue long, however.

. Operations were spasmodic until 1909, when more or less favorable 

contracts were made with various smelters, and operations were 

resumed in .a more systematic manner. In 1910 work was commenced on the construction of a mill by the North Washington Power 

& Reduction Co., a description of which will be found on page 7. At 

the time of writing (December, 1911) the Republic camp is attracting 

considerable attention, and regular shipments are being made by 

several mining companies.

PRODUCTION.

The production of the Republic camp was estimated by M. H. 

Joseph in August, 1909, to be $3,051,000. In Mineral Resources, published by the United States Geological Survey, the production from 

the Republic district for the year 1910 is given as $813,686, and the 

total gold production for the State for the same year as $788,145. It 

was estimated that the production for the camp for 1911 would 

approximate $1,000,000. This makes an estimated total production 

up to January 1, 1912, of about $5,000,000. Of this probably 83 per 

cent represents gold and the remainder silver. The chief producer 

in the early days was the Republic mine. At the present time the 

Republic Mines Corporation, controlling the Pearl Consolidated group 

of mines (Pearl, Surprise, Lone Pine, etc.), leads in output. Other 

important producers are the Knob Hill, Insurgent, Imperator, Quilp, 

Sanpoil, and Hope.

The statistical records of the Geological Survey from 1903 show the 

production following.

1 Umpleby, J. B., Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 1, p. 33,1910. 

29122° Bull. 550 14 10
136 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON. 

Production of gold and silver in Republic district, 1903-1912.

Year.

1903.................................................:..

1904....................................................

1905 ..................:.................................

1906....................................................

1907....................................................

1908.... i. ..............................................

1909. ....................................................

1910....................................................

1911....................................................

1912............................:.......................

Gold.

8270,377

104,114

86,053

69,957

1,500

16,365

209,114

713,604

772,874

594,873

2,838,831

SQver 

(fine 

. ounces).

' 148,570

36,411

34,945

26,348

10,933

4,977

53,644

185,312

181,574

149,752

832,466

Total 

value.

$348,841

133,091

87,157

87,620

8,825

19,533

237,931

813, 686

868, 108

686,971

3,291,763

Grade ore 

(short 

tons).

35,284

22,448

9,540

6,263

195

584

11,299

33,781

44,322

40,775

204,491

Besides the silver and gold a little copper and lead are reported, 

but these metals were probably derived from deposits outside of the 

district proper. MINING.

In 1912 1 ore amounting to 27,442 short tons was shipped to the 

smelters and averaged $20.26 a ton. The remainder of the ore mined, 

13,353 tons, was cyanided with an average recovery of $10.03 a ton. 

Two mills were in operation in the district.

In 1913 only one mill, the Sanpoil, was in, operation. The producers in the district during the year were the Ben Hur, Sanpoil, 

Knob Hill, Republic Mines Corporation, Hope, Old Republic, and 

Quilp.

In that part of the Republic district which has been most thoroughly prospected the topography is not rugged, the slopes of the hills 

along Eureka Gulch are not very precipitous, and the highest parts 

of the principal veins that have been worked are from 200 to 400 feet 

above the gulch. Mining by adit tunnels is effective only for those 

parts of the veins which lie above the gulch levels. In the past much 

of the development has been carried on by means of crosscut tunnels, 

although many of the claims have been worked by vertical shafts and 

a few by inclined shafts. As the producing mines in this locality have 

been fairly well explored above the gulch level, future operations will 

necessarily be carried on by means of shafts. The ground-water level 

is roughly that of the gulch bottoms, and operations below this level 

must therefore be accompanied by pumping or hoisting water. The 

universal method of extracting ore in this district consists in drifting 

on the veins and subsequent overhand stopingi Plate XIII shows 

the mining claims in the Republic district.

METALLURGY.

The subject of treating the ores of,the Republic district has evoked 

considerable discussion among the local mining men, who have made

i Gerry, C. N., U. S. Geol. Survey Mineral Resources, 1912, pt. 1, p. 920,1913,
U.S.GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 55O PLATEXIII

MAP SHOWING MINING CLAIMS IN THE REPUBLIC DISTRICT, WASHINGTON

REDUCED FROM "OFFICIAL MAP BY S. RICHARDSON 

1000 0 1000 ZOOO Feet
BEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 1S7

numerous milling experiments. Thus far, for one reason or another, 

the processes adopted have proved inadequate in that they effected 

too low a saving in the separation of the precious metal contents from 

the gangue. .

The following articles represent the available published data on 

the milling practice of this camp:

Joseph, M. H., The Eepublic mine, Washington: Eng. and Min. Jour., Nov. 5,1898; 

Dec. 16,1899.

Chatard, T. M., and Whitehead, Cabell, An examination of the ores of the Republic 

gold mine, Washington: Am. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., vol. 30, pp. 419-423,1901.

Cirkel, Fritz, Treatment problem of the Republic (Wash.) gold ores: Eng. and 

Min. Jour., Feb. 1,1908. . Umpleby, J. B., Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 1, pp. 35-37, 1910.

Morse, E. C., The Sanpoil mine, Republic, Wash.: Am. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., 

vol. 43, p. 697, 1913.

Thomson, F. A., Ore treatment at Republic, Wash.: Am. Inat. Min. Eng. Trans./ 

vol. 43. p. 672, 1913.

Mining and Scientific Press, Aug. 24, 1912, p. 235.

A study of the ore from the Republic camp indicates that little 

trouble would be experienced in separating the precious metals 

'from the gangue if the ore could be more finely ground than it has 

been in previous treatment. The mill of the North Washington 

Power Co. has been designed with this feature of the process as an 

important if not the dominant factor, and it is to be expected that 

the savings will exceed 94 per cent of the total gold. A description 

of this mill is given on page 7. 1

TOPOGRAPHY.

With the exception of the west side of Gibraltar Mountain, which 

is rather steep, the slopes in this area are not precipitous. There 

is much evidence of glacial activity within the district. Sanpoil 

River and Curlew Creek drain that part of the area here discussed, 

the chief tributaries to these streams being Deer Creek and Granite 

Creek. Sanpoil Lake, located just east of the area mapped, is 

unique in that streams flow from it in opposite directions, this lake 

being the head of Sanpoil River, which flows south, and Curlew 

Creek, which flows north.

Granite, Copper, and Gibraltar mountains are the three highest 

peaks in the area, their tops being respectively 5,326, 4,446, and 

3,783 feet above sea level. The stream valleys within this area 

have a minimum elevation of 2,250 feet and a maximum of 3,000 

feet, showing the gradient to be rather steep. The fall in Granite 

Creek is 750 feet in less than 7 miles. (See PI. XII, p. 134.)

1 The results obtained in the two new mills since the above was written have justified the hopes expressed, 

and recoveries of over 90 per cent are reported. However, the North Washington mill was not operated 

in 1913.
138 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Many interesting physiographic problems are presented by this 

area. _ Stream courses have been changed, lakes have been formed 

as the result of glacial activity, and the area seems to afford much 

information on the correlation of the Eocene peneplain. As a dis- 

.cussion of these problems is beyond the scope of a bulletin devoted 

primarily to a study of the ore deposits, the reader is referred to the 

following publications for information on the physiography of 

northeastern Washington:

DAWSON, G. M., Royal Soc. Canada Trans., 1890.

SMITH, G. 0., and WILLIS, BAILEY, U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 19, 1903.. 

SMITH, G. 0., and CALKINS, F. C., U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 235,1904. 

UMPLEBY, J. B., Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 1,1910.-

 Jour. Geology, vol. 20, pp. 139-147,1912.

 U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 528, 1913.

GEOLOGY.

BOCKS EXPOSED.

Within that part of the Republic area mapped on Plate XII are 

rocks that are thought to belong to the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and 

Cenozoic eras. The Paleozoic rocks consist of metamorphic shale, 

limestone, marble, quartzite, and greenstone. These form a part of 

the series that is so prevalent throughout northeastern Washington 

and are tentatively assigned to the Carboniferous period.

The granular intrusive rocks throughout the northeastern part of 

the -State have been classed as Mesozoic and are probably of Cretaceous age. In the Republic district Granite Mountain is thought 

to represent a batholithic intrusion that probably took place during 

late Cretaceous time.

Cenozoic rocks are more prominent in the vicinity of Republic 

than those of any other era. These rocks include a succession of 

Tertiary lava flows, lake beds, and intrusive rocks, probably of Miocene and Pliocene age, and Quaternary detrital material of glacial and 

stream origin.

GEOLOGIC HISTORY.

The events of Paleozoic time are recorded in this area by interbedded shales, limestones, quartzites, and greenstones, all but the 

last. of.which were formed by sedimentation in deep water. The 

greenstones may represent flows that were contemporaneous with the 

sedimentation or later rocks intrusive into the beds of this series. 

Elevation of the land and the subsequent erosion of broad valleys 

mark the close of this era. In Mesozoic time the granodiorite batholith was intruded into the Paleozoic rocks and was severely eroded 

before the formation of the Tertiary lake beds and eruptive and 

intrusive rocks. Consequently, the Tertiary rocks occupy uneven 

eroded surfaces and their outlines probably conform in a rough way
REPUBLIC DISTRICT. ' 139

to the preexisting valleys. Extensive lake beds, andesitic flows, 

intrusive quartz latite porphyry, and breccia-conglomerate mark the 

upper Miocene epoch. Erosion of these formations was followed by 

a flow of basalt, which is of widespread occurrence in northeastern 

Washington. During the Quaternary period occurred extensive 

glaciation followed by stream erosion.

A more detailed account of the geologic history is given in the general section on the geology of northeastern Washington (pp. 20-21).

PALEOZOIC ROCKS.

Within the area studied in detail the Paleozoic rocks are found in 

the southwest corner and outcrop over less than 1 square mile, being 

surrounded on all sides by glacial debris or andesite. This 'series 

extends several miles to the southwest, and metamorphic rocks are 

known to extend several miles beyond the eastern border of the area 

with a general north-south strike, and in fact they occupy the larger 

part of the Republic quadrangle. Below the Tertiary rocks the 

Paleozoic metamorphic rocks undoubtedly extend beneath the whole 

of the Republic camp, the late Tertiary lavas occupying an old erpsional valley in the Paleozoic rocks. Mining developments have 

not yet pierced the bottom of the Tertiary flows, so that it is impossible to state to what depth the metamorphic rocks are buried below 

the present gulch levels. The east side of the trough is marked by 

the outcrops of Paleozoic metamorphic rocks on the east side of Sanpoil River a short distance beyond the limit of the area here mapped.

The metamorphic rocks near Republic form a part of the great 

series of Paleozoic strata which occupies the major portion of northeastern Washington. In general the series is composed of interbedded 

shales, limestones, in places marmarized, and quartzites, with a few 

greenstones. The shales range from fine to medium grained in texture and are represented by quartz-mica schist or clay shales! In 

color these rocks when fresh range from dark gray or black to lighter 

grays and dull green. The series strikes north and south; the dips, 

which can in few places be observed, with local variations, seem to be 

at 40°-60° E. or NNE. The series is limited on the west by the 

granodiorite intrusive, the contact of which lies a short distance west 

of the boundary of the area mapped. The actual contact is obscured 

by glacial d6bris, but no strong contact metamorphism was observed, 

and a limestone lens that lies within a few hundred feet of the contact on the south side of Granite Creek presents little evidence of 

alteration.

Black clay slate is exposed along the bluffs of Granite Creek, due 

north of Copper Mountain. Close by is a dull-greenish rock with 

large crystals of dark-green hornblende which proves to be a uralitic
140 OKE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

and chloritic diorite. The large exposures in the southwest corner 

of the area mapped consist mainly of dark-green diorite, quartz 

diorite, and amphibolite.

Limestones are exposed in two lenses probably not connected. 

One lies just west of the boundary line south of Granite Creek; it 

is about 125 feet wide and can be traced for 600 feet southward. A 

limekiln erected here provides the district with quicklime. The 

limestone is light gray, fine grained, and so fractured that it is 

difficult to procure good specimens. The second lens lies just east 

of Middle Copper Lake and rises 150 feet above its surface, forming a 

prominent light-gray shoulder or bluff projecting from the slope of 

Copper Mountain. Its width is about 200 feet and it is traceable for 

about 300 feet. On both sides it is adjoined by clay slate. Imperfect 

crinoid stems were found in this rock. In appearance this lens is 

similar to that described above.

MESOZOIC ROCKS.

The granular intrusive rock which forms Granite Mountain is probably contemporaneous with the many other batholithic granular 

rocks found throughout northeastern Washington. A more complete 

description of these rocks will be found on pages 16-18. The southeastern portion of Granite Mountain, an area of about 4 square 

miles, lies within the area mapped.

The weathered surfaces of this rock are dark gray to brown in 

color, the altered femic minerals in places having stained the decomposed upper portions to a brownish or reddish hue. The rock is not 

of even grain, the feldspar phenocrysts ranging from less than onesixteenth inch to over 1 inch in length and the whole rock mass 

varying correspondingly in texture. At some localities on Granite 

Mountain the rock is extremely fine grained and elsewhere it is 

coarsely granular. Besides feldspar and quartz it contains much 

biotite and some hornblende. Under the microscope the main constituents are seen to be andesine and orthoclase with some microperthite and microcline, quartz, biotite, and partly uralitized augite. 

The accessory minerals are pyrite, apatite, titanite, and magnetite. 

The plagioclase is idiomorphic and between these crystals lie grams 

of quartz and orthoclase. The rock is classed as a granodiorite.

The intrusion of granodiorite took place in pre-Tertiary time, and 

an interval sufficient for deep erosion elapsed before the advent of 

the Tertiary lavas. It seems probable that the batholith is of Cretaceous age.

TERTIARY ROCKS.

General character. The abundant lava flows, porphyritic intrusions, lake beds, and breccias in the Republic camp are of Tertiary 

age. These formations represent over three-fourths of the out-
BEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 141

cropping rocks in the area mapped and cover roughly 23 square miles. 

As the economic geology of the Republic camp is intimately connected with the Tertiary flows and intrusive rocks they will necessarily be described.more in detail than the other formations. Only 

at one other locality in northeastern Washington, the First Thought, 

in the Orient district, is the mineralization definitely connected with 

Tertiary volcanism, but it is impossible to correlate the rocks in 

the two districts. However, they are thought to be closely related 

and they have many characteristics in common. The rhyolite porphyry of the First Thought camp is similar in many respects to the 

quartz latite porphyry of the Republic district, needing only a little 

more plagioclase to throw it into the quartz latite porphyry class. 

Although the andesitic flows are rather widely distributed in the 

Republic district the intrusive quartz latite porphyry seems to have 

been confined to comparatively small areas.

As will be shown in the following paragraphs the andesitic series 

of flows and the latite porphyry intrusive in it constitute a closely 

allied series of intermediate rocks that are decidedly too rich in 

potash for normal andesites. It is now well known, however, that 

this peculiarity is shared by most of the so-called andesites in the 

Cordilleran region.

The andesite flows of the Republic district fill an old pre-Tertiary 

erosion valley and probably continue northward far beyond the 

Canadian boundary. They are conspicuous west of Curlew Creek, 

and appear to follow the Kettle River valley to the boundary. They 

have been mapped for 12 miles north of this line, the belt here lying 

west of Boundary Falls and Greenwood.1

Lake beds. Lake beds, in part tuffaceous, are exposed throughout 

much of the central portion of the area mapped, where they occupy 

a north-south zone having a maximum width of, 1 £ miles as exposed 

on the surface: In two places the thickness of these beds as mapped 

exceeds 800 feet. They dip in general to the northeast and are 

thought to extend for some distance under the andesite and basalt 

flows, filling the old erosional valley. In places they overlie some 

of the older rocks of the andesitic series. In general these beds are 

of a buff or gray color and include strata of sandstone, shale, and 

andesitic tuff. The material is generally fine grained.

Fossils collected from the lake beds were determined by F. H. 

Knowlton as Sequoia langsdorfii (Brongniart) Heer, Carpinus, Ulmus, 

Aralia, and Ficus. Mr. Knowlton comments on these fossils as 

follows:

This material I presume to be from the lake beds of this vicinity in any event 

it is quite different from and apparently younger than the coal-bearing rocks of the

. i Geologic and topographic map of Boundary Creek mining district, British Columbia, geology by R. 

W.'Brock, Geol. Survey Canada, 1905.
142 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

region. With, the exception of the conifer the material seems to be new to science 

and hence is difficult to place satisfactorily. Without being very positive about it, 

I should incline to regard the age as probably upper Miocene.

Lava flows. The Tertiary lavas are made up in greater part of a 

number of flows probably aggregating at least 1,000 feet in thickness, 

which may be collectively termed andesites, although there is considerable diversity in their composition. All of them are of the 

andesitic type that is, they contain chiefly soda-lime feldspars and 

ferromagnesian silicates in a cryptocrystalline to glassy groundmass. 

There is no free quartz, and the alkali feldspars are inconspicuous.

Considered in detail there are two varieties contrasting strongly 

a dark rock having the appearance of an augite andesite and a much 

lighter andesite which contains both augite and hornblende. Some 

partial analyses serve to show that the andesitic flows are really a 

series ranging from latites to dacite and andesite. The detailed study 

of these rocks and their separation in the field was not practicable, 

and the term "andesite" is here retained as a general term, just as 

"granite" is often used to include many allied and intermediate 

coarse-grained rocks.

The most typical hornblende dacite was found on the west side of 

Eureka Gulch and the Sanpoil Valley below Republic. Here it is 

exposed from the valley bottom to the top of a mountain which 

rises over 1,200 feet above the Sanpoil. Fresh surfaces of the rock 

are blue-gray in color; altered specimens assume various shades and 

have conspicuous decomposed, feldspar phenocrysts. The texture of 

these rocks ranges from fine grained to porphyritic. In general they 

are composed of plagioclase feldspar with hornblende, augite, and 

biotite. The rock has a cryptocrystalline groundmass in which rods 

of feldspar are contained and which must be rich in silica. The phenocrysts are labradorite, hornblende, augite, and biotite, the hornblende exceeding the augite. Chalcedony and quartz occur in minute 

vugs in the rock, and some pleochroic apatite crystals are present. 

The hornblende is largely resorbed and the augite is stained a brownish hue by iron oxide. A partial analysis by George Steiger of a 

specimen of this rock showed the presence of 64.42 per cent Si02, 

4.82 per cent CaO, 3.02 per cent Na20, and 2.26 per cent K20.

Pyroxene latites are more prominent on the east side of the Republic camp than on the west. Gibraltar Mountain is made up of flows 

of this rock, which are exposed over a section extending 1,300 feet 

above the Sanpoil. The latites are dark colored, have a porphyritic 

texture in general, and are composed chiefly of pyroxene and feldspar. 

They have a texture which ranges from aphanitic to porphyritic. 

The phenocrysts are composed of labradorite or bytownite with 

augite. Both pyroxene and amphibole phases of the rock occur 

within the area, and the two may grade into each other. The
EEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 143

pyroxene latites represent a rock type which is very basic and which 

is a typical latite. The groundmass is evidently rich in potash. 

Analysis by George Steiger of the silica, lime, and alkali contents of 

a specimen of this rock shows it to contain 50.96 per cent Si02, 6 

per cent CaO, 3 per cent Na20, and 4.36 per cent K20.

A part of the andesite series is represented by a flow breccia 

which is particularly conspicuous in the main tunnel of the New 

Republic mine, where fragments that attain several feet in diameter 

are contained in the andesite. In general the matrix of the flow 

breccia is andesitic, although inclusions of granodiorite, metamorphic 

shale, etc., are reported 1 to form a part of the breccia.

Resting unconformably on the eroded surface of the lake beds and 

andesites, and clearly younger than the quartz latite porphyry, is the 

remnant of a basalt flow which forms a noticeable feature of the 

geology in the vicinity of the Republic camp. The most conspicuous

part of the flow is from 1 to 3 miles north of Republic, on the ridge 

projecting southeastward from the main divide between Deer Creek 

and the Sanpoil. This flow covers an area of about 2 square miles 

and is exposed in a section whose top is 600 feet above the base. 

Other smaller exposures of basalt were seen in different parts of the 

area.

In color the basalts vary from a dark brown to black; in texture 

they are fine grained to glassy, and some vesicular phases of the rock 

were seen. The rock is composed of laths of labradorite with grains 

of augite and olivine (altered to serpentine) embedded in a glassy 

base. Rods of apatite and some magnetite are accessory minerals of 

this rock, and secondary magnetite has been developed by the alteration of the olivine.

Quartz latite porphyry. Intruded into the series of andesitic lava 

flows and the lake beds, but older than the basalt just described, is a 

porphyritic rock which has been determined as quartz latite porphyry. 

Typical exposures of this rock occur on Flag Hill and Republic Hill, 

and it is undoubtedly continuous under the mantle of glacial debris. 

The maximum width of this intrusive stock is exposed just north of 

..Granite Creek, where it occupies an area 1 £ miles wide.. Small knobs 

of the same rock protrude through the glacial drift east of the main 

mass, and it is probable that branches extend under the present surface in various directions.

Fresh specimens of the rock are light to dark gray in color, but 

altered samples show every variation of shade from greenish gray 

to white. Viewed in thin section under the microscope the rock is 

seen to have a holocrystaHine groundmass composed of quartz and 

orthoclase. The phenocrysts are andesine, a very highly altered 

hornblende, biotite, and quartz. The hornblende and biotite are

» Umpleby, J. B., Washington Geol. Survey, Bull. 1, p. 23,1910.
144 ORE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTEBN WASHINGTON.

almost entirely resorbed. The ro,ck may have contained augite. 

Apatite occurs as an accessory mineral. The hornblende is altered 

to calcite and chlorite and the augite to calcite. These rocks may 

be difficult to distinguish from propylitic andesite, which shows 

weathered feldspar crystals that give the appearance of a porphyry.

A partial analysis by George Steiger of the typical porphyry gave 

the following result: Si02 , 62.18 per cent; CaO, 5.05 per cent; Na2 0, 

3.63 per cent; K20,2.46 per cent. This composition is approximately 

that of a granodiorite porphyry, but as the rock was intruded near 

the surface it may be considered as closely associated with the effusive 

series of latite rocks, and the name quartz latite porphyry may be 

more appropriate.

The ore deposits are believed to be genetically connected with the 

intrusion of this porphyry.

Breccia-conglomerate. Within the area mapped, on both sides of 

Granite Creek, are numerous exposures of a rock that has been classed 

as a breccia-conglomerate. As this rock has little or no connection 

with the ore deposits within the district, only a brief space will be 

given to its description, although many interesting problems are 

presented in connection with its origin. Umpleby * has called this 

formation a dacite flow conglomerate, and he believes that "the 

series is made up of lava flows which have picked up a great quantity 

of stream gravels, etc." A study of the specimens and thin sections 

leads to the conclusion that the breccia-conglomerate is definitely 

related to the quartz latite porphyry. Fresh phases of the brecciaconglomerate are dark gray and altered specimens are in general white 

or greenish white. All the exposures of this rock seen contain 

rounded pebbles and fragments of shale, and some clearly contain 

material of granitic origin. As seen under the microscope the rock 

has a clastic structure, with fragments of a holocrystalline porphyritic 

rock. The phenocrysts are andesine and quartz, and the outlines of 

formerly existing biotite crystals may be seen. Fragments of shale 

are prominent and material of granitic origin was recognized in some 

sections. Sericite and calcite are conspicuous secondary minerals.

It is believed that this rock was produced during the intrusion of 

the quartz latite porphyry. In breaking through the sediments that 

filled the bottom of the old valley the magma in certain parts became 

admixed with rounded fragments and sand. In the area studied 

there is little evidence to support the view that the breccia-conglomerate is an effusive rock older than the rest of the volcanic formations.

QUATERNARY DEPOSITS.

Glacial drift and stream gravels. On the map glacial drift and stream 

gravels are designated by one color and deposits that are clearly

1 Umpleby, J. B., Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 1, pp. 20-22,1910.
KEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 145

alluvial by another. Glacial debris is scattered over many of the 

mountain slopes within the area and forms a conspicuous feature of 

the topography in the vicinity of the Republic camp. In depth these 

deposits range from a few feet to perhaps 200 feet, but the average 

must be considerably less than the maximum. The material varies 

in size, ranging from rather fine glacial till to large bowlders, and 

represents the remnants of ground, terminal, and lateral moraines and 

valley trains. Some of this material has been reworked by stream 

action and gravels of this type are included in the mapping of the 

glacial deposits. Umpleby 1 gives a more detailed account of the 

glacial deposits.

Alluvial deposits. Along the flood plain of the Sanpoil and in 

places along Granite, Eureka, and Deer creeks small alluvial gravel 

deposits have been formed.

ORE DEPOSITS.

The ore deposits of the Republic district belong to two widely 

separated epochs. The first metallization followed the intrusion of 

the granodiorite and thus is placed in the Cretaceous. The second 

followed the volcanic eruptions of the Miocene and is therefore of 

middle or late Tertiary age. Extensive erosion and glaciation have 

dissected and covered the veins, so that their age is assuredly preQuaternary.

THE OLDER VEINS.

The economically important deposits all belong to the later epoch. 

Deposits of the first epoch, abundantly represented elsewhere in 

Washington, are scantily exposed in the small areas of metamorphic 

rocks near the granitic contact in the southwest corner of the area 

mapped. Absolute proofs that these deposits are connected with 

the intrusion of granodiorite can not be given, but in their coarse 

quartz and abundant sulphides the ores stand in so great contrast 

to the mode of development of the Tertiary veins and are so similar 

to known Cretaceous deposits that the age assignment appears 

justified.

The ridge of amphibolite and diorite at the margin of the area 

about a mile south of Granite Creek contains several prospects showing pyrite and quartz stringers. The principal development was 

noted on the east slope of this ridge, where the claim known at one 

time as the Bryan & Sewell and later as the Boston & Main® is located. 

The shaft, now filled with water, is said to be about 200 feet deep 

and to be sunk on stringers and seams of coarse quartz and dolomitic 

carbonate with granular pyrite, arsenopyrite, zinc blende, and 

galena. The ore is said to carry some silver and a little gold.

* Umpleby, J. B., op. cit., pp. 29-30.
146 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Farther up the valley, half a mile northwest of Copper Mountain, a 

short distance below the contact of the metamorphic rocks with the 

andesite, is another prospect on a quartz vein in diorite and amphibolite. The tunnel by which it is developed was not accessible. At the 

dump are veinlets of. coarse milky quartz about 8 inches wide which 

contain granular pyrite, zinc blende, and galena.

THE YOUNGER VEINS.

General features. The productive deposits all belong to the younger 

series, which are more recent than the andesites and. later beds and 

were probably formed shortly after the intrusion of the quartz latite 

porphyry. These veins extend through the district in a belt 6 miles 

in length, beginning with a northerly direction south of the town of 

Republic, turning north-northwest in Eureka Gulch, and bending 

to the northeast in the north end of the belt. The system consists of 

one to four approximately parallel veins, almost all of which dip to 

the east at angles of 45° to 80°. A second system of short cross 

veins, best developed near the Lone Pine claim, strike northeast and 

have a steep southerly dip. The veins form conspicuous outcrops of 

white quartz. They are usually straight and well defined, as illustrated on Plate XIV, B, which is reproduced from a photograph taken 

in the Southern Republic mine. Their width reaches a maximum of 

50 feet but averages 3 feet. The quartz filling is usually sharply defined against the green propylitized wall rock, which may be an andesite or quartz latite porphyry. - ..

The structure of the quartz is massive to brecciated. Inclusions or 

'horses of little-altered wall rock are common, but no valuable minerals 

are contained in the altered rock. The most prominent texture is a 

delicate banding parallel to the walls and produced by alternating 

layers of coarser and finer quartz and calcite, here and there with 

narrow black bands of finely distributed ore minerals. Large vugs 

coated with rich crusts are not uncommon and in many places are 

filled with coarse calcite.

The veins have been followed to a vertical depth of 700 feet below 

the croppings. In the Republic mine a crosscut tunnel opens the 

vein 563 feet below the outcrop, and in the Surprise mine the shaft 

was 'sunk to a depth of 600 feet in 1911 and is now doubtless deeper. 

The most productive areas are at the Republic mine, south of the

-town, and in Eureka Gulch to the northwest.

The ore shoots, which usually include the whole width of the vein,

-are of irregular form. Some of them pitch to the south at steep 

angles. In the Republic mine the ore shoot is 300 feet long at the 

surface and pitches about 50° S., gradually narrowing to small dimensions on the lowest level, 560 feet below the croppings. In the-Surprise vein the ore shoot was not prominent at the surface, though of
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 550 PLATE :

A. GLORY HOLE OF NEW REPUBLIC MINE. 

View taken in stope on top of Republic knoll.

K. SOUTHERN REPUBLIC VEIN. 

Shows banding in the quartz vein and included stringers of country rock.
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 650 PLATE XV

PHOTOMICROGRAPH OF QUARTZ FROM SOUTHERN REPUBLIC VEIN. 

Showing replacement of calcite (?) by quartz ("radial quartz"). Crossed nicols. Magnified 30 diameters.
BEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 147

good tenor, but it widened considerably on the lower levels. Many 

of the shoots are narrow and of small dimensions. Except for the 

narrow black streaks of ore minerals, the quartz in the shoots is not 

very different in appearance from that which has little value. The 

ores of highest grade coat large vugs or occur as small lenticular 

masses within the shoots.

Gangue minerals. Quartz of milky-white to bluish-white color is 

the predominant mineral, though some calcite is usually present intergrown in concentric bands with the quartz (PL XIV, B}. Seen under 

the microscope the texture of the quartz appears fine grained, but the 

size of the grains varies considerably in the different bands. There 

is a strong tendency to the development of crystal form and locally 

the texture is drusy, the cavities being filled with brownish chalcedony. Fluid inclusions of irregular form are abundant in the quartz, 

and many of them contain mostly gas with only a film of fluid.

Specimens from the Southern Republic and Republic mines show 

under the microscope that some of the quartz bands have replaced 

another mineral, probably calcite, developed in lamellar form with 

predominant base and flat rhombohedrous. This feature is particularly noticeable near the walls on which the lamellar crystals originally formed a coating. The replacing material consists of fine 

granular quartz with more or less adularia in rhomb-shaped crystals. 

(See PI. XV.)

Closely associated with the quartz is a dark-gray cherty material, 

which forms part of the filling in many veins but is apparently older than 

the quartz. Under the microscope it resolves itself into an extremely 

fine grained mass of quartz in which are embedded minute, apparently 

clastic fragments of quartz. The dark color is caused by small 

crystals of pyrite, uniformly distributed, and also by black inclusions 

which look like graphite or carbon, though a qualitative analysis 

failed to show the presence of carbonaceous matter.

In some places in the Republic mine the wall rock is silicified, and 

transitions between this rock and the chert seemed to exist, but the 

chert can not, on the whole, be considered as a replaced rock. No 

adularia was observed in the cherty quartz, which is not believed 

to contain gold and silver in commercial quantities.

Adularia, an orthoclase with little of no sodium, and peculiar 

crystallographic habit, is not uncommon in the Republic veins and, 

indeed, is frequently found in veins formed near the surface in volcanic 

rocks. No large crystals were observed, but much of the quartz contains well-developed microscopic crystals of rhombic outlines. Adularia is particularly common where calcite has been replaced by 

quartz. In one place microscopic crystals were embedded in brownish chalcedony filling a vug in quartz. Adularia is also found in the 

propylitic or altered andesites or porphyries, near the deposits, either 

in veinlets with, quartz or replacing feldspars.
148 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Calcite is a common vein material and is in many places intergrown with quartz or occurs in alternating bands with it. It is usually coarse grained and locally makes up 25 to 50 per cent of the 

gangue. Little or no gold appears to occur in the calcite.

Fluorite is mentioned by J. B. Umpleby 1 as occurring in one place. 

F. A. Thomson 2 also refers to one occurrence of this mineral in the 

Republic mine.

Laumontite,8 a hydrous calcium-aluminum silicate of the zeolite 

group, occurs as one of the latest gangue minerals in the Princess 

Maude or Southern Republic mine. This occurrence is noteworthy 

because zeolites are rare in mineral veins.

Marcasite, in arborescent forms and well-defined crystals, was observed in a propylitic andesite breccia -from the Republic mine.

Galena and zinc blende are exceedingly rare, if they occur at aft, 

in the normal type of ore.

The richest parts of the veins and practically all the metallic minerals are found in the narrow black streaks which usually follow the 

walls as concentric bands or cover the inner side of drusy cavities in 

the ore. Rarely can any definite minerals be identified. At some 

places, particularly in the Republic mine, such crusts were thicker 

and richer than elsewhere, and here the assays would run yery high. 

Some of this picked high-grade material contained 2,530 ounces of 

gold and 2,080 ounces of silver to the ton; other assays show, for 

instance, 1,810 ounces of gold and 1,320 ounces of silver, or 22 ounces 

of gold and 515 ounces of silver.

On close examination these high-grade bands are found to consist 

mainly of a dark-gray to black tetrahedrite with minor amounts of 

chalcopyrite and flakes of native gold. Some of this material was 

examined by metallographic methods, but no other minerals than

those mentioned could be found. The minerals by their intergrowth 

indicate contemporaneous deposition. As the material contains 

some selenium, a special but fruitless search was made for selenium 

minerals. Chemical examinations were made by Chase Palmer in 

the United States Geological Survey laboratory, and the results are 

outlined below. In brief, the dark mineral is allied to tetrahedrite, 

but contains also much silver and some arsenic and zinc. Selenium 

was present to the amount of 2 per cent, but no tellurium was found. 

By eliminating the free gold as described below, Mr. Palmer found that 

the ratio of gold to selenium was approximately constant and equal 

to 2 :3. This would indicate a gold selenide, Au2Se3 , but, as stated, 

no definite selenium mineral could be identified under the microscope. 

F. A! Thomson 4 has also made some examinations of this peculiar

1 Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 1,1910. 8 Canadian Min. Inst. Trans., vol. 15, p. 189,1912.

2 Am, Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., vol. 43, p. 676,1913. 4 Am. Inst. Min. Eng. Trans., vol. 43, p. 677,1913.
BEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 149

material and found that the dark-gray mineral contained the following constituents: Sulphur, 15.4 per cent; antimony, 31.4 per cent; 

copper, 43.3 per cent; iron 4.8 per cent; silver, 5.2 per cent. The iron 

should probably be combined with sulphur and copper to form chalcopyrite. Thomson also mentions finding small crystals of pyramidal habit which gave reaction for selenium, but which were not 

finally identified. He suggests the possibility of a selen-antimonide 

of silver analogous to rittingenite, the corresponding arsenic compound. The presence of comparatively large amounts of selenium 

connects the Republic veins with the small group of selenide veins, 

representatives of which are found at Kadjang Lebong, in Sumatra, 

and Tonopah, in Nevada.1 These selenium-bearing veins appear to 

be everywhere characterized by narrow black concentric bands 

along the walls, and in these bands the selenium is concentrated. In 

fact the great similarity of this ore to the Radjang Lebong ore 

prompted the authors to have the material examined for selenium. 2 

Mr. Palmer's notes are given below.

The object of these experiments was to learn, if possible, whether gold and selenium are chemically associated in this ore. The ore minerals are intergrown with 

the gangue so closely that it was necessary to determine their constituents in the 

presence of much foreign material. The analysis is given below.

Analysis of a gold-selenium ore found in the Republic mine, Washington.

Cu.. ..............................................................................

AS................................................................................

Fe... .............................................................................

Zn.. ..............................................................................

S. .................................................................................

Sb... .............................................................................

As................................................................................

Au................................................................................

Se... ..............................................................................

Analysis.

15.72

14.01

3.75

1.12

15.40

12.06

1.80

2.99

1.80

31.35

100.00

Metallic 

mineral 

constituents recalculated to 

100 per cent.

22.90

20.41

6.46

1.63

22.43

17.57

2.62

4.36

2.62

100. 00

The ore thus appears to be a mixture of several minerals, among which are presumably chalcopyrite and tetrahedrite. The atomic ratio of gold and selenium, as deduced 

from their respective percentage weighta (gold, 4.36-^197.2=0.022; selenium,

1 Lindgren, Waldemar, Mineral deposits, p. 493,1913.

s The presence of selenium as well, as that of adularia was established in 1909, as stated in Science, new 

ser., vol. 30, No. 783, p. 972, Dec. 31,1909, and also in a note In Mining and Scientific Press about the same 

time. This small part of the literature seems to be overlooked In Bulletin 1 of the Washington Geological 

Survey, the manuscript of which was transmitted in July, 1910. That publication contains an analysis 

of the ore which shows the presence in. the high-grade material of 5.26 per cent of selenium and 0.4 to 2.12 

per cent of tellurium. No other chemist has been able to discover tellurium imthe ore or to find as much 

as 5 per cent of selenium. In a letter to the Mining and Scientific Press, dated Mar. 21, 1910, M. H. 

Joseph, of Republic, calls attention to the fact that he reported the presence of "selenide of silver" In an 

article in Engineering and Mining Journal Nov. 25,1899. The mineral is enumerated with others occurring in the camp, but no details or analyses are given.
150 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

2.62-3-79.2=0.33), suggests the possibility that normal gold selenide (Au2Se3 is present 

in the ore. Normal auric selenide is said to be capable of existence. H. Uelsmann l 

reports that he obtained it as a precipitate by passing hydrogen selenidei gas through 

a solution of .auric chloride.

From A. Terreil's experiments a on natural sulphides, tellurides, and selenides it 

appears that sodium sulphide solution readily attacks many sulphide minerals, but 

that it does not affect tetrahedrite. Terreil also states that the tellurides of lead and 

gold are not attacked by sodium sulphide solution and that the selenides of lead and 

silver yield their selenium very slowly to sodium sulphide solution.

The action of alkaline sulphide solutions on a specimen of the 

Republic mine ore containing 2.99 per cent gold and 1.80 per cent 

selenium was also observed. In this specimen free gold was not 

visible. The powdered mineral (0.94 gram) was leached with warm 

10 per cent sodium sulphide solution containing a little hydrogen 

sulphide. After three hours the filtered solution was colorless. It 

contained no gold, no selenium, nor any other constituent of ,the ore. 

The same material was afterward warmed for three hours in contact 

with a 10 per cent sodium sulphydrate solution. In the first extract 

traces of gold were found. The second extract also contained a trace 

of gold. The third extract contained no gold. Selenium was not 

present in any one of the three extracts. Alkaline sulphide solutions 

therefore are incapable of changing the Au2Se3 ratio as found in the ore.

Another specimen of gold-selenium ore in which free gold was distinctly visible waa 

leached in the same manner with alkaline sulphide solution. The first extract contained abundant gold, but no selenium. The second extract contained little gold and 

no selenium. The third extract contained no gold nor selenium. After the third 

extraction with alkaline sulphide solution the residual ore contained 1.75 per cent of 

gold and 1.12 per cent of selenium.

The atomic ratio (gold, 0.887; selenium, 1.414) corresponds very closely to the 

. empirical formula Au2Se3 .

It thus appears that the action of alkaline sulphide solution on the metallic minerals 

of this ore is confined to gold, and to that gold which exceeds the amount required to

constitute normal gold selenide.

As the ore minerals could not be mechanically separated from one another, it is 

impossible with the data in hand to decide whether the residual gold and the selenium 

in these two specimens constitute an integral substance or are otherwise associated 

in the ore minerals. Nevertheless, the effectual resistance offered by gold and selenium, proportioned as Au2Se3 , to the solvent action of alkaline sulphide solutions 

points to an intimate association of these two elements in the gold ore of the Republic 

mine.

The ore in general. The quartz of the Republic camp is usually 

banded and fine grained, is commonly chalcedonic or porcelain-like 

in appearance, and bears some resemblance to many hot-spring 

deposits of siliceous sinter. Free gold is very rarely visible in the 

quartz but is more common in the narrow black concentric bands 

along the walls. All the flakes of gold are deep yellow, even the 

"high-grade" material that is very rich in silver. The silver is

i Annalen d. Chemie, vol. 116, flg. 125. 2 Compt. Rend., vol. 69, pt. 2, p. 1360,1869.
REPUBLIC DISTRICT. 151

therefore in chemical combination probably with the tetrahedrite, or 

less probably with the selenium. There is no reason to believe that 

the gold is present entirely as a selenide or allied mineral. Most of it 

is probably native, though in so fine a state of division that crushing 

through a 200-mesh screen is necessary to set it free.

The ore in depth. The water level is high at -Republic and the zone 

of oxidation shallow. Oxidized copper minerals and native silver 

and probably cerargyrite occur in this oxidized zone, but at 50 to 150 

feet below the surface the effects of oxidation are slight, and it is not 

believed that any secondary concentration of importance has, taken 

place by the influence of surface waters.

Although the ore yields chiefly gold the' silver production is not 

^significant. The output in 1912 was $600,000 in gold and $80,000 

in silver. At some places the ore runs higher in silver than elsewhere,

and.J. B. Umpleby 1 has suggested that "within a given shoot the

ratio of gold to silver usually decreases in depth." This conclusion 

seems to apply to the Republic shoot and that of the Princess Maude, 

but there may well be doubt whether it is of general applicability. 

In the Republic shoot the calcite increases greatly in depth, and in 

the Princess Maude there has been a replacement of calcite by laumontite, a zeolite. In the other shoots as far as explored to depths below 

the surface of 500 to 600 feet, no such progressive change in mineralization seems to appear. It is well known in the camp that a calcite 

gangue is unfavorable to the deposition of gold, and it is probable 

that calcite rather favors the precipitation of silver. J. L. Harper, 

of the Republic Mines Corporation, writes as follows in relation to 

this question:

Mr. Umpleby's sketch shows total values decreasing with depth, the silver values 

increasing in a slight degree. No doubt he gained this impression from the conditions 

of the lower workings of the Republic mine, where the silver values appear to predominate. You will recall that in the lower workings of the Republic mine only a 

very small area of ground is opened for inspection. Our experience up the gulch has 

demonstrated that the sudden increase of silver is due to causes not related in any 

way to vertical depth. In driving our No. 4 drift north from Quilp territory into 

and under the Surprise ore shoot we encountered a most erratic condition as to the 

ratio between gold and silver values. At times the silver would suddenly increase, 

with a corresponding decrease of gold, while a few rounds of shots would change this 

condition entirely and in ore running say $20 per ton less than $1 in silver would be 

found. All the lower workings of the camp's properties, excepting the Republic and 

Princess Maude, show gold to be the predominating metal. The best-grade ore now 

being mined in the Quilp mine comes from the 500-foot level, and the content is 

practically all gold. On the other hand, last week we opened a small bonanza zone 

on the 50-foot level of the Quilp, from which the richest specimens of silver ore, containing native silver in beads, threads, and films, were taken. A few feet from this 

zone the gold and silver conformed to the old ratio.

It would appear that silver concentrations are due to local causes and have no relation 

whatever with depth from the surface.

i Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 1, p. 88,1910. 

 29122° Bull. 550 14 11
152 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

It is true that in some districts similar to that of Republic camp, 

as near Waihi, New Zealand, the gangue in depth has changed to 

calcite, with lowering of the grade of the ore. It is possible that this 

may be the condition at Republic, but it is not likely, for in the New 

Zealand mines referred to the surface zone had become quartzose and 

enriched by solution of the calcite in a quartz-calcite gangue, whereas 

at Republic such a surface enrichment on a large scale has not taken 

place, and the possibility of finding good ore at much greater depths 

than those now attained must be conceded.

Alteration of the watt rock. Over a considerable area along the 

vein system and spreading half a mile or more from the veins themselves a process of alteration has gone on during the epoch of vein 

formation. It has affected both andesite and quartz latite porphyry, 

making the two rocks in places difficult to distinguish. The alteration has changed the color of these rocks to a dull green and has 

peppered them with small crystals of pyrite. The alteration is 

typically propylitic. The secondary products are calcite, chlorite, 

epidote, and pyrite; sericite is less prominent, though many feldspar 

crystals are partly replaced by it. In places the alteration of the 

feldspars has resulted in adularia. The groundmass of the rocks 

is usually least altered. Calcite is the most prominent mineral. 

This greenish rock usually adjoins the quartz veins and bleaching 

due to complete sericitization is rarely if ever observed. In places a 

silicification has occurred for a short distance from the vein. The 

altered and " propylitic" rock contains practically no gold.

Genesis of the deposits. The veins were formed shortly after the 

close of the andesitic epoch of eruption, which ended'by the intrusion 

of the quartz latite porphyry. They were probably already formed 

when the basalt was erupted. J. B. Umpleby 1 has pointed out that 

as the veins cut a series of formations that accumulated in a postEocene valley eroded in a peneplain which rose only 1,800 to 2,300 

feet above the present elevation of the veins, they could not have 

been formed at a greater depth than 2,500 feet below the surface, 

the average present elevation being taken as 3,200 feet. In all 

probability the present outcrops were less than 1,000 feet below the 

surface of the lavas at. the time of vein formation.

Little definite information was obtained as to the actual genesis 

of the ore, but the marked similarity of these deposits to so many 

other gold-bearing deposits in volcanic Tertiary rocks points clearly 

to deposition by ascending hot waters.2 The character of the minerals, the fine grain of the quartz and sulphides, the beautiful crustification, and the propylitic alteration indicate unmistakably deposition by hot ascending waters, which probably were derived, in part, 

at least, from the cooling intrusive mass.

i Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 1, p. 42, 1910. 2 Lindgren, Waldemar, Mineral deposits, ch. 22,1913.
REPUBLIC DISTRICT. 153

The last effects of the hot waters were the alteration and replacement of some of the earlier deposits. Calcite was in places altered 

to quartz and adularia, and at one locality the calcite was again 

replaced by laumontite. Except in the zone of oxidation the 

descending surface waters have changed the vein filling but little.

MINES AND PROSPECTS. 

SOUTHERN REPUBLIC (PRINCESS MAUDE).

The Princess Maude or Southern Republic vein outcrops about 

half a mile south of the Republic vein (see p. 156) and lies approximately in its strike, though the direct connection can not be traced. 

The vein shows a prominent outcrop of hard barren quartz 250 feet 

above the tunnel level. The developments consist of a 70-foot incline 

from the croppings and a main tunnel which intersects the vein about 

200 feet from the portal. The drifts follow the vein for 200 feet 

northward and 300 feet southward; at the south end is an incline 

300 feet deep following the vein. lii 1909 water stood 100 feet below 

the collar in this incline at the time of visit but was pumped out 

later in the season. Some ore had been shipped from the mine previous to 1901, averaging, it is stated, $25 a ton. The mine was closed 

in 1906 and reopened in 1909. The country rock is throughout a 

propylitic andesite, dark green in color and containing much pyrite 

and calcite but practically no gold and silver.

The strike of the vein is a few degrees east of north; the dip 56° E. 

The outcrops of the vein are strong but can not be traced far. Where 

intersected by the crosscut the vein is 2£ feet wide and composed of 

banded hard fine-grained quartz without druses or recognizable crystals, with but little calcite, tightly frozen to the walls of hard greenish 

propylitic andesite. A small raise shows the vein 2 feet wide and 

banded in an exceptionally beautiful way (PI. XIV, B}. Some black 

streaks rich in gold follow the banding of the vein and probably 

contain gold selenide. No sulphides are visible and the ore between 

the tunnel and the croppings is of low grade. A few stringers of 

quartz show in the hanging wall. Near the north end of the drift 

the vein splits. Toward the south end of the level, near the incline, 

the vein makes a sharp turn to the west but within a short distance 

regains its course.

Some stoping has been done on the vein above the tunnel level 

and from these small stopes returns of $12 to $14 a ton are reported, 

mostly in gold. The vein in the incline differs considerably from that 

exposed elsewhere and the best ore is found in this vicinity. Near 

the shaft are stringers in the hanging wall containing a loose cellular 

platy calcite with a younger sugary aggregate of laumontite in minute 

crystals. Calcite seams cutting across the vein were noted elsewhere 

in this level. The first and second short levels are turned from the
154 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

incline. On the second level the vein is in places wide and scattered, and assays of it are said to run up to $14 a ton. On the second 

level, at the north side, the vein becomes loose and open at one place 

where good ore is reported. The vein matter from the third and 

fourth levels differs from that in the tunnel level, being loose and 

sugary with much calcite and containing good ore. The fourth level 

shows much calcite filling vugs and fissures, and some of the calcite plates 

are 4 inches across. The filling consists largely of calcite and floury 

laumontite with black stains and much residuary banded quartz. 

The width is 3 to'4 feet. This material is said to average $12 to 

$20 a ton, 60 per cent or more of which is in silver, some very high 

silver assays being reported. Soft gouge is abundant where calcite 

is prominent. The honeycombed part of the vein seems to start 

just above the first level south of the shaft and continues down, 

crossing the shaft and pitching north, to attain its greatest development in the good ore of the third and fourth levels.

These conditions indicate a concentration of silver during the 

latest epoch of vein formation, accompanied by the development of 

calcite and laumontite. Such zeolitization and accompanying enrichment of a vein is an uncommon occurrence, and it was probably 

not caused by descending surface Waters.

CHICO.

A few hundred feet south of the tunnel of the Southern Republic 

is the Chico tunnel, which within a short distance from the portal exposes what is probably the same vein but narrower and 

more split up. Just east of the tunnel is the Butte & Boston incline, 

which is now filled with water and is said to have cut the same vein 

at no great depth. The incline.is stated to be about 400 feet long. 

The Chico shaft, a short distance southeast of the Southern Republic, is said to be about 300 feet deep and, to judge from the dump, 

intersected a small quartz vein concerning which no further information is available.

REPUBLIC.

History, production, and development. The Republic claim is situated about half a mile southwest of the Republic railroad station, on 

the west side of Granite Creek near its confluence with Sanpoil River. 

The elevation of the highest croppings is 3,900 feet and that of the 

foot of the mill dump is 3,300 feet. For a long time in fact, until 

the recent developments in 1910 the Republic was the most prominent and productive mine in the district. It was located in 1896. 

Good ore was found close to the surface and a rich shoot extending 

from the outcrops nearly to creek level was exploited. At first the 

ore was shipped to the smelter, but later a small cyanide plant was 

built in which some ore was treated. In 1898 a roasting and cyanide 

plant (PI. XVI) with a capacity of 200 tons was erected on the
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

REPUBLIC MILL.
EEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 155

FIGURE 14. Republic veto, sketched from third level, 

o, Dark-gray chert; b, gray chert; c, vug; d, banded 

quartz, rich ore; e, propylitic andeslte.

property, but the extraction proved disappointing. About 20,000 

tons of Republic ore was milled during the first 2$ years of operation, up to 1899, and under unfavorable conditions the dividends 

paid are said to have amounted to $395,000. In 1898 or 1899 the 

property passed from the Republic Gold Mining & Milling 

Co. to the Republic Consolidated Gold Mining Co., and in 

1901 theplant was closed, owing partly to the lack of ore and 

partly to the unsatisfactory 

extraction. The total productionof the new mill had been 

$300,000in less than a year,

about 37,000 tons having been

milled. Soon afterward the 

property was taken over by the 

county officers on account of 

unpaid taxes, and nothing was 

doneuntil 1909; when the property was reopened by the New Republic Co., under lease from the 

county. Exploration in the old workings soon disclosed rich ore, 

and for the next two years the output was large and some of the 

shipments to the smelter were of high grade.

The production of Ferry County in 1909 was $210,437 in gold and 

53,677 ounces of silver, the average grade being $20.92 a ton. Of

this a large part came from the Republic mine. In 1910 the production 

continued but on a less extensive 

scale. The total production of the 

mine to the end of 1910 is estimated 

at $1,400,000, of which $1,000,000 

was produced between the years 1897 

and 1902. During recent years the 

production has been overshadowed 

by that of other mines in the camp. 

The main developments consist of 

four tunnels. No. 1 cuts the vein 125 

feet below the croppings, No. 2 is 78 

feet lower, No. 3 intersects the vein 383 feet, and No. 4, near the 

mill, 563 feet below the croppings. No. 4 tunnel is 2,400 feet long, 

and from it a winze sunk on the vein extends to the lowest or No. 5 

level, which at the time of examination was under water, the water 

level standing at the top of the winze. The total development in 

linear feet is estimated at about 2 miles. (See figs. 14 and 15 and 

Pis. XIV, A, p. 146, and XVII.)

FIGURE 15. Republic vein, sketched from 

fourth level, a, Banded quartz, rich ore; 6; 

cavity; c, calclte; d, propylitic andeslte.
156 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Geology. In general the vein intersects the andesitic rocks and 

breccias and the associated lake beds on the lower slopes of the 

ridge southwest of Republic. Few of the exposures at the surface 

are satisfactory, and the tunnels give the best evidence of the geologic relations. The contact of the andesite with the quartz latite 

porphyry begins a short distance west of the croppings, and at some 

places the porphyry is encountered in the footwall and hanging wall 

of the vein. The best exposures of porphyry are found at the portal 

of No. 1 tunnel, west of the croppings. Both andesite and porphyry 

in the vicinity of the vein contain chlorite, pyrite, and calcite, and 

as is usual in such cases the distinction between the two kinds of rock 

may be difficult.

Tunnel No. 3, which crosscuts the vein froin the east at about 600 

feet from the portal, shows in the first 300 feet a series of wellstratified tuft, sandstone, and shale dipping 20° NE. Smaller beds 

of flow breccia are interbedded. The next 300 feet is in the underlying 

andesite breccia, which continues to the vein and close to it becomes 

very soft.

Tunnel No. 4 starts 80 feet above the creek and intersects the vein 

at 2,400 feet. For a distance of 300 feet from the portal the tunnel 

is in andesitic breccia. Tuffs, shales, and sandstones with some layers 

of tuff-breccia, all dipping 20° NE., then appear and continue to a 

point about 840 feet from the portal. In places these strata are 

parted by seams of gypsum. From the last-mentioned point the tuffs 

gradually change to andesitic flow breccias and these in turn to 

massive andesite. At 1,400 to 1,580 feet from the portal occur bedded 

tuffs with coaly vegetable remains, and from the last point propylitic 

andesite, in places brecciated or tuffaceous, continues up to the vein.

On the whole, then, the vein is contained in a series of tuffs, sedimentary beds, flow breccias, and andesite flows. In most places 

andesitic breccia forms the hanging wall of the vein; the porphyry 

is usually some distance in the footwall.

The deposit. The Republic vein (PI. XVIII) strikes a few degrees 

east of north and dips about 60° E. The croppings are prominent and 

follow the crest of a wooded hill for about 1,500 feet into the Blaine 

claim, adjoining on the south. On the north side the vein is not so 

easily traceable and its connection with the producing deposits on the 

north side of Granite Creek is problematic. The width of the main 

vein is in places as much as 8 or 10 feet, but the ordinary width is 

2 or 3 feet and in places it pinches down to a narrow seam. At the 

surface the pay shoot is about 300 feet long. It pitches 50° S., gradually narrowing to small dimensions at the winze on level 4. After the 

mine was supposed to be exhausted ore was found by the New 

Republic Mining Co. on both the north and south sides of the old pay 

shoot, as well as in certain spur veins of the main deposit. At the
U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 550 PLATE XVII

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

100 200 300 4OO- sooreet

PLAN AND SECTIONS OF REPUBLIC MINE.
I

U- S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY

A. REPUBLIC VEIN ON FOURTH LEVEL. 

Showing banding. Vein is about 4 feet wide.

B. POLISHED SECTION FROM REPUBLIC VEIN, THIRD LEVEL. 

Natural scale.
U. 8. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 550 PLATE XIX

A. PEARL VEIN.

A quartz fissure vein, somewhat brecciated and lenticular.

*. STORE IN UPPER LEVEL, SURPRISE MINE.
REPUBLIC DISTRICT. 157

south end of level 1, near the surface, the vein appeared as two seams, 

each 1 foot thick or less, separated by a horse of andesite 4 feet thick. 

The ore in both seams assayed about $100 a ton when hand picked.

On level 3 the ore shoot begins just south of the point where the 

vein is intersected by the crosscut and is here only about 100 feet long. 

Stopes continue, though smaller, down to level 4, where the vein is 

from 2 to 8 feet thick. Some of the old stopes above level 3 are said 

to have been 20 feet wide.

In the intermediate level between Nos. 3 and 2 the New Republic 

Co. continued the drift southward for 150 feet beyond the ore shoot. 

At the face the vein is 3 feet wide, has fairly well defined walls, and 

shows several seams of the typical quartz with concentric crustification. The vein aib this place is said to average $4 a ton. At the south 

end of the shoot on this level the vein, as worked in 1909, was 2 feet 

thick, with rich seams on the footwall. Farther up, above the intermediate level and 20 feet back of the regular vein, the New Republic 

Co. encountered a wide body of ore, probably constituting the expansion of a stringer that joined the vein farther down.

On level 4 the vein is poor and scattered where intersected and continues so to the north end of the deposit. South of the crosscut the 

vein worked above branches, and one branch has been stoped up to 

the third level. The vein is about 5 feet wide and beautifully banded 

(PI. XVIII, A). Disturbance and brecciation followed by repeated 

deposition of quartz can be made out above the fourth level.

A second vein 10 feet wide lies in the footwall at the engine station 

on the fourth level. It shows quartz seams as much as 1 foot in width, 

with calcite centers. Calcite is far more abundant on the fourth level 

than above it and is generally considered barren material.

Good ore containing about $20 a ton, mostly in silver, is reported 

from a point near the top of the winze, and it is stated that the vein at 

the bottom is 15 feet wide and carries considerable silver.

Above the third level the ore contains mainly gold with but little 

silver; a sample yielding $20 a ton in gold will give $2 or $3 in silver. 

Below the third level the silver tenor is much higher, though the ore 

has the same appearance and texture. For the whole of the fourth 

level the assays show comparatively large quantities of silver.

QUILP.

The Quilp claim, now the property of the Imperator-Quilp Mining 

Co., is a mile northwest of the Republic railroad station, on the east 

side of Eureka Gulch. It is the. first productive property north of 

the Republic mine, about 1 mile distant, and is immediately adjoined 

on the north by the Surprise mine.

Strong croppings of the vein can be seen on the hillside about 100 

feet above the gulch. The main developments consist of a 400-foot
158 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

shaft sunk from the adit level, with drifts and s topes along the 

several levels. A winze is sunk from the 400-foot level to the 500- 

foot level.

The production in the early history of the mine, up to July, 1906, 

amounted to about 24,000 tons of ore having .an average assay value 

of 0.4 ounce of gold and 5 ounces of silver. This ore was shipped 

to a smelter and yielded a total value-of $263,000. Freight and 

treatment costs are said to have amounted to about $140,000. Shipments were resumed in 1909", when the average assay was 0.5 ounce 

of gold and 4 ounces of silver to the ton and the freight and treatment 

costs $6.25 a ton. In 1910 the shipments continued at the rate of 

about SO tons a month, the smelters accepting only a limited amount 

of the highly siliceous ore at a time. Production continued during 

1911 and 1912.

The vein outcrops 200 feet north of the shaft in greenish propylitic 

andesite. The contact of the porphyry is close by, but the exact 

line between the two is difficult to determine. The strike of the 

vein is north-northwest, and the dip steep to the east. The outcrops 

are prominent and wide but can not be traced far south of the shafts. 

On the north side the vein continues into the Surprise ground. The 

gangue is the usual fine-grained quartz, much of the vein consisting 

of the pure mineral, more or less clearly banded and evidently 

deposited in open spaces. Here and there are horses and fragments 

of included greenish propylitic rock. Slight copper stains are noted, 

and in places there are narrow concentric black bands which indicate 

the richest ore! The ore shoot, which pitches about 60° S. on the 

plane of the vein, reaches the surface in the bluff 100 feet above the 

adit north of the shaft, and rich ore has been stoped up to the grass 

roots. On the first level the stopes are 10 to 15 feet wide. On the 

second level, 300 feet below the croppings, the shoot is 150 feet long 

and lies south of the shaft. Before reaching the third level the ore 

shoot appears to come to an end. The lower levels were under 

water at the time of examination.

On the first level, at 200 feet from the vein on the footwall side, 

lies another vein with much calcite. '

In the.main shoot the average relation of gold and silver by weight 

was 1 to 10, but there was somewhat more silver in the uppermost 

levels, within the zone of oxidation. Some native silver was found 

near the surface.

In 1911 work was continued and the mine was drained to the 

bottom level. The fourth level, which is the longest in the .mine, 

was extended, following the vein in a north-northwesterly direction 

into the Surprise ground. Some good ore is said to have been shipped 

from the 500-foot level.
EEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 159

BLACKTAIL.

The Blacktail claim lies south of the Lone Pine and north of the 

Quilp. In 1909 the developments on this claim consisted mainly of 

a crosscut tunnel from Eureka Gulch and drifts on the vein. A shaft 

was sunk on the vein in 1910 and had attained in 1911, it is stated, 

a depth of 600 feet on the incline. Some ore has been shipped from 

a shoot above and below the tunnel level. In December, 1911, it was 

reported that the company was stoping on a lateral vein 3 to 8 feet 

thick. .The total production is not large. The claim is owned by 

the Hope Mining Co.

The country rock consists of quartz latite porphyry and probably 

also some andesite, but the rocks are difficult to distinguish owing to 

propylitic alteration. The eastern half of the claim lies within the 

area of the Tertiary tuffs and lake beds, in which the mineralization 

has in places spread widely and formed large irregular outcrops of 

quartz. The main tunnel enters the claim from the north end of the 

Surprise claim and at 80 feet from the portal intersects the Surprise 

vein. About 300 feet farther east the crosscut intersects the main 

Blacktail vein, which continues into this claim, with north-northwesterly strike, from the Lone Pine claim. (See fig. 16, p. 161.) The 

dip of this vein is 45° ENE., and in the southern part of the claim 

the vein turns to a nearly east-westerly direction. Most of the ore 

from the tunnel level was found near this bend in the vein. The 

stopes indicate a width of quartz of 2 to 6 feet. Horses of country 

rock are common in the vein.

Near the north end line of ttie claim, on the hill about 150 feet 

above Eureka Gulch, another vein outcrops, parallel to the cross 

veins in the Lone Pine claim and striking N. 60° E. It stands nearly 

vertical and is a well-defined quartz vein 2 to 3 feet wide.

SURPRISE, LONE PINE, AND PEARL.

In 1910 the Surprise, Lone Pine, and Pearl claims were owned by 

the Pearl Consolidated Mining Co. and the operations were carried 

on mainly by lessees. Later the properties were taken over by the 

Republic Mines Corporation.

Pearl claim. In 1909 on the Pearl claim there were only about 

160 feet of crosscuts and drifts and a shaft 45 feet deep sunk on the 

vein (PI. XIX, A), which is here 12 feet wide and is said to assay 

$4.60 a ton. No large ore shoot has thus far been proved in the 

Pearl claim, but the Surprise vein continues through this claim with 

a north-northwesterly strike for the entire distance of 1,500 feet. 

The country rock is a propylitic quartz latite porphyry.

Surprise claim. The Surprise claim lies between the Quilp on the 

south and the Pearl on the north, the Surprise vein continuing
160" OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN" WASHINGTON.

through its entire length. In 1909 the developments on this claim 

consisted only of 1,100 linear feet of drifts and crosscuts. The main 

crosscut from Eureka Gulch intersects the vein near the middle of 

the claim at a point 160 feet from the portal and 50 feet below the 

croppings, and drifts extend 160 feet north and 260 feet south. The 

vein is from 8 to 15 feet wide. Good ore was found in the croppings. 

In the north drift the ore is of low value, but in the south drift 

stringers and bunches of ore assaying about $25 a ton were found. 

A winze sunk 35 feet near the end of the south drift showed in the 

upper 25 feet a 3^-foot vein of quartz of grade like that just mentioned, but a drift from the bottom of this winze is in low-grade 

material. At the south end of the claim is a tunnel which intersects 

the vein- at 80 feet from the portal, or 110 feet below the croppings. 

A drift extended north from this tunnel to the shaft gave low assays 

from $2 to $6 to the ton.

The production to the end of 1909 is given by Mr. Charles P. 

Robbins in a personal letter as 2,400 tons, yielding 12,194 ounces of 

gold and 2,301 ounces of silver.

Such were the conditions not altogether promising when in 1910 

the new company began operations by sinking on the ore shoot in 

the central part of the claim... The ore shoot was found to increase 

in size and value, and during the year a large tonnage yielding several 

hundred thousand dollars were extracted. The shaft was deepened 

to 400 feet on the incline and successful operations were continued on 

the same scale in 1911 and 1912. In 1912 the shaft was 540 feet 

deep on the incline.

The country rock is propylitic quartz latite, which is difficult to 

distinguish from the adjoining andesite. The vein strikes N. 30° W. 

and dips about 70° ENE. As a rule it fills a clean-cut fissure and 

consists of the usual banded quartz 4 to 8 feet thick, but in places 

fragments of country rock are abundant in the vein. The. shoot is 

about 100 feet long on the surface and appears to pitch to the south. 

(See PL XIX, B.)

Lone Pine claim. The Lone Pine claim, which adjoins the Pearl 

on the west, had in 1909 only 2,500 linear feet of developments, 

principally tunnels. The production up to October, 1909, is given 

as 8,924 tons of ore yielding 30,256 ounces of silver and 5,436 ounces 

of gold, or about $124,000. Active development in 1910 resulted in 

the production of about 6,000 tons of ore haying an average value 

of about $9 a ton.

The veins are contained in the usual dark-green propylitic rock. 

In the southern part of the claim the Blacktail vein outcrops, continuing northward from the Blacktail claim, but is traceable for only 

a few hundred feet. It is parallel to the Surprise vein and strikes 

N. 30° W. The productive veins belong to another system, striking
EEPUBLIC DISTRICT. 161

northeast and having a steep southerly dip. There are four of these 

veins and none of them continue to join the Surprise vein; in fact, 

none of them appear west of the Blacktail vein.

Some of the following data are taken from a report on the property 

byC. P. Bobbins:

Cross vein No. 1 outcrops in Lone Pine Gulch and has not been 

extensively developed or worked. It is 6 feet wide and the quartz 

from it is said to assay $2 to $4 a ton.

Cross vein No. 2, dipping 80° SE., has been opened by tunnel 

No. 1 ; which runs longitudinally near the center line of the claim, 

farther north cutting veins Nos. 2, 3, and 4. It has been stoped in 

places both from this tunnel level and from tunnel No. 2, which is 

75 feet lower and enters near the bottom of Eureka Gulch (fig. 16). 

At the intersection by tunnel No. 1 the vein is 13 feet wide and is

FIGURE 16. Diagram showing relations of veins on Surprise, Lone Pine, and Pearl claims.

said to average $4 to $6 a ton. Farther east the vein narrows to 3 

feet and forms an ore shoot 80 feet long, averaging $15 to the ton, 

which has been stoped for some distance upward. From this shoot 

to the east side line the vein ranges from a few inches to 5 feet in 

width. One narrow shoot was stoped within 20 feet of the surface, 

and the ore from it averaged, it is said, $16 a ton. Tunnel No. 2 

.intersects this vein at 300 feet from the portal and underneath the 

ore shoot in tunnel No. 1 encountered a shoot 225 feet long, which 

was stoped to No. 1, gradually decreasing in width. The average 

thickness of the ore in this shoot was 4 feet. From this part of the 

mine, between tunnels No. 1 and No. 2, 3,500 tons of ore was 

taken, averaging, it is stated, $15.76 to the ton.

The ore mined since 1909 is probably derived from the downward 

continuation of this ore shoot. The quartz is of the usual banded 

character, being white in color with narrow concentric ribbons of
162 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

black dense material which evidently carries the valuable metals. 

Small druses are common, coated with crystals of quartz and tabular 

crystals of calcite. In places the vein also contains much dark-gray 

cherty material (p. 147). Some of the bands are distinguished by 

coarse granular calcite. The ratio of gold to silver, by weight, varies 

from 1:5 to 1:8. According toUmpleby, 1 the ore found above No, 2 

tunnel contains less silver than that below it.

No. 3 vein, opened by the upper tunnel, has been but little explored. 

It lies 200 feet north of No. 2 vein. No. 4 vein, likewise disclosed by 

the upper tunnel, is 200 feet north of No. 3 vein and 160 feet below the 

surface. A total of 717 tons is stated to have been stoped above 

this tunnel averaging $13 to the ton, but nearer the surface the ore 

is poorer. The width of No. 4 vein is about 5 feet, and the dip is 65° 

SE. The proportion of gold to silver was 1 to 4. The vein has 

smooth walls in which banded quartz 1£ to 2 feet thick is exposed. 

The same vein is exposed by a tunnel starting from creek level near 

the middle of the Pearl claim.

INSURGENT.

The Insurgent claim is a narrow wedge-shaped fraction lying east 

of the Lone Pine claim. The principal developments are on a vein 

closely associated with No. 1 vein on the Lone Pine and opened by 

the same tunnels. The vein lies on the footwall side of the Lone 

Pine vein, about 10 feet from it, and is probably a branch or offshoot 

from that vein. The ore shoot lies partly in the Lone Pine claim and 

is stoped in part up to the surface. The stope length is about 30 

feet and the width of the vein averages 2£ feet.

At 70 feet west of the east line of the claim the Insurgent vein runs 

up against a heavy dark-gray slickensided clay gouge which contains a little pyrite. The vein continues for a few feet into this clay, 

but becomes small and finally disappears. This clay gouge is held 

to mark a considerable dislocation, not traceable on the surface, 

along the contact between quartz latite porphyry and andesite and 

lake beds.

Production was continued in 1910 from the Insurgent shoot. The 

proportion of gold to silver is 1 to 7.

SANPOIL.

The Sanpoil claim is situated on the west side of Eureka Gulch 

south of the Ben Hur, described below. The croppings of the prominent vein worked on this claim appear 250 feet above the bottom of 

the gulch, or 100 feet above the upper tunnel. The vein is in all probability the same as that exposed on the Ben Hur. It dips 70° E. A 

lower crosscut intersects the vein 200 feet below the croppings, and

i Op. cit., p. 61.
REPUBLIC DISTRICT. 163

drifts extend along it for 500 feet north and south. No large shoots 

had been found in 1909, but some ore from the upper tunnel just 

north of the crosscut was being shipped, containing, it is stated, 0.7 

ounce of gold and 4.ounces of silver to the ton. It is reported that in 

1911 also ore from the shoots in the upper tunnel level was shipped. 

About 165 feet south of the crosscut in the upper tunnel a shoot of 

low-grade ore about 3 feet thick, carrying from $4 to $9 a ton, is said 

to have been exposed. The ore contains much calcite, which is considered as waste and sorted out when possible. Several small cross 

faults displace the vein, one of them as much as 10 feet.

BEN HUB.

The Ben Hur mine lies on the west side of Eureka Gulch and the 

vein outcrops 200 feet above it, at an elevation of about 3,000 feet. 

Development work began here in 1898 and some ore was shipped in 

1905 and 1906. The mine was reopened and shipments of ore were 

resumed in 1909. The production to the'- end of that year is said to 

have been about $65,000. The mine continued to produce ore in 

1911 and 1912.

In 1909 the developments consisted of a vertical shaft 300 feet 

deep and a winze sunk 75 feet below the third level. The drifts were 

short except that run north on the 115-foot level, which in a distance 

of 500 feet along the vein reaches the surface close to Eureka Gulch. 

A considerable amount of ore, worth from $6 to $10 a ton, is said to 

have been developed. The highest average tenor was 1 ounce of 

gold and 5 ounces of silver to the ton, but in places the silver content 

was considerably higher. In 1909 stoping was carried on above the 

second level. The country rock is a propylitic quartz latite porphyry 

which adjoins the vein without much further alteration. The vein, 

which is traceable for 1,000 feet and is sharply denned, strikes N. 30° 

W., but turns to the east of north close to the north end line. The 

dip is 65° E., and its average width is 4 feet. The vein consists of the 

usual fine-grained, faintly banded quartz and contains from 10 to 30 

per cent of calcite. Very little pyrite is present, nor is any free gold 

visible. There are several ore shoots not yet well defined.

The outcrops of the vein show 7. feet wide above the shaft and are 

said to yield good returns. Smelter assays of some ore shipped in 

1905 and 1906 show about $15 in gold and 4.5 ounces of silver to 

the ton.

TRADE DOLLAR.

The Trade Dollar claim adjoins the Ben Hur on the north. The 

vein is opened by a shaft 300 feet deep, with short drifts on the 

second and third levels. The total shipments are said to amount to 

1,000 tons, averaging about $17 a ton. The silver content ran about 

10. or 12 ounces to the ton. The solid quartz is said to be 13 feet 

wide on the second level, but narrows to 20 inches on the third level.
164 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

KNOB HILL.

The Knob Hill claim, at the head of Eureka Gulch, covers the 

northern extension of the main vein system. Knob Hill rises as an 

abrupt point to an elevation of 3,100 feet just east of the point where 

the road ascends to cross the divide to Mud Lake. Along a northsouth line this hill is made up of quartz stringers and silicified and 

altered quartz latite porphyry. A small pocket of rich ore on the 

surface is said to have been taken out in 1904. The strike of the 

vein is about N. 30° W. and the dip 50° ENE. The developments 

about 700 feet of tunnels have shown a vein 3 to 5 feet thick along 

which a little overhand stoping has been done. The ore is of low 

grade, but there is probably a considerable amount of it.

North of Knob Hill the outcrop is covered by morainal material, 

but the line of strike carries it into the tuffaceous lake beds on the 

low hill oast of Mud Lake. On the Mud Lake claim is a shaft 60 feet 

deep, not now accessible, but a thickness of 63 feet of quartz is said 

to show in a crosscut. It is probable that general silicification and 

spreading of the quartz have taken place where the vein intersects 

the lake beds.

Active prospecting of the Knob Hill mine during 1911 on three 

tunnel levels developed shipping ore in several places. A fourth 

tunnel was started at the foot of the hill and shipments were begun 

in the same year. According to a statement recently issued by the 

company, the production from August 1, 1910, to January 1, 1912, 

was 7,142 tons of shipping ore having a gross value of $224,795. 

This ore yielded 10,850 ounces of gold and 31,914 ounces of silver, 

and the net returns were $149,005.

North of the Pearl and south of the Knob Hill claim lies the Little 

Cove claim. Immediately south of the steep point of Knob Hill is

a small flat formed by the alluvium of Eureka Gulch. Below this no 

explorations have been made, though the vein doubtless continues 

under its surface. The Surprise vein outcrops in a railroad cut just 

south of the flat on the Little Cove claim, where it is 1.2 feet wide. 

The vein material is more or less mixed with propylitic porphyry. 

Close by is a shaft 100 feet deep and it is stated that 150 tons of ore 

were shipped from this locality. This ore was doubtless of low or 

medium grade.

MOUNTAIN LION.

The Mountain Lion mine lies about 3 miles north-northwest of 

Republic, on the North Fork of Granite Creek, at an elevation of 

3,000 feet. It was worked rather extensively in the early days of 

the camp arid is said to have had a production of about $200,000. Amill planned for stamps, roasting, and cyanidation was erected 

about 1900, but the recovery is reported to have been 65 per cent,
REPUBLIC DISTRICT. 165

which, was unsatisfactory. Little work has been done in the last 

five years and, as the property was closed, not much information 

could be obtained.

Umpleby* says that the " tunnel starts from a point near the level 

of the North Fork and cuts the vein 1,260 feet from the portal, 

giving a depth on the vein of 310 feet. A double-compartment vertical shaft, which passes near the inner end of the tunnel, reaches a 

depth of about 700 feet from the surface. Drifts and crosscuts leave 

the shaft at various levels. The ore milled came largely from stopes 

above the tunnel level."

The country rock is andesite, with pyrite and chlorite. Near the 

vein it is bleached by the development of sericite.

The principal vein, which is traceable on the surface for 800 feet 

or more, is well exposed in several open cuts 400 feet southwest of 

the shaft. The strike is a little east of north and the dip 68° W.

The open cuts show a vein 10 to 12 feet wide, consisting of the usual 

fine-grained and banded quartz and dark-gray jasperoid material. 

The decomposed and crumbling andesite contained much pyrite.

Smelter assays of some ore extracted in 1904 and 1905, probably 

for converter lining, show an average of $5 in gold and 2 ounces of 

silver to the ton.

MORNING GLORY.

The Morning Glory mine is situated on Flag Hill about 4,000 feet 

west of the Quilp mine, and its veins have no obvious connection 

with the main vein system. No work was done here for a number of 

years and a large part of the workings are not accessible. Some very 

rich ore was shipped, but the total production is not large. The mine 

was reopened in 1911 and some rich ore extracted. The main 

developments consist of a tunnel and an air shaft with drifts, the 

whole said to aggregate about 1,700 feet. The country rock is 

quartz latite porphyry, which appears to be intruded in the peculiar 

breccia-conglomerate described on page 144.

The main vein strikes N. 70° E.'and dips 60° NNW. Its width in 

the stoped portion is only a few inches. The ore consists of a whitebanded and drusy quartz. The country rock is altered and bleached 

by the introduction of sericite and calcite with pyrite. There are a 

number of other narrow veins also dipping north-northwest and the 

country rock is greatly fractured and traversed by gouge seams.

OTHER PROSPECTS ON FLAG HILL.

There are a number of other prospects on Flag Hill, especially on 

the south side, but no ore of consequence is reported to have been 

developed in them. Specimens from one of these prospects shows a

» Washington Geol. Survey Bull. 1,1910,
166 . ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

type of mineralization different from that of the ordinary veins in 

the district, the greenish propylitic porphyry containing irregular 

bunches of pale rose-colored quartz of coarse texture, together with 

small masses and grains of chalcopyrite and galena.

TOM THUMB.

The Tom Thumb property, including six patented claims owned by 

the Midget Gold Mining <& Milling Co., is situated near the head of 

the North Fork of Granite Creek, about 4 miles due north of the 

Kepublic railroad station. It lies in the main belt of mineralization 

which, at first striking north and north-northwest, finally bends 

around to a northeasterly direction. There are many indications of 

mineralization between this mine and Knob Hill, but the quartz 

spreads widely through the lake beds and forms no well-defined lodes. 

Previous to 1909 considerable development work, estimated at 1,600 

feet, had been done, and ore had been shipped, but the production 

could not be ascertained. Preparations were made to unwater the 

mine in 1909 by the New Republic Mining Co., and some ore was 

shipped in 1909 and 1910. The following notes regarding underground 

work are taken from a report on the property by Mr. Downey:

The croppings of quartz are prominently exposed on the Tom 

Thumb claim and apparently are from 50 to 100 feet wide, but the 

appearance is due to collapse by erosion of the surrounding soft rocks 

and the real width of the quartz vein does not average more than 8' 

feet. The outcrop is situated on the slope 200 feet above the creek 

and about 1,200 feet distant from it, in andesitic country rock. A 

short distance to the south the andesite is overlain by tuffaceous 

lake beds.

The vein strikes northeast and dips 40°-50° NW. It has been

opened by three vertical shafts, the deepest of which attains 300 

feet. In the lower levels the vein is considerably faulted. The 

value of the ore is said to range from $10 to $15 a ton, though some 

shipments have yielded $23. The proportion of gold to silver by 

weight is 1 to 5.

BELCHER DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

As recorded in the office of the county clerk of Ferry County under 

date of December 15, 1906, the boundaries .of the Belcher mining 

district are outlined as follows:

Starting from the mouth of St. Peters Creek, thence in a southerly direction and 

following the county wagon road to the brewery on O'Brien Creek; thence in an easterly direction and following O'Brien Creek and ita north fork to the head of the latter 

and from there and still in an easterly direction across and 5 miles beyond the summit 

of the main range of mountains; thence in a northerly direction on a line paralleling
BELCHER DISTEICT. 167

and keeping within 5 miles of the summit of said mountain range to a point easterly 

and opposite the head of the north fork of St. Peters Creek; thence in a westerly direction down and following the course of the latter on the main St. Peters Creek back to 

the starting point.

This district occupies approximately 140 square miles in the northeastern part of the Republic mining district, just described. There 

are no large towns or settlements within the boundaries of the 

Belcher district, Curlew being the most accessible supply station for 

the northern part of the district and Republic for the southern part. 

When the Belcher mine is operating and the narrow-gage Belcher 

Mountain Railroad is running, the properties are all more accessible. 

The Granby smelter is less than 20 miles from the point where the 

narrow-gage railroad terminates, just above the Great Northern Railway. The Spokane & British Columbia Railway is only a short distance (across Curlew Creek) from this point, so that transportation of 

the ores from a part of the district can easily be accomplished. 

Timber and water are plentiful over a large part of the district.

CONDITION OF MINING ACTIVITY.

During the investigation of this district, in July, 1910, only one of 

the three properties visited was active. The Oversight group is in 

an early prospecting stage, and not much ore has been shipped from 

the Copper Key, which was being developed when examined. The 

Belcher mine has made a°good many shipments of ore in the past but 

was idle when visited. The location of these properties and their 

relative position on Cooke and Belcher mountains can be seen by 

reference to figure 17. No smelters or mills have been constructed 

in the district, and the ores extracted have been used principally as a 

flux in smelting at Granby and Trail, British Columbia.

TOPOGRAPHY.

The Belcher mining district occupies a part of the western slope of 

the divide between Curlew Creek and Sanpoil River on the west and 

Kettle River on the east. The mountains rise rather precipitously 

from the stream valleys on the west, which have a general elevation 

of 2,200 feet, to altitudes of 6,000 feet in the higher peaks on the 

divide. Belcher Mountain, the top of which is 4,950 feet above sea 

level, is the most prominent mountain in the district, although there 

are several ridges in the vicinity which are higher. The general 

trend of the mountain masses is north and south and the minor drainage channels flow in general at right angles to this - direction. The 

principal creeks within the district are the north fork of O'Brien 

Creek and Lambert Creek. Large parts of the mountain masses 

have been worn away by glaciation and stream erosion and the peaks 

which are left are all the more conspicuous.

29122° Bull. 550 14 12
168 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

GEOLOGY.

A sedimentary series of limestone, dolomite, argillite, and lime 

shale, more or less metamorphosed, constitutes the major part of the 

geologic section in this district. These rocks have a general northsouth strike and dip to the west or east at angles ranging from 15° 

to 60°. In the immediate vicinity of Belcher Mountain the strike is 

in general a few degrees west of north and the prevailing dip is a little 

south of west. The thickness of these sedimentary rocks in the

\

M8°40'

M8°40'

4 Miles

Contour interval 100 feet 

Datum is Tnean. sea level

FIGUKE 17. Topographic map of a part of the Belcher mining district. From map of the Republic quadrangle, United States Geological Survey.

Belcher district is several thousand feet, and that of the individual 

formations from a few feet to 100 feet or more.

Blue and white limestones predominate, although limestones of 

various other colors are present. They are in general of a finegrained crystalline texture, but some are coarsely crystalline and 

highly marmarized. They contain various amounts of magnesia, 

and some of the strata are dolomites. A dark-brown variety found 

in the Copper Key workings is exceptionally high,in MgO. Three
BELCHEE DISTRICT. 169

analyses of specimens taken from different parts of Cooke Mountain 

show the following results:

Partial analyses of limestone and dolomite from Cooke Mountain, near top. 

[3. G. Fairchild, analyst.]'

CaO.

31.41

41.22

31.96

MgO.

20.00

11. 15

17.60

Other varieties seen are apparently nearly pure calcium carbonate.

The lime shales and argillites are more prominent in the vicinity 

of the Oversight and Copper Key properties than farther northeast. 

The lime shales are rather fine grained and are of various colors 

yellow, brown, gray, or red. The argillites are generally very fissile, 

have a slaty-blue color, and are composed chiefly of quartz, feldspar, 

and carbonaceous matter. In places they have been metamorphosed 

to phyllites.

Dikes of monzonite porphyry have been intruded into the sedimentary series in many places and form a network of intrusive rock 

in the underground workings of the mines. These dikes range from 

a few feet to 100 feet or more in width. They have generally been 

intruded parallel to the bedding planes of the sediments, although in 

places they cut directly across the strike. Fresh specimens are of a 

light gray-blue color and show phenocrysts of feldspar, hornblende, 

and biotite. Various phases of the same magma, containing different proportions of the mineral constituents, occur in the district. 

The rock resembles closely the monzonite porphyry found in many 

parts of Stevens County. The microscope shows that it is composed 

of phenocrysts of andesine, with subordinate hornblende and biotite, 

in a groundmass of quartz and orthoclase. In many of the specimens 

the ferromagnesian minerals have been entirely altered to chlorite. 

Although garnet, tremolite, and epidote have been developed to some 

extent in the strata, contact-metamorphic minerals are not very 

abundant a fact which indicates that the intrusion took place when 

the sediments were at no great depth.

ORE DEPOSITS.

The deposits examined by the writer in the Belcher mining district 

are all located within a few miles of one another and occupy a belt 

about a mile wide extending north and south through the center of 

the district. Several deposits on which more or less work has been 

done in the past could not be visited for lack of time, and there 

are doubtless similarly mineralized portions of the sedimentary 

series in this general locality which are yet undiscovered.
170 OBE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

The ore occurs as irregular and more or less complete replacements of the limestone and dolomite strata in the vicinity of intrusive 

masses of monzonite porphyry. The replaced strata range from a 

few feet to 25 feet or more in thickness. Their extent along the 

strike and dip of the ore bodies has in few places been determined, 

but these dimensions have been proved to exceed 100 feet and are 

probably considerably greater. The ore is chiefly in the form of 

magnetite and pyrite, with considerable quantities of pyrrhotite 

and a little chalcopyrite. It is reported to carry a little gold, and 

the gossans contain 80 cents' worth of gold or more to the ton. These 

ores at present are economically important as a flux for smelting 

other ores, the chief consumers in the past having been the Granby 

and Trail smelters, in British Columbia.

The ores are thought to have been formed by solutions that accompanied the monzonite porphyry which is so common as an intrusive 

in the sedimentary series of this region, and they may be considered 

as clearly of contact-metamorphic origin. The pyrite, magnetite, 

pyrrhotite, and chalcopyrite were probably deposited contemporaneously, the ratio of the iron and sulphur constituents having 

determined to a large degree the kind of iron ore formed.

A deposit of another type is worked in the Pin Money claim of the 

Oversight group. It is a quartz vein of small dimensions, which 

contains some arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, and tetrahedrite, 

ores that are thought to owe their origin to mineralization at another 

time, though this also was induced by the intrusion of the monzonite 

porphyry.

MINES AND PROSPECTS.

OVEKSIGHT.

General features. The Oversight group of claims, on the southeast side of Cooke Mountain, at an elevation of about 4,650 feet, is 

in an air line just 9£ miles northeast of Republic, the nearest town. 

(See fig. 2, p. 39.) By wagon road the distance is 3 or 4 miles farther. 

The Great Northern Railway runs within 5 miles of the claims, but 

can not be reached by wagon road in less than 7 or 8 miles. The 

terminal of the narrow-gage railroad at the Belcher camp is just 3 

miles due north, and the wagon haul to this place is only a short 

distance farther but involves a very steep grade which would seriously hinder the back haul. Up to the time of the writer's investigation (July, 1910) surface cuts, short adit tunnels, and shallow 

shafts constituted the principal developments. The location of these 

workings can be seen by reference to figure 18. The equipment consists of a 15-horsepower gasoline engine, a compressor, and a small 

hoist. No shipments are reported from this property.

Geology. The rocks that form this part of Cooke Mountain belong 

to the sedimentary series of limestone, dolomite, lime shale, and
BELCHEE DISTRICT. 171

argillite, which occupies a large part of northeastern Washington. 

These rocks are intruded by a monzonite porphyry that is similar 

in many respects to that found in the Orient mining district, in 

Stevens County, some 20 miles to the east, and to the intrusive porFIGURE 18. Sketch map of a part of the Oversight group of claims, showing the 

location of the workings.

phyry masses in many parts of the Republic and Danville districts. 

This rock occurs in various positions in the sediments, although it 

generally follows the bedding planes. Where the sediments lie 

rather flat the porphyry occurs as a sill; where they have been tilted 

to an upright position the intrusives are in the form of dikes. Con-
172 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

tact-metamorphic minerals are singularly absent in this locality, 

and the invading magma has in general suffered little alteration. 

In places the rock is somewhat leached, and elsewhere the ferromagnesian minerals have been changed to chlorite and the feldspar 

entirely altered to white mica. In the main, however, the rock is 

remarkably fresh.

Ore deposits. Most of thecsurface cuts, shallow shafts, and short 

adit tunnels have been made with a view to prospecting replacement 

deposits of iron in dolomite and limestone, but the workings on the 

Pin Money claim disclose an ore body of different type, which will be 

discussed in a separate paragraph. As the developments on the 

several claims are not connected the conditions existing in each opening will be discussed separately.

The No. 3 workings are located on the Wander claim, just west of 

the Granite side line and about 800 feet southwest of the Oversight 

camp or bunk house. (See fig. 18.) Here a shaft, the collar of 

which is about 100 feet higher than the camp, has been sunk vertically for 35 feet. Water covered the workings below this point 

when examined by the writer, but it is said that the shaft continues - 

for 60 feet at an angle of 35° and that from the bottom an upraise 

has been started. The vertical portion of the shaft goes through 8 

feet of soil covering 10 feet of limonite, below which it passes into an 

ore body of almost completely replaced dolomite. This ore body 

extends to the bottom of the vertical part of the shaft, and the 

incline is said to pitch under it. The replacement was effected chiefly 

by pyrite, pyrrhotite, and magnetite, with a very small amount of 

chalcopyrite. Slight quantities of gold are reported from these ores. 

An analysis of some of this ore, 1 by J. G. Fairchild, of the United States 

Geological Survey, is given below:

Analysis of ore from Wander claim. 

CaD.........'................................................ 14.71

. MgO.......................................................... 12.91

S................................... -...................... ; .. 8. 90

. Fe............--. ................................................. 26. 97

P206 -----------..................'........-.....;............. .164

As........................................................... None.

The ore body appears to be lenticular and to represent an irregular 

replacement of the dolomitic limestone. The extent of the ore body 

could not be measured for lack of development, nor could it be 

accurately estimated.

The No. 2 workings are located 400 feet a little north of due west of 

the camp and about 50 feet higher. (See fig. 18.) They show a 

partly replaced limestone stratum between walls of lime shale. The

i This is not a general average of the ore in the Oversight workings. Some of it is nearly pure magnetite.
BELCHER DISTRICT. 173

general strike of the ore body is north and south and the dip 5°-10° E. 

This ore body has been opened for 40 to 50 feet and the average 

thickness is 3 or 4 feet. The workings beyond the first drift, running 

southeast and northwest, are barren of ore and show only a succession 

of dikes intrusive into the sedimentary series.

Other minor workings show the same relations. The developments have been so scattered and so meager that it is impossible to 

determine whether one body of ore has any connection with another 

or not. It seems probable that there are several distinct ore horizons, 

whose positions depend largely on their proximity to intrusive 

masses.

On the Pin Money claim an inclined shaft has been sunk at an angle 

of 25°-30° SE. to a depth of 80 feet along a small quartz vein lying 

between a hanging wall of impure limestone and a footwall of clay 

shale or slate, which closely resembles phyllite. The vein strikes 

N. 30°-40° E. and dips 25°-30° SE. It does not average over 6 

inches in width and in places nearly pinches out. Much gouge is 

present on both sides of the vein, and the zone of movement is locally 

24 inches wide. In a 60 to 70 foot drift to the southwest from the 

bottom of the shaft the vein nearly pinches.out where monzonite 

porphyry intrudes the sedimentary rocks. In a 15-foot drift to the 

northeast the vein is well exposed. The ore minerals are arsenopyrite, pyrrhotite, pyrite, and tetrahedrite. Gold, silver, nickel, 

and cobalt are reported from these ores, although careful analyses by 

R. C. Wells, of the Geological Survey, failed to reveal the presence 

of either cobalt or nickel. The ores were probably not formed at the 

same time as the other ores of this group, though the mineralization 

was due to the same intrusive monzonite porphyry.

COPPER KEY.

The Copper Key mine is about half a mile almost due north of the 

Oversight group, at an elevation of 4,650 feet, on the west side and 

near the top of Belcher Mountain. It is connected by wagon road 

with the Belcher camp, and there has been some talk of building a 

gravity tram between the two places for the purpose of shipping out 

ores by way of the narrow-gage railroad. Shipments amounting to 

3,195 tons of oxidized ore are reported to have been made from the 

stope above the No. 1 level, and 154 tons of ore has been shipped from 

the No. 3 level. The equipment consists of several cabins, a 32-horsepower engine, an 8 by 8 by 16 inch compressor, and four drills. Three 

levels, two upraises, a winze, and a stope, making about 1,600 feet of 

underground workings, constitute the principal developments. (See

fig. 19.) ..... . .

The rocks in the vicinity are limestone, dolomite, lime shales, and 

argillite, very similar to those found in other parts of the Belcher
174 OEE.DEPOSITS OP .NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

mining district. These rocks strike northwest and dip 15°-30° SW. 

They are intruded in several places by monzonite porphyry, which has 

caused some contact metamorphism in the contiguous strata.

As exposed by the workings on the Copper Key, the ore bodies represent an irregular replacement of limestone or dolomite by pyrite, 

pyrrhotite, and magnetite, with some chalcopyrite. They follow the 

general trend of the strata.which they replace, and locally they lie 

directly above or beneath the intrusive porphyry. One ore body 

exposed by the upper workings has been developed for a length of 

100 feet or more along its strike and for over 100 feet along the plane 

of the dip. Its width is approximately 25 feet. It is possible, or 

even probable, that this ore body is a continuation of the one exposed 

on No. 2 level, where an ore body has been shown to continue at least 

90 feet along its strike and to be 25 feet thick, but no work has been 

done to show its extent along the dip plane.

i El.4,700'

£/. 4.828'^

^^~^~~^ ,*-

A/o./tunnet

Winze

FIGURE 19. Plan of the Copper Key workings.

No. 3 level cuts an ore body which extends as a more or less complete 

replacement for 30 feet along the strike, the mineralization beyond 

becoming scattered and less prominent until it almost entirely disappears. This ore body, as developed, seems to be only 4 to 6 feet thick. 

Its extent along the dip has not been determined. Probably it represents a distinct ore body, having no immediate connection with the 

ore exposed in the level above. It is possible, though improbable, 

that the ore body exposed above has been faulted down. At the time 

of visit not enough work had been done to show the containing walls 

of this lower ore body.

The unoxidized ores carry from 0.08 to 0.25 ounce of gold and 0.14 

to 0.46 ounce of silver to the ton and less than 1 per cent of copper. 

In the upper parts of the deposit, where there is a heavy gossan of 

limonite about 20 feet thick, the gold content is about the same, but 

the copper content is lower. An analysis of a specimen of magnetite
BELCHER DISTRICT. 175

ore by J. G. Fairchild, of the United States Geological Survey, is given

below.

Analysis of magnetite ore from Copper Key mine. 

Si02 ......................................................... 0. 64

CaO.'........................-..............'.................. 8.78

MgO.......................................................... 1.10

S............................:.....'....,...................... .08

Fe304 (Fe, 63.21).............................................. 87. 28

P206 -......................................................... .164

As........................................................... None.

98. 044

As a large quantity of this magnetite is present in the ore body and 

as in places it is remarkably free from pyrite and pyrrhotite, it may 

possibly be of economic importance.

The general relations existing in this mine point to the conclusion 

that one or more intrusive sheets of monzonite porphyry have invaded 

the sedimentary rocks in a direction approximately parallel to their 

bedding planes that is, striking northwest and dipping 15° to 30°, 

or perhaps more, to the southwest. On each side of the intrusive 

body the strata have been replaced to a greater or less extent by orebearing solutions that accompanied or followed the intrusion. The 

replacement was irregular, being much more pronounced in the limestone or dolomite than in the other sediments. The gossans of these 

deposits can probably be profitably mined and milled for their gold 

contents, but it is rather doubtful if under existing mining conditions 

the unaltered portions of the deposits are commercially valuable, 

except for use as a flux in smelting ores.

BELCHER.

Location, equipment, and development. The Belcher camp is located 

on Lambert Creek at an elevation of 3,550 feet, 7 or 8 miles up the 

creek in a southeasterly direction from its mouth. (See fig. 2, p. 39.) 

Lambert Creek flows into Curlew Creek near one terminal of the 

Belcher Mountain Railroad, which is above the tracks of the Great 

Northern Railway. The Spokane & British Columbia Railway also 

runs within a few feet of this terminal. A good wagon road has been 

constructed up Lambert Creek and continues along the east side of 

Belcher Mountain, connecting with a road leading to Republic. 

While the problem of transportation of ores has been solved in a way, 

the facilities are unsatisfactory. The narrow-gage railroad is difficult 

of operation, the grade is steep, and derailments have been of-frequent 

occurrence.

Due south of and about 500 feet above the camp are the lower 

workings of the mine. These workings extend through a vertical 

distance of 450 feet, the highest shaft being near the top of the 

northern part of Belcher Mountain. The ore is trammed out from
176 OEE DEPOSITS OP KOBTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

the lowest level and sent down to the Belcher camp by a gravity 

tramway. It is then transferred to the narrow-gage railroad, hauled 

to the ore bins located above the Great Northern .Railway tracks, 

and again transferred for final shipment to the smelters. As the 

camp was idle when visited, not much general information could be 

obtained and little is known to the writer of the early history of the 

mine or its total production. The ores are chiefly pyrite and magnetite with some pyrrhotite, and contain only a small precious-metal 

content from 40 cents to $1 a ton in gold. The copper content is 

low. The oxidized outcrop of the ore body is altered to limonite 

and is reported to contain more gold. The Trail smelter is said to 

have paid $4 a ton for this ore, and the Granby smelter is reported 

to have bought large quantities of the sulphide ore for $2.50 a ton. 

Presumably the magnetite ore has no market at present.

The mine has been operated by several managers, who have 

installed different equipment according to their ideas of general 

efficiency. A complete set of electrical apparatus was at one time 

installed, the mine being lighted and the drills operated by electricity. 

When the mine was last operated the machinery used was a 

32-horsepower engine, a 10 by 10 inch compressor, drills, and other 

accessories. The 7 or 8 mile narrow-gage railroad and equipment, 

together with the gravity tramway connecting the lower workings 

of the mine with the ore bins at camp,, form a part of the improvements. The camp is well supplied with water and timber.

Three levels make up the principal underground developments on 

the Belcher claim. These, with a shallow shaft, a short drift, an 

upraise from No. 1 level to workings on the Hidden Treasure claim, 

and a glory hole on the Belcher claim, constitute the mine workings. 

Figure 20 shows a plan of the underground development and figure

21 a section through the mine. In all there are about 4,000 feet of 

crosscuts, drifts, upraises, winzes, and other openings. Of this total 

a very small part has been confined to developing ore bodies. These 

workings are all located on the northeast side of Belcher Mountain, 

which, because of its relatively steep slope, affords ideal tunnel sites. 

Geology. The rocks in the vicinity form a continuation of those 

occurring near the Oversight and Copper Key properties and are a 

part of the metamorphic sedimentary series that occupies a large 

part of northeastern Washington. White and blue crystalline limestone and dolomite are the principal rocks exposed by the Belcher 

workings. These rocks are in places medium to coarse grained, 

forming a good marble, and are apparently conformably interbedded 

with lime shale and argillite. These last two kinds of rock are not 

so prominent in this vicinity as they are a mile or more to the south. 

The sediments strike a little west of north and dip 15°to60°a little 

south of west. They are,intruded by dikes of monzonite porphyry 

from a few feet to several hundred feet thick. These dikes generally
BELCHEE DISTRICT. 177

follow the bedding planes of the sediments, but in places cut across 

them. Fine-grained varieties of the same rock seem to be present

FIGURE 20. Plan of the Belcher mine workings.

in places, although they could not be definitely recognized as connected with the same magma. Contact-metamorphic minerals are 

not abundant; garnet, tremolite, and epidote were seen in small
178 ORE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

amounts. Much chlorite, resulting from the alteration of the ferromagnesian constituents of the monzonite porphyry, is present and 

stains some of the rocks a dark green. The oxidized outcrops of the 

ore bodies are yellow, and limonite discolors the rocks in the 

immediate vicinity.

Ore deposit. The Belcher deposits have many characteristics in 

common with those of the Copper Key, both representing irregular 

replacements in limestone and dolomite. The sulphide ore in the 

Belcher mine is chiefly pyrite, and magnetite is not nearly so prominent as in the Copper Key. Associated with the ores are garnet, 

epidote, and tremolite, of contact-metamorphic origin. The outcrops of the deposits are very similar, being composed mainly of 

limonite. On the No. 1 level only scattered patches of ore were seen

FIGUEE 21. Section through the Belcher mine, looking southwest.

near the winze on the north side. On the No. 2 level a drift follows 

an ore body for about 75 feet 40 feet through solid ore and 35 feet 

through more or less replaced country rock. The replaced stratum 

has been shown to be at least 20 feet thick and may be thicker. On 

the No. 3 level ore is exposed beyond a'small winze on the north. It 

is more or less irregular except near the place where the incline has 

been sunk below No. 3 level. This incline is reported to be in ore, 

some of which is said to contain 4 per cent of copper. As the incline 

was full of water when visited, it was inaccessible. Not enough 

work has been done on this ore body to determine its size. In fact, 

the developments show in only a very poor way the relation of the 

ore deposits to the rocks on each side. To judge from the exposures 

and outcrop on the surface, the deposit should be from 5 to 20 feet 

thick and should extend downward along the dip plane for some 

distance. The length along the strike has not been determined..
SANPOIL DISTEICT. 179

Origin of the ores. Here, as in the Oversight and. Copper Key 

properties, the deposition of the ores is thought to have accompanied 

or followed the intrusion of the monzonite porphyry, and the ores 

are clearly of contact-metamorphic origin. The formation of large 

quantities of pyrite, with pyrrhotite in minor quantities, is indicative 

of an abundance of sulphur, so that the iron present could combine 

with sulphur to form FeS2, rather than Fe^S^, as in the Oversight and Copper Key deposits. The absence of a high percentage 

of magnetite in the Belcher area substantiates this view when it is 

considered that magnetite forms a large part of the ore bodies in 'the 

Oversight and Copper Key, where pyrite is about equally prominent 

and pyrrhotite forms a considerable part of the ore.

Occurrence of replacements. It seems highly probable that the 

developments in this mine reveal at least two ore bodies and perhaps 

three. These ore bodies, which are separated from one another by 

varying thicknesses of the metamorphosed sediments and intrusive 

dikes of porphyry, range in width or thickness from 4 to 20 feet 

or perhaps more. Their extent along the strike and dip planes has 

not been determined. As these ore bodies represent the irregular 

and more or less complete replacement of limestone or dolomite, 

their general trend will accord with that of the formations. The 

dimensions and positions of shoots can be determined only by 

exploration. The sedimentary rocks are somewhat disturbed in this 

locality, yet they strike in general a little west of north and dip to 

the west or a little south of west at angles between 15° and 60°. 

Hence no great difficulty should be encountered in following these 

ore shoots to their extremities. As the replacements occur in strata 

on both sides of the intrusive mass, the encountering of a dike of 

porphyry does not necessarily mean that the ground on the other 

side of the dike is barren. On the other hand, some of these dikes are 

several hundred feet thick and are expensive to crosscut.. In such 

places drilling is much more economical for purposes of exploration.

SANPOIL DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

The Sanpoil district occupies about 600 square miles in the southern portion of Ferry County. (See fig. 2, p. 39.) As a whole it is 

the most inaccessible district in the county, and up to the summer 

of 1910 it had been less developed than any other well-recognized 

mining district in northeastern Washington except the Metaline district. On July 1, 1898, the following boundaries were recorded for 

the Sanpoil mining district:

The district begins at the confluence of the Sanpoil with the Columbia River; 

thence westward to the intersection of Columbia River with the Okanogan County 

line; thence northerly along the line 25 miles; thence easterly 25 miles; thence southerly to the Columbia River; thence in a westerly direction along the Columbia to the 

place of beginning.
180 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Transportation is afforded by wagons and pack animals, as no 

railroad runs through the area. Wilbur, on the Northern Pacific 

Railway, is about 12 miles south of the southern border of the district, and Republic, on the Great Northern'and Spokane & British 

Columbia railways, is about 24 miles north of the northern border. 

These two stations are the most accessible and are the supply points 

for the Sanpoil district. A railroad route has been surveyed down 

Sanpoil River, but in April, 1911, construction had not been started. 

Keller (formerly Harlinda) is the largest settlement in the district 

and contains a few houses, general merchandise stores, a stable, a 

post office, and a lodging house. A stage runs triweekly between 

Keller and Wilbur.

CONDITION OF MINING ACTIVITY.

General inactivity prevailed throughout the Sanpoil district during the summer of 1910, and little or no development work was in 

progress. The three properties visited in this district represent 

deposits of different types, and, although the district contains many 

prospects which the writer could not visit for lack of time, it is highly 

probable that they are comparable in many respects to deposits 

described here or in different parts of this report. Some of the 

Ninemile Creek deposits are doubtless similar to those described in 

the section on the Meteor or Co vada (Enterprise) district (pp. 187-197). 

Others doubtless represent irregular replacements in limestone caused 

by igneous and contact metamorphism, some of which are rich in 

lead and silver. Lead-silver ores are reported from the vicinity of 

Silver Creek, 3 to 4 miles south of Keller. The Meadow Creek locality, 3 miles north of Keller, on the west side of the Sanpoil, is reported 

to contain gold-quartz veins and lead-silver ores.

A small copper smelter erected at Keller had not been blown in at 

the time of the writer's investigation. It was built by the Keller & 

Indiana Smelting Co. to smelt the ores from the Manila mine, 7 miles 

west of Keller.

Water is obtained throughout the district from the Sanpoil and its 

many smaller tributary creeks, and timber is abundant in a large part 

of the district.

TOPOGRAPHY. '

The Sanpoil district is traversed by two main north-south mountain ranges, one on each side of Sanpoil River, which flows southward 

a little west of the center of the district. Within the limits of this 

district the Sanpoil drops from an elevation of 1,800 feet to 1,100 feet 

at its confluence with the Columbia. The highest mountains rise 

over 5,000 feet above sea level, but the general elevation of the 

ranges is about 3,500 feet and the mountain masses slope gradually 

down toward the Columbia on the south, so that in that part of the
SANPOIL DISTRICT. 181

district the tops of the higher peaks are less than 2,500 feet above 

sea level. The Sanpoil has many small tributary creeks, among 

which may be mentioned Bridge, Copper, and Rattlesnake creeksflowing southwestward. The names of the creeks which flow south, 

eastward into the river do not appear upon the general maps of the 

region. Ninemile Creek flows into the Columbia in a southeasterly 

direction from the east side of the range east of the Sanpoil.. The area 

drained by this stream is known as the Ninemile district.

GEOLOGY.

As only a small part of the Sanpoil district was examined, it is 

impossible to give a very definite account of the rocks which occupy 

the major part of the district. A sedimentary series of limestone, 

argillite, lime shale, quartzite, and quartz-mica schist covers a large 

part of the area. In places these rocks are accompanied by amphibolitic schists and sheared igneous rocks of varied composition. The 

general strike of these rocks is north and south, although many local 

divergences were seen. The whole series is thought to be of Paleozoic 

age. It evinces considerable dynamometamorphism and, in the 

vicinity of intrusive granite and monzonite porphyry, some contact 

metamorphism. The intrusive rocks were seen in widely separated 

localities within the district and one or more of the varieties are 

reported to occur in the vicinity of most of the ore deposits. The 

intrusions of granite are thought to have taken place during late 

Mesozoic tune, and the monzonite, which is perhaps a phase of the 

same magma, is believed to have directly followed this intrusion or 

to have been injected in early Tertiary tune. Lava flows, probably 

of Tertiary age, cap many of the mountains and' in places extend 

down to the level of the valleys.

ORE DEPOSITS.

Although only three properties were visited in the Sanpoil district, 

prospects have been worked in many parts of it and mineral deposits 

are doubtless present in every township. The writer regrets that 

lack of time prohibited a more extensive examination of this locality. 

However, the geologic conditions existing in the Sanpoil district are 

not dissimilar to those in other parts of northeastern Washington, and 

probably it will be found to contain the some types of deposits.

The deposits examined are of three kinds a quartz vein carrying 

nickel ore in a shear zone in schists, a deposit of disseminated chalcopyrite and pyrite in quartz-mica schists, and a lead-silver quartz vein 

in altered porphyry, possibly monzonite. Deposits of other kinds are 

doubtless present in the area, and among them lead-silver quartz 

veins and irregular replacements of limestone by lead and zinc ores 

are probably numerous.
182 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON".

MINES AND PROSPECTS.

CONGRESS.

Location and development. Nickel ore has been exposed by the 

workings on the Congress prospect, on the north side of Bridge Creek, 

3£ miles east of Sanpoil River. The camp is at an elevation of 2,500 

feet, and a rough wagon road has been built from the main Sanpoil 

road to the deposit. Republic and Wilbur are each about 30 to 35

miles from the camp, 

the former being a 

little west of north of 

it and the latter a 

little west of due 

south. The building 

of a railroad down 

the Sanpoil would of 

course make the deposits much more 

accessible. Timber 

and water are plentiful in the immediate 

vicinity of the camp. 

The developments 

on the prospect consist of five adit tunnels with drifts and 

crosscuts and a shal-. 

low discovery hole, 

aggregating about 

1,500 feet of underground workings. 

The levels are separated by vertical distances of 50 to 100 feet 

and the deposit has 

been explored through a vertical range of approximately 300 feet. 

The work has been done by hand, no machinery having been installed. No shipments are reported from the prospect.

Figure 22 shows the general geologic and topographic features of 

the vicinity. The workings are located on a northeast-southwest 

offshoot of a ridge which projects southeastward from the principal 

mountain mass and slopes rather precipitously down to Bridge Creek, 

about 1,000 feet below the crest of the ridge.

Geology. Schistose rocks of both sedimentary and igneous origin, 

showing considerable dynamometamorphism, constitute the principal 

part of the geologic section exposed in this locality. These rocks are 

believed to be of Paleozoic age and have been intruded by a large dike

TO THE SANPOIL 

ILES

1000 1000 2000 Feet

Contour interval 100 feet

Quartz monzonite porphyry Intercalated amphibolite, limestone, lime shale, quartzite, and 

quartz-mica schist

FIGURE 22. Sketch map of the area in which the Congress prospect is 

located, near Bridge Creek, Sanpoil mining district. 1 to 5, Adit tunnels.
SANPOIL DISTRICT. 183

of quartz monzonite porphyry, which is exposed on the southern 

slope of the main ridge at an elevation of 2,900 feet and which is 

thought to be of Mesozoic age. Lava flows, probably of Tertiary age, 

cap some of the ridges and in places extend down to the level of the 

valleys in the vicinity of Bridge Creek.

The schistose rocks have a general northeast strike and dip at 

angles varying from 45° NW. to 90°. They are composed of apparently conformable strata of amphibolitic schists with interlaminated 

lime shale, quartz-mica schist, and a rock which resembles sheared 

granite. Beds of limestone and quartzite are also included in the 

series. As the soil covering and underbrush conceal part of the 

geologic section, it is impossible to give the thickness of the several 

formations, which as a whole are probably several thousand feet in 

width. Faulting is pronounced in the schistose series, and shear zones 

of considerable size were seen in the Congress workings. The principal faults appear.to trend in a northeast-southwest direction, parallel to the foliation in the schists.

The amphibolite has probably resulted from the dynamometamorphism of a basic rock having the composition of a gabbro or related rock magma, intruded into the sedimentary limestone, shale, 

and quartzite prior to the metamorphism. The lime shale and limestone are fine grained and of a dark-gray color, and the former represents a more or less impure platy limestone. Veinlets of siderite are 

present in the limestone. The quartzite is a fine-grained grayishwhite rock showing distinct schistose structure. The rock which now 

resembles sheared granite is of a yellowish-brown color arid is in 

places distinctly schistose, especially where it forms the footwall of 

the deposit in the Congress workings. This rock contains phenocrysts of white mica with some biotite and much talc. Magnetite, 

barite, and epidote are present in the rock near its contact with the 

schists. It may represent limestone intruded by quartz monzonite 

porphyry which has subsequently been severely faulted. The intrusive quartz monzonite porphyry, a boundary of which is roughly 

shown on figure 22, probably extends over a larger area than is represented on the map, and offshoots from the main dike are no doubt 

present in various parts of the schistose series. This rock has a 

typical porphyritic texture, is of a general gray color, and contains 

phenocrysts of andesine and orthoclase feldspar, with some biotite 

and quartz, in a cryptocrystalline groundmass. Epidotization accompanied the intrusion of the porphyry, and the limestones contain 

large quantities of epidote, with which are associated magnetite and 

tremolite. The tremolite in places along shear zones is asbestiformOre deposit. The deposit occupies a shear zone or fault plane in 

the schistose series and consists of a quartz vein from 6 to 32 feet in 

29122° Bull. 550 14 13
184 ORE DEPOSITS OP NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

width, which has an average strike of N. 50°-70° E. and a dip-of 45° 

NW. to 90°. The strike and dip of the vein conform to the planes of 

schistosity of the inclosing walls. The quartz filling the vein is of .a 

bluish-white color, is fine grained and compact, and is cut by joints 

into cubical and rectangular blocks measuring from a fraction of an 

inch to a foot or more. The portion of the vein explored by the 

Congress workings is somewhat cellular, the small vugs present being 

filled with quartz crystals and some malachite. Talc and barite 

form a small part of the vein filling. Sparsely scattered through the 

quartz are small veinlets and aggregates of pyrite associated with 

some chalcopyrite. These veinlets of pyrite range from a fraction of 

an inch to an inch or more in width, and the quartz with scattered 

aggregates of pyrite may. extend over a larger portion of the vein. 

The pyrite is nickeliferous, and where oxidation has been active the 

sulphides have been altered and their oxidation products have been 

deposited as thin films along the joint planes and fractures and in 

fact along all the openings in the quartz veins. Limonite, malachite, 

and a carbonate of nickel are present in thin films, with the result 

that the whole vein is discolored, the predominant color being reddish brown with scattered patches of light and dark green. Samples 

were taken by the writer to determine the approximate average tenor 

of parts of the vein, and the results of assays of this material should 

not be taken as indicative of a thorough sampling of the deposit, a 

matter which is quite beyond the scope of the work of the United 

States Geological Survey. A sample from a crosscut of the vein in 

the lowest or No. 1 level, 390 feet from the portal of the adit tunnel 

and 90 feet beyond the intersection of the adit with the vein (at this 

place 23 feet wide), contained 0.17 per cent of nickel and 0.013 per 

cent of cobalt.1 On the No. 2 level, where the vein is cut 40 feet 

from the portal of the adit and then followed by a drift for 160 feet 

or more, a sample of 14 feet of the vein was taken along the drift. 

This sample contained 0.246 per'cent of nickel and 0.034 per cent of 

cobalt. A crosscut at the end of this drift shows the vein to be 

approximately 32 feet wide at that place. ^A third sample was taken 

in No. 3 level in a crosscut on the vein 90 feet from the portal, where 

the vein is encountered. This sample extended across 20 feet.of the 

vein from the hanging wall toward the footwall and contained 0.12 

per cent of nickel and 0.016 per cent of cobalt. The silver .and gold 

contents were determined from a composite of the three samples. 

The results of this assay 2 show 5.5 ounces of silver to the ton and a 

trace of gold. A picked specimen of sulphide ore containing chiefly 

pyrite was analyzed for nickel and cobalt by Mr. Fairchild and found 

to contain 5.71 per cent of nickel and 0.35 per cent of cobalt.

1 Analyses for nickel and cobalt were made by J. G. Fairchild, of the United States Geological Survey.

2 By Ledoux & Co., of New York.
SANPOIL DISTRICT. 185

In the oxidized ores the nickel content is low, but as the picked 

specimen of sulphide ore showed over 5 per cent of nickel it seems 

possible that this deposit might be profitably worked below water 

level, where oxidized material would be practically absent and where 

sulphides should predominate. Because of the scanty distribution 

of the nickel-bearing sulphide ores in the quartz vein the ore would 

have to be concentrated.

This ore deposit was probably formed by solutions accompanying 

the intrusion of the' quartz monzonite porphyry, which caused more 

or less contact metamorphism in the adjacent rocks. The evidence 

for this conclusion lies in the presence of magnetite, epidote, and 

barite in the contiguous strata.

MANILA.

The Manila mine is 4 miles in an ah- line S. 871° W. of Keller, the 

distr--e by wagon road being about 7 miles. A smelter consisting 

of two 100-ton blast furnaces has been constructed at~Keller by the 

Keller & Indiana Consolidated Smelting Co. to treat the ores from 

this mine. A small sampling mill is connected with the smelter. 

Power is to be generated by electricity from hydroelectric installation. 

Up to the tone of the writer's visit (July, 1910) the smelter had not 

been blown in. Timber is plentiful at no great distance from.the 

mine, and enough water for domestic purposes is available near by. 

The claims are held by annual assessment work, and none of them are 

patented.

Lee Farr is said to be the principal owner of this mine, and although 

it has several times been under lease and bond he still holds the title. 

The production consists of 1,500 tons of ore, which is reported to have 

been mined and hauled to the smelter at Keller where it has remained 

unsmelted.

Two levels, separated from .each other by a vertical distance of 150 

feet, constitute the principal developments on the property. The 

lower level, at an elevation of 2,675 feet, is 1,415 feet above Keller. 

This is a crosscut between 250 and 300 feet long with a 100-foot 

drift from the end of it, from which another crosscut has been driven 

about 75 feet. The upper level consists of a 50-foot crosscut and a 

stope about.45 by 25 by 14 feet, which is connected with the surface 

by an- air shaft 20 or 30 feet long. Three 10 to 20 foot crosscuts 

have been run from the stope. The workings are located on a narrow 

ridge which has a general northeast-southwest trend and rises several 

hundred feet above the gulches on each side. The levels have been 

run from the east side of the ridge in a direction transverse to its 

trend that is, westerly.

The rocks in this vicinity are medium to coarse grained quartzmica schists with intercalated arnphibolite and quartzite, and the
186 ORE DEPOSITS' OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

whole series is intruded by coarse-grained granite, which now occupies the major part of the ridge. The schists appear to strike northeast and to dip northwest at a steep angle. In this immediate 

vicinity they are not over 500 feet thick and are cut off on the southwest and northeast by granite, so that their linear extent along the 

strike is not over 500 or 600 feet. Doubtless the continuation of the 

schists could be found beyond the intrusive granite.

The quartz-mica schists are in the main hard, compact, generally 

dark-colored rocks, but some varieties are softer and contain less 

quartz and more mica. The amphibolite is a medium to fine grained 

light to dark green rock which is composed essentially of hornblende 

and may have resulted by the metamorphism of limestone strata or 

may be an altered diabase. The quartzite is a medium to coarse 

grained rock which shows some schistose structure. The granite is 

composed essentially of brthoclase and quartz with subordinate biotite. 

Fresh specimens of this rock are pinkish blue, but the altered rock 

shows a dirty brownish-white color. Contact-metamorphic minerals 

were not seen in the strata through which the granite has cut.

Chalcopyrite and pyrite are sparingly disseminated through the 

schists and still more sparsely through parts of the granitic intrusive. 

Mineralization seems to. be a little more extensive in the stope above 

the upper workings than in the workings below. The whole ore body, 

as exposed by these workings, probably contains less than 1.5 per 

cent of copper. A trace of gold and from 0.5 to 4 ounces of silver to 

the ton are reported to be shown by assays of this ore. The extent 

of the mineralized zone has not been definitely determined. The 

maximum boundaries for this one ore body are the limits of the 

schist in the locality and the actual width is probably considerably 

less than the distance, between these boundaries.

Solutions accompanying the intrusion of the granite doubtless 

effected the mineralization in this locality. The ore is of low grade, 

the mine is a long way from railroad transportation, and facilities for 

smelting are poor. The future of the deposit depends on the actual 

extent of the ore zone. If this is large enough to warrant the erection 

of a concentrator, the mine might be made to pay. Smelting the ore 

under present conditions would probably prove unprofitable.

POLEPICK.

The Polepick prospect is 1 mile north of Keller, on the east side of 

the ridge west of the Sanpoil, at an elevation of 1,660 feet, or about 

400 feet above the valley. The developments consist of a main 

level on which about 700 f eet'of work has been done and small surface 

cuts some distance above. No large shipments are reported from 

this prospect.
COVADA OR METEOR DISTRICT. 187

Light-colored coarse-grained orthoclase-quartz-biotite granite, 

showing pronounced jointing and fracturing, has been intruded by 

a greenish-blue porphyritic rock which is now so altered that it is 

hard to identify. The chief constituents of the intrusive rock seem 

to be feldspar and hornblende, together with much chlorite and 

pyrite, and the rock may be a monzonite. Along and near the contact of these two rocks some faulting has taken place and quartz 

veins have been formed. The general strike of the contact is S. 10° 

W. and the dip 50°-60° E. Quartz veins having a total width of 

several feet, separated from one another by thin bands of country 

rock and gouge, show some scattered mineralization by chalcopyrite, 

sphalerite, and galena, with subordinate pyrite and a little tetrahedrite. Molybdenite was found in some of the fractures in the granite. 

The ores are thought to have been introduced by solutions that 

accompanied or followed the intrusion of the greenish porphyry.

COVADA OR METEOR (ENTERPRISE) DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND EXTENT.

The towns of Covada and Meteor are small settlements in a district which has been recorded in the office of the clerk of Ferry County 

as the Enterprise mining district but which is perhaps better known 

by the name of either of these towns than by the official name. As 

outlined in the county clerk's office, under date of February 22, 1908, 

the district has the following boundaries:

Beginning at the mouth of Wilmot Creek, thence up the Columbia River to the north 

line of the south half of the Colville Reservation; thence following the north line of 

the south half of the Colville Reservation west to the summit of the range or divide 

between the Sanpoil and the Columbia River; thence in a southerly direction to the 

headwaters of Wilmot Creek; thence following Wilmot Creek to the mouth, or place 

of beginning.

The district covers aoout 250 square miles in the central eastern 

part of Ferry County and includes within its boundary a small area 

in the northeast corner of the Sanpoil mining district. Only a small 

part of the Enterprise district that 1 in the vicinity of Covada and 

Meteor was examined by the writer. These settlements can be 

reached by fair wagon roads from Addy and Blue Creek, two. towns 

on the Great Northern Railway, by ferrying across the Columbia at 

Daisy or Gifford, or they can be reached by a long stage journey down 

the Columbia from Meyers Falls, another station on the Great Northern Railway. Probably the most convenient method is by wagon 

from Addy or Blue Creek, the distance by the shortest wagon route 

from either of these places to Covada or Meteor being about'30 miles. 

In an air line Covada is 1S£ miles a little south of due west of Blue 

Creek. As the Huckleberry Range has to be crossed in going from 

one place to the other, the hauling of ore is very expensive and only 

small shipments have been made from this district.
188 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN" WASHINGTON. 

CONDITION OF MINING ACTIVITY.

This district was the only totally inactive camp visited during the 

writer's investigation. The lack of economical transportation facilities, the scarcity of large deposits of high-grade ore, and the absence 

of capital have had the effect of retarding operations in a locality 

which lies quite out of the ordinary routes of travel in this part of 

the State. No reduction works have been erected within the district, the small quantity of ore produced in the camp having been 

sent outside for treatment.

Although there are numberless veins within that part of the district examined, few of them show anything but scanty and irregular mineralization, and the rich portions seem to be confined to the 

superficial parts of the deposits. There are no deep workings in the 

camp, and consequently it is hazardous to predict what future developments will disclose. However, it seems highly probable that these 

deposits are analogous to others seen in northeastern Washington, 

and if so the tenor of the ore is likely to decrease materially as depth 

below the gulch levels is attained.

TOPOGRAPHY.

Columbia River bounds this district on the east and the drainage 

from the district,flows in general toward that stream. The mountains rise gradually from the Columbia, along which the elevations 

are about 1,500 feet, to heights of 3,500 to 4,500 feet on the divide ^ 

between this river and the Sanpoil. Glaciation has been extensive 

here as elsewhere in this part of Washington, with the result that the 

mountains are rounded off and broad valleys have been carved out 

between the ridges. In places the valleys are filled with glacial 

debris, although on the whole the district is more free from material

of this sort than the districts that lie farther north. Four spurs n 

extending eastward and southeastward from the main mountain mass 

form the most prominent topographic features within the district. 

Small streams flow through the valleys between these ridges and 

afford an abundant supply of water. The slopes of the mountains 

are covered with a good growth of several varieties of evergreen timber, which is available for use in mining operations. Y

GEOLOGY.

Quartz-mica schist, limestone, and shale, intruded by quartz monzonite porphyry, quartz diorite, and allied dikes, together with dikes 

of a still later age, constitute the geologic section exposed in that 

part of the district examined. The schists are in places highly 

foliated, but elsewhere they show only imperfect schistosity, the 

dynamometamorphism of the series having been irregular. Faulting is prominent, and in places the schists have been so ground up r
COVADA OR METEOR DISTRICT. 189

by movement that they resemble carbonaceous shales. Some contact metamorphism has accompanied the intrusion of the porphyritic rocks into the limestone, garnet having been seen in the vicinity 

of the Silver Leaf prospect.

A general north-south strike prevails throughout the metamorphic 

series, and the dip more nearly approaches the vertical than the horizontal. The schists are medium grained, dark red to black, hard 

and compact and are composed essentially of quartz and white mica. 

The limestone seen is of a pure-white variety and is highly crystalline. 

An analysis of a specimen of limestone from Rattlesnake Mountain, 

1$ miles northeast of Covada, showed the presence of 50.3 per cent 

CaO. The shales are light to dark blue or black in color, are fine 

grained, and are composed essentially of quartz, feldspar, and carbonaceous matter. These sedimentary rocks form a part of the 

metamorphic series which prevails over a large part of northeastern 

Washington and are thought to be of Paleozoic age.

The monzonite porphyry is a coarse-grained gray rock which 

closely resembles granite in general appearance. Phenocrysts of 

quartz, feldspar,hornblende, and biotite are visible without the aid of a 

lens. Under the microscope the rock is seen to be composed essentially of quartz, biotite, hornblende, orthoclase, and anclesine. Zircon, titanite, and magnetite are prominent accessory minerals, and 

some of the rock contains sericite resulting from the alteration of the 

feldspars and chlorite and epidote from the breaking down of the 

ferromagnesian minerals. The quartz diorite closely resembles the 

quartz monzonite in texture, but in the former rock the ferromagnesian minerals are much more prominent, and orthoclase gives way 

to plagioclase feldspars. The dikes that have accompanied the intrusion of these rocks contain still greater amounts of ferromagnesian 

minerals. One fine-grained dike seen in the Keystone workings 

shows phenocrysts of biotite and quartz, the feldspars being entirely 

altered to or replaced by calcite.

ORE DEPOSITS.

Distribution and character. A large number of veins were seen in 

the small part of this district examined, and it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that there are others outside of the area prospected in the vicinity of Covada and Meteor.

Figure 23 shows the location of some of the properties visited in this 

district. There are about 60 other prospects in this general vicinity 

on which more or less work has been done, most of them, however, 

representing simply surface locations with only a few feet of development work. The Meteor and the Silver Leaf are, respectively, the 

most westerly and most easterly deposits examined in the district, 

and in the area between them the geologic section and the general
190 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

conditions governing the deposition of the ores have in the main 

varied but little. Local differences in the deposits are noted in the 

detailed descriptions which follow.

The ore deposits of this district are irregular and scantily mineralized quartz lenses occupying shear zones, fissures, and silicified faultbreccia planes in the metamorphic series and the intrusive porphyritic rocks. One vein of stibnite was seen in the R. E. Lee prospect, 

and the Longstreet represents a deposit of a different kind. With 

these exceptions the deposits examined are remarkably similar, the 

chief differences being in the size and continuity of the ore bodies,

FIGURE 23. Sketch map showing the location of some of the properties visited in the Meteor or Covada 

(Enterprise) mining district. From map by B. E. Robinson, of Covada.

and these differences may be in part accounted for by the fact that 

the developments on many of the claims have shown but a part of 

the deposits.

The shear zones range from a few inches to 15 or 20 feet in width, 

the average being about 3 feet. Their length along the strike has not 

been determined but in some of the deposits is several hundred feet. 

The length along the dip plane of the faults has been proved to be at 

least as extensive, but the continuity of the' veins in this direction 

has in places been cut off by postmineral faulting. The vein fillings 

are more irregular in size than the shear zones. In general they
COVADA OB METEOR DISTRICT. 191

range in width from less than 1 inch to 2 feet, but the average is considerably less than the maximum. Most of the deposits were found 

to be decidedly lenticular and to extend only a few feet along the 

strike. In many of the workings drifting along the strike of the 

shear zones has disclosed the presence of other lenses. Banding is 

noticeable in some of the deposits, and comb structure is prominent 

in the veins which have been subjected to postmineral movement.

The gangue in all the deposits consists chiefly of quartz and brecciated country rock, with some calcite of various colors and a pinkishyellow carbonate composed of iron, manganese, magnesium, and 

calcium. Postmineral faulting is a prominent feature of the deposits, 

silica and calcite having recemented the vein filling. The ore minerals are galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and arsenopyrite, 

accompanied by subordinate amounts of pyrrhotite, tetrahedrite, 

stibnite, argentite, pyrargyrite, and native silver. Limonite, azurite, 

and malachite were seen in the outcrops of some of the veins.

Origin. Mineral-bearing solutions following the intrusion of the 

quartz monzonite porphyry and the quartz diorite are thought to have 

formed the ore deposits in this district. After the intrusion and subsequent cooling of the quartz monzonite, openings were formed in 

the metamorphic and intrusive rocks. The quartz diorite which 

was intruded later, probably representing a second phase of the same 

magma, was accompanied or followed by solutions that have caused 

the mineralization in this locality. Some of the ore is of contactmetamorphic origin, but the greater part is due to the after effects 

of igneous intrusion. Postmineral movement and the development 

of native silver and rich secondary silver sulphide minerals have 

made some of the deposits workable. Below ground-water level 

the deposits are likely to become too lean to be profitably worked 

under existing mining conditions.

MINES AND PROSPECTS. 

METEOR.

The Meteor prospect, located 3 miles almost due south of Meteor, 

is the most westerly deposit examined in the Enterprise district. In 

an air line Covada is the same distance east, but the wagon road 

between the two places is some 2 miles longer. Two small shipments 

of ore, the returns of which are not known to the writer, are reported 

from this prospect, which was idle when visited.

The developments consist of an inclined shaft at an angle of 80° 

N. 55° W., said to be 125 feet deep, the collar of which is at an elevation of 3,125 feet. The shaft was not accessible to examination. 

The shaft house is about 1,500 feet N. 62£° W. of the top of Meteor 

Mountain and approximately 200 feet lower. The main level, a plan
192 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

of which is shown in figure 24, is located at an elevation of 2,890 feet, 

and consists of a 700-foot crosscut, with 175 feet of drifting on the 

vein and small stopes above the drift.

Medium-grained dark-colored quartz-mica schists intruded by 

quartz monzonite porphyry and allied dikes form the geologic section 

in ^this locality. The schists have a general northwest-southeast 

strike, but local changes are so numerous that no one direction is 

continuous. Faulting is pronounced, and is probably due in large

part to the intrusion of the monzonite.

The ore deposit occupies a fault 

plane or shear zone in the quartzmica schist and apparently trends 

parallel to the planes of schistosity. Where this fault plane 

has been exposed by the underground workings from the adit 

tunnel the vein strikes N. 35° E. 

and dips 75° NW. In width the 

shear zone ranges from a few 

inches up to 3 feet. The vein filling is mostly gouge with 1 to 12 

inches of more or less sparsely 

mineralized quartz. The quartz 

veins are lenticular, pinching and 

swelling every few feet. In the 

small stopes above the drift on 

the vein two ore shoots 6 to 8 

feet apart extend along the strike 

of the shear zone. Both shoots 

were only 12 to 15 feet in length as 

measured along the strike, and neither had been worked to a height of 

over 30 feet above the floor of the drift. A fault striking N. 20°-30° W. 

and dipping 35°-40° SW. cuts off the vein 125 feet northeast of the 

point where the ore body is first encountered by the crosscut.

Chalcopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite, and galena constitute the chief 

ore minerals. These are accompanied by some arsenopyrite, argentite, pyrargyrite, and tetrahedrite. Quartz is the principal gangue 

mineral and is accompanied by calcite and a pinkish-yellow carbonate 

containing chiefly iron, manganese, calcium, and magnesium. Native 

silver is reported to have been found in the ore from this mine, and 

the average silver content of the ore shipped is said to have been 

from 75 to 90 ounces to the ton. As only small shipments have been 

made, and as these doubtless consisted.of sorted ore, it is difficult to 

ascertain the average silver content of the deposit.

zoo Feet

FIGUKE 24. Plan of main level of Meteor prospect, 

Enterprise district.
. COVADA 'OB METEOR DISTRICT. . 193

Postmineral movement in the vein is indicated by the slickensided 

surfaces and brecciated gangue and ore minerals. Comb structure 

, is noticeable in parts of the vein.

STRAY DOG.

The Stray Dog is located about midway between Meteor and Covada 

on the west side of the road. No work was being done on it when 

visited. Two shipments of 20 tons each are reported, and these are said 

to have assayed, respectively, 0.3 and 0.6 ounce of gold and 5 and 66 

ounces of silver to the ton. The wide range in the silver content 

indicates that one shipment was probably assorted ore and the other 

run of mine.

The developments consist of a mam level at an elevation of 2,250 

feet, on which there is a 260-foot crosscut, a 300-foot drift, a 75-foot 

winze, and a 108-foot upraise; an intermediate level, at an elevation 

of 2,300 feet, on which 100 feet of work is reported to have been done; 

an upper level, at an elevation of 2,360 feet, on which some 50 feet of 

work has been done; and a shaft, said, to be 100 feet deep, on top of 

the ridge.

A small quartz vein, having a general northeast strike and a dip of 

75°-90° NW. and occupying a shear zone or fault plane in quartz 

monzonite porphyry shows some scattered mineralization by pyrite, 

chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, tetrahedrite, and lesser quantities of 

pyrargyrite, argentite, and arsenopyrite. Native silver is reported 

from this deposit and calcite forms part of the vein filling. The 

shear zone ranges from 18 inches to 4 feet in width and contains talc, 

gouge, and brecciated country rock, besides the quartz vein, which 

is in some places 2 feet wide and in others pinches out. The deposit 

is lenticular and only sparingly mineralized. Postmineral faulting 

is indicated by the attrition marks on the ore minerals and the brecciated condition of the vein.

ADVANCE.

The Advance property is located 1 mile northwest of Covada, on 

the northeast side of the gulch.. It was idle when visited, and no 

shipments of ore are reported.

The developments consist of two main levels connected by an 

upraise. (See fig. 25.) - The lower level, at an elevation of 2,390 feet, 

comprises an 849-foot crosscut, a 350-foot drift, and a 37-foot winze. 

The upraise between the two levels extends 180 feet on the vein, the 

vertical difference in elevation being about 170 feet. The workings 

on the upper level consist of a 200-foot drift, a 40-foot upraise, a 

35-foot winze, and a 350-foot crosscut.

Quartz-mica schists showing ill-defined schistose structure are the 

rocks in which the ore deposits occur. These appear to strike northeast and dip 15°-60° NW.
194 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Dikes of a fine-grained grayish rock showing phenocrysts of biotite 

and very much altered by metamorphic processes, yet evidently of 

igneous origin, intrude the sedimentary series. This rock was seen 

in the upraise from the lower level and in the drift on the upper 

level, and in places it occurs in the ore body. The microscope shows 

that the feldspar constituents are entirely altered to or replaced by 

calcite. Phenocrysts of quartz can be seen in places in the rock. 

Its general appearance is that of a dike accompanying the eruption 

of lavas, although it may be a phase of monzonitic intrusion. Because

Winze 37ft. 

^

Raise iSOft.on vein

Raise 40ft.

No.l adit tunnel

4ooFeet

/No.2 adit tunnel 

1 El. 2,390'

FiGUEE 25. Plan of the Advance workings, Enterprise mining district.

of the alteration which the rock has undergone identification is 

impossible.

The main developed ore deposit consists of lenticular masses of 

quartz from 1 inch to 16 inches in .width, contained in a shear zone 

in the schists. This zone has an average width of 2 or 3 feet, strikes 

northwest, and dips 60°-70° N. .15° E. It is filled mainly with 

gouge and brecciated country rock, together with the quartz lenses 

or veins and some calcite. The mineralization was more or less 

scattered and the association of pyrite, chalcopyrite, galena, and
COVADA OR METEOR DISTRICT. 195

sphalerite so common in the deposits of this district is also found 

here. Some pyrrhotite, associated with pyrite, was seen, and native 

silver and pyrargarite are reported to have been found in the veins. 

A smaller vein was cut 150 feet from the portal of the lower tunnel 

and followed by drifts for 10 feet on each side of the crosscut. This 

vein is 9 to 12 inches wide, strikes where exposed N. 55° W., and 

dips 45° NE. The vein filling is quartz, gouge, and brecciated 

country rock, sparingly mineralized by the usual association of ore 

minerals found in the camp.

KEYSTONE.

The Keystone prospect is about 1$ miles a little north of west of 

Covada, on the northwest side of the main road between Covada and 

Meteor. The prospect was idle when visited, and no shipments are 

reported from it. The only development is an adit tunnel or drift 

383 feet long on a shear zone in the sedimentary rocks fine-grained 

dark-colored quartz-mica schists that have a general northeast strike 

and a dip of 45°-60° NW. Much faulting is evident in the workings, 

and the rocks east of the drift seem to dip at right angles to those on 

the west or hanging-wall side. The slickensided surfaces of the 

quartz-mica schists are black and appear to contain much carbonaceous matter. The shear zone, is from 2 to 6 feet in width and 

contains irregular lenticular masses of quartz associated with more 

or less calcite. In general these quartz lenses are small and contain 

only scattered patches of the ore minerals, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite. Native silver and pyrargyrite are also reported 

from the prospect. These minerals show some banded structure, 

and postmineral faulting is indicated by brecciated vein material 

cemented by quartz and calcite.

LONGSTREET.

The Longstreet prospect, 1$ miles northeast of Covada, was also 

idle when visited, although small shipments are reported from it. 

Tha developments consist of a 120-foot adit tunnel at an elevation of 

2,110 feet, a small glory hole or open cut 60 or 70 feet higher, and one 

or two still smaller workings.

In this vicinity quartz-mica schists and lime shales have been 

intruded by quartz diorite or quartz monzonite porphyry and allied 

dikes to such an extent that the sedimentary series is entirely displaced. The dikes appear to have been later phases of the intrusive 

magma and contain more ferroma'gnesian minerals than the main 

masses of diorite or monzonite. A breccia resulting from their intrusion forms a noticeable part of the Longstreet ore deposit. It is in 

places entirely cemented by silica, somewhat resembling a conglomerate. These silicified zones of breccia are 8 to 30 feet wide, have a
196 ORB DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

general north-south strike, and stand nearly vertical, although many 

local variations were seen. Faulting along the intrusive dikes has 

been pronounced and one zone of selvage 30 feet wide was seen in the 

lower level.

The solutions which brought in the silica that has cemented the 

breccia deposited also some ore minerals in the brecciated zones and 

fractures in the country rock. Some of the mineralized country rock 

has been explored by the Longstreet workings. The ore minerals 

tetrahedrite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena, and stibnite are 

sparsely and irregularly scattered through the siliceous gangue, and 

no definite ore shoots have been exposed for any but very short distances. Oxide of antimony is profusely disseminated through the 

small fractures and over the surface of the rocks on the outcrop of 

the mineralized zone, so that a yellowish-green color prevails over 

a large part of the upper workings on this claim.

As the mineral-bearing solutions followed zones of fracture, and as 

these in general follow the contacts of the intrusive diorite or monzonite, future explorations along these zones may reveal the presence 

of other ore bodies.

R. E. LEE.

The R. E. Lee prospect is located 1J miles northeast of Covada, 

about a quarter of a mile south of the Longstreet. It is interesting 

mainly because of the occurrence of small veins of stibnite or berthierite, which are exposed in the workings. This prospect also 

was idle when visited and no shipments are reported. The developments consist of a 76-foot crosscut, at an elevation of 2,160 feet, in 

which there is a 5-foot winze 30 feet from the portal.

Quartz monzonite porphyry is the country rock. In the winze are 

exposed small veins or fractures containing stibnite or berthierite. 

One stringer .3 inches wide completely filled with this mineral is the 

widest; others range from half an inch to an inch in width and are 

separated from one another by barren country rock, the whole mineralized zone being about 2 feet wide. This zone has been exposed 

for only a few feet along the strike and dip, and its extent in these 

directions is uncertain. The strike of the ore body is N. 30° E. and 

the dip 40°-50° NW. An analysis of this ore by R. C. Wells, of the 

United States Geological Survey, showed it to be composed almost 

wholly of antimony sulphide with a little iron and a trace of arsenic. 

Copper and zinc are reported to be absent, and Mr. Wells suggests 

that the mineral conforms more nearly in composition to berthierite 

than to stibnite. An assay of a picked sample of this mineral, by 

Burlingame & Co., of Denver, Colo., showed it to contain traces of 

gold and silver.
OTHEE DEPOSITS IN FERRY COUNTY. 197

SILVER LEAF.

The Silver Leaf prospect is 2 miles-northeast of Covada, or by 

wagon road about 3£ miles, on the southwestern slope of Rattlesnake 

Mountain, at an elevation of 1,825 feet. No large shipments are 

reported from the prospect, which was inactive when visited. The 

developments consist of an 8 to 10 foot shaft at an elevation of 1,860 

feet, several short open cuts, and a 200-foot adit tunnel at an elevation 

of 1,825 feet.

Intercalated limestone, quartz-mica schist, and shales constitute 

the geologic section in this immediate vicinity, but about 60 feet 

west of the open cuts is a large mass of intrusive quartz monzonite 

or quartz diorite which is over 500 feet thick and extends in a general 

north-south direction. The limestones have been largely changed 

to marble and show the results of contact metamorphism by the presence of garnet and other contact-metamorphic silicate minerals. 

{ The strata strike N. 9° W. and dip 80° N. 81° E.

Quartz veins having the same trend as the sedimentary rocks have 

been exposed by the open cuts. These veins are lenticular, are from 

3 to 12 inches wideband are sparsely mineralized by pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite, galena, tetrahedrite, and stibnite. More or less 

pyrite is also present in the country rock, which in places is brecciated 

and cemented by silica carrying some ore minerals. The stibnite 

is prominent as a yellowish-green stain in some parts of the mineralized section. Malachite, azurite, and limonite are also present in 

smaller amounts.

OTHER DEPOSITS IN FERRY COUNTY.

' ) A. few deposits situated in widely separated localities in Ferry 

County were visited by Mr. Lindgren and the writer and will be 

described here. As they have no uniformity, no general descriptions 

of the geology and ore deposits can be given.

LONE STAR AND WASHINGTON.

Location and development. The Lone Star and Washington mines, 

belonging to the British Columbia Copper Co., are located within half 

a mile of the international boundary, 4£ miles a little north of due 

west of Danville, the nearest town and railroad station. By wagon 

road they are 7 or 9 miles from Danville. (See fig. 26.) Water and 

timber are obtained in the vicinity. The mines were inactive when 

visited, but some ore has been shipped in the past.

The Lone Star mine has over 2,500 feet of drifts, crosscuts, inclines, 

winzes, and other workings; the Washington less than-700 feet. Of 

the Lone Star workings 750 feet is on a level known as No. 1, and
198 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

the remainder, exclusive of two upraises to the surface and an 80-foot 

shaft, on the No. 3 level, 35 feet below No. 1. Diamond drilling to 

the extent of 3,590 feet has been done on the property in 26.holes.

Geology. In the vicinity of these mines sericite schist with intercalated limestone, lime shale, and argiUite, all showing considerable 

dynamometamorphism are intruded by sheets and dikes of monzonite 

porphyry and dikes accompanying this intrusion. In places the 

schists and sedimentary rocks are folded in an intricate fashion, and 

in places they are crushed and broken, showing evidence of severe 

deformation. Amphibolite has been developed along many of the

5Miles

. Contour interval ipofeet

FIGUBE 26. Map of the northeastern part of the Republic quadrangle, Wash., showing the location 

of several mines and prospects in Ferry County.

slipping planes and elsewhere in the rocks. Some of it is possibly 

the result of contact'metamorphism induced by the intrusion of the 

moiizonite porphyry in the limestone. It is impossible to tell whether 

the sericite schist is of igneous or sedimentary origin. Under the 

microscope it appears to be composed entirely of sericite which has 

probably resulted from the alteration of feldspars, and the faint outlines of crystals which may represent the borders of phenocrysts of 

feldspar point to the conclusion that this schist is not of clastic 

origin. It may represent intrusions into the sedimentary series prior 

to the regional metamorphism. Two or three miles southeast of the
OTHEE DEPOSITS IN FERRY COUNTY. 199

Lone Star mine garnet and epidote were seen in limestone strata 

along the contact of the intrusive monzonite porphyry. The general 

strike of the sedimentary series is north-south and the dip is east, 

but both strike and dip change their directions in very short distances. In general, the angle of dip is nearer 45° than vertical. 

The monzonite porphyry is similar to that seen in the Belcher mining 

district, 20 miles south of this place, and in fact similar to the monzonite porphyry occurring in many localities throughout northeastern 

Washington.

Ore deposit. The ore minerals chalcopyrite, pyrite, and pyrrhotite, 

together with the gangue minerals quartz, dolomite, and calcite, are 

more or less widely disseminated through the schists and in places 

near intrusive masses of monzonite porphyry partly replace the 

limestone. The ore is scattered and does not occur in well-defined 

shoots. Where the schists abut against porphyry the ore-bearing 

zone terminates abruptly, but it has been found on the other side of 

the intrusion. In general the mineralized zone follows the planes 

of schistosity and bedding in the metamorphic rocks. In width or 

thickness the dissemination and replacement probably range from a 

few inches to several feet, but little authentic information is available 

on this point. Where exposed on the surface the mineralized schists 

have been greatly discolored by limonite derived from the oxidation 

of pyrite. Malachite is also prominent in the oxidized ores, and a 

small amount of shallow chalcocite enrichment was seen. The 

unaltered ores are said to contain a low percentage of copper (probably 

under 4 per cent) and about 50 per cent of silica. The precious-metal 

contents are unknown, but are probably considerably lower in the 

sulphide, than in the oxidized ores.

In general the deposit appears to be but scantily mineralized, the 

ore being sparsely distributed over a large area of metamorphic 

rocks and the boundaries of the ore zone not yet having been determined. The mineralization in the metamorphic rocks is thought to 

owe its origin to ore-bearing solutions accompanying the intrusion 

of monzonite porphyry and the related dike rocks.

DEPOSITS NEAR DANVILLE.

Danville (Nelson) is situated in the Kettle River valley half a mile 

south of the international boundary. The region north of that line 

in this vicinity has been mapped by E. W. Brock 1 and shows, north 

of Danville, mainly Paleozoic slates and gneisses with smaller masses 

of serpentine and limestone. South of Danville, on the east side of 

Kettle River, are several prospects and mines, the more important 

of which are mentioned below.

1 Geologic and topographic map of the Boundary Creek mining district, B. C. (No. 828), to accompany 

Canada Geol. Survey Ann. Kept., vol. 15.

29122° Bull. 550 14 14
200 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

The slopes rising from Kettle River south of Danville contain some 

diorite and gabbro and much serpentine and serpentinoid rock. 

Probably all these rocks are intruded into black carbonaceous shale 

and quartzitic sandstone with lenses of limestone. The intrusive 

rocks predominate.

Hercules prospect. About half a mile south of Danville, just north 

of Lone Ranch Creek, is the Hercules prospect. The country rock 

is yellowish, normal serpentine, and some dioritic rock occurs close 

by. A number of irregular stringers of quartz, calcite, and siderite 

are here exposed, with some massive pyrite and chalcopyrite.

Surprise mine. Just south of Lone Ranch Creek, half a mile from 

the river, is the Surprise gold mine, which has been opened on a 

quartz vein about 2 feet wide, striking north and dipping east. The 

country rock is serpentine with some black slate and diorite. A 

small pay shoot has been developed on this vein, 300 feet from the 

portal of the upper tunnel. The quartz contained coarse yellow gold. 

Small shipments of ore, in all probably less than 50 tons, have been 

made. Some of the ore shipped was of high grade; other shipments 

averaged $17 a ton.

Lucile Dreyfuss mine. About 3 miles south of Danville, on the 

steep slope a few hundred feet above Kettle River, at an elevation of 

about 2,300 feet, is the Lucile Dreyfuss mine. It is in a low-grade 

pyrite-chalcopyrite deposit, apparently contained in serpentine. 

No examination of the underground workings could be made. The 

deposit, which seems to be a replacement shear zone, is in places 25 

feet wide and dips 45° E. The main tunnel is 1,300 feet long and 

intersects the deposit at 1,200 feet from the portal. It is reported 

that at 700 feet from the portal a small quartz vein was cut which 

contained some gold near the surface. The croppings of the pyrltic 

deposit were found 500 feet above the tunnel portal.

From this deposit ore was shipped in 1902 and in 1909/possibly also 

at other times. The total value of the output is believed to be about 

$15,000. Two companies have been working this deposit the 

Lucile Dreyfuss Mining Co. and the Mineral Hill Tunnel & Copper 

Mining Co.

The Minnehaha Mining Co. has driven a tunnel 1,300 feet long 70 

feet above the river to tap these deposits. The tunnel is in a dioritic 

rock. The deposit, dipping 45° E., is believed to have been cut 

1,200 feet from the portal but is barren at the intersection.. Beyond 

this point the tunnel enters serpentine rock.

CALIFORNIA.

The California mine is 8 miles southeast of Republic in an air 

line, the distance by wagon road being about 3 miles more. It is 

just south of the Belcher mining district and is included within, the
OTHER DEPOSITS IN FERRY COUNTY. 201

boundaries of the Republic (Eureka) district, although it lies quite 

outside of the Republic camp and in a different geologic section.

The developments consist of an inclined shaft, the collar of which 

is at an elevation of 4,200 feet. This shaft is said to be 525 feet deep, 

and from it extend four levels. At the time of visit water flooded the 

workings within 75 feet of the collar of the shaft, so that they were 

for the most part inaccessible. The mine is said to have produced 

over $98,000 worth of ore, and the ore body is reported to have been , practically worked out.

Metamorphic lime shales intruded by rocks that now resemble 

greenstone form the geologic section in the vicinity. The shales have 

a general northeast strike and a dip of 45°-90° NW. The vein 

explored by the shaft strikes approximately northeast and dips 60° 

NW. As only a small part of the workings were accessible, observations of the ore body were not possible. Ore seen on the dump 

showed a quartzose gangue material containing galena, sphalerite, 

and chalcopyrite, with the oxidized products limonite, malachite, and 

some azurite. The shipments are reported to have averaged about 

$60 a ton, mostly in gold, but including about 3 ounces to the ton in 

silver.

IEON MOUNTAIN.

The prospects on Iron Mountain are 3 miles south of the California 

mine and 11 miles south-southwest of the Belcher mine. Iron 

Mountain rises to an elevation of 4,807 feet and is a westerly spur of 

Bald Mountain, 6,946 feet in elevation, one of the highest points of 

the ridges east of Sanpoil River. The prospects, which were not 

visited, lie on the east slope of the mountain, and are in part owned 

by W. C. Zutt, of Republic. The general sequence of rocks appears 

to be the same as at the California mine. Limestone, lime shale, and 

intrusive diorite are reported from this vicinity. The strata dip 

steeply to the west, and the ore deposits are said to be quartz veins 

with steep dip, approximately following the intrusive contact. The 

principal claims named are the Blue Jacket, Blue Horse, Silver Tip, 

and Juno. It is stated that some ore has been shipped from the 

Blue Horse. The ore minerals, which contain mainly silver with a 

little gold, are galena, pyrite, and arsenopyrite.

LAURIER.

The Laurier prospect is located in the Orient mining district, on 

the north side of Huckleberry Mountain near its top, 1£ miles in an 

air line S. 34° W. of Laurier and about 1,600 to 1,700 feet above that 

place. -It has not reached the producing stage, and at the time of 

examination some contract work was being performed on the main 

adit tunnel. Supplies are brought by pack animals over a steep trail 

which zigzags up over the southern and less precipitous slope of Huckleberry Mountain. That part of the north side of this mountain in
202 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

which the Laurier workings are located rises almost vertically over 

1,600 feet above the valley of Kettle River. A shaft 60 or 70 feet 

deep at an elevation of 3,620 feet, a few surface cuts, and an adit 

tunnel 340 feet long, at an elevation of 3,400 feet, driven in a direction S. 31° W., constitute the principal developments on the Laurier. 

The rocks in the vicinity are medium to coarse grained schists, 

which have probably resulted from the dynamometamorphism of 

granite and diorite. They are believed to be of pre-Cambrian age 

and probably represent the oldest rocks in northeastern Washington. 

Schistosity is well developed in these rocks, and in'the vicinity of the 

open cuts the lamination planes have a general northwest strike and 

a dip of 15° SW. to 90°. The prevailing rock in the adit tunnel is a 

hard, compact, dark-colored schist, composed chiefly of hornblende 

and feldspar. Elsewhere a pink granitic schist is prominent. These 

rocks are intruded by dikes of white medium-grained granite composed essentially of orthoclase, quartz, and biotite. These dikes are 

believed to have been intruded during Mesozoic time and were probably a part of the granite magma, of which dikes are present in nearly 

every mining district in this part of the State. Its intrusion has 

caused considerable contact metamorphism in the contiguous schists, 

epidote, quartz, sphalerite, magnetite, and chalcopyrite having been 

formed, all probably of contact-metamorphic origin. The mineralized zone extends for several feet on each side of one dike exposed by 

the surface cuts and the shaft. The adit tunnel driven to cut this zone 

had not accomplished this result at the time of the writer's visit (September, 1909). Postmineral faulting, the uncertain distribution of 

the ore minerals, and the probability of only local impregnations in 

the schists, combined with the peculiar association of ore minerals 

and the small amount of chalcopyrite present in the ore, all militate 

against the profitable working of this deposit.

JENNY.

The Jenny prospect is the only other property visited in that part 

of the Orient mining district which lies in Ferry County. (See fig. 

2, p. 39.) It is about 2 miles northwest of Rockcut, in a small draw 

near the base of the range on the west side of Kettle River, and the 

camp can be reached by wagon road. The lower adit tunnel is 265 

feet above the cabin and is reached by trail. No large shipments 

are reported from this prospect.

The developments consist of two adit tunnekj one comprising 500 

feet of drifts, crosscuts, and other workings, and the other, 75 feet 

higher, at an elevation of 2,175 feet, comprising 250 feet of workings.

Medium to coarse grained schists having the general appearance of 

sheared granite and diorite, with intercalated strata of coarsely crystalline limestone and quartzite, have been intruded by lamprophyre
PARK CITY DISTRICT. 203

dikes which probably accompanied a granitic intrusion. The schists 

strike approximately east and dip about 15° S! or SE. Faulting is 

pronounced in the country rock and is particularly well exposed in 

the underground workings on the Jenny.

The lower level consists of drifts on both sides of a shear zone, 

which is about 35 feet wide and is largely filled with brecciated 

country rock, gouge, and quartz, carrying scattered patches of pyrite, 

galena, and sphalerite. Gypsum accompanies the gangue and in 

places the quartz is sugary. The general strike of the fault zone is 

east .and the dip is 45°-65° S. The upper level exposes a 4-foot 

quartz vein, in places several feet wide, containing stringers of country 

rock and sparse amounts of the same ore minerals. The total value 

of the ore in gold, silver, copper, and lead is said to be only $3 to $15 

to the ton.

Enough development had not been done to determine the size of

the ore body, which, where exposed, showed scanty and irregular 

distribution of the ore minerals through the gangue.

OKANOGAN COUNTY.

PARK CITY DISTRICT. 

LOCATION AND MEANS OF ACCESS.

A small natural park located about 22 miles S. 18° W. of Republic, 

the nearest railroad station, has given the name Park City to the 

mining district in which it lies. As several claims in this vicinity 

which had received more or less development lie not far west of 

the boundary between Ferry and Okanogan counties, a hurried trip 

was made to the properties belonging to the Castle Creek Mining Co., 

the Ramore Mining. Co., and the Wasco group, all of which are 

within a few miles of Park City. The extent of this district is at 

present (May, 1911) unknown and doubtless only a few of the deposits in it were visited. Consequently, no attempt will be made to 

give a general description of the whole district, and most of the remarks which follow deal specifically with conditions existing in the 

vicinity of the deposits examined.

Until the projected railroad down the Sanpoil is. completed the 

district will continue to be reached by wagon road from Republic, 

the distance by this route being about 28 or 30 miles. The journey 

involves a trip down the Sanpoil Valley of about 13 miles to the 

junction of the West Fork with the main stream, thence up the West 

Fork about 6 miles to Gold Creek, and thence up Gold Creek 8 or 10 

miles to Park City. The completion of the railroad down the Sanpoil 

will eliminate the haul of 13 miles between Republic and West Fork, 

and it is possible that an even more direct connection can be made 

between the district and the Sanpoil.
204 QBE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON. 

CONDITION OF MINING ACTIVITY.

Some work was being done by the Castle Creek Mining Co. at the 

time of the writer's visit to this locality, but the other two groups 

were inactive. No large shipments of ore have been made, the high 

cost of transportation prohibiting shipping under present mining 

conditions. Reduction works started by the Colville Mining & 

Smelting Co. and now controlled by the Castle Creek Mining Co. were 

never completed, and all the ore has to be hauled long distances to a 

railroad point for shipment to smelters.

TOPOGRAPHY.

That part of the Park City district examined by the writer consists 

of a portion of a mountain range which lies between Sanpoil River on 

the east and the headwaters of Gold Creek and Nespelem Creek on 

the west. The general elevation of the tops of the mountain peaks 

in this locality is about 4,500 feet, the headwaters of the two creeks 

just mentioned are about 1,000 to 1,500 feet lower, and the valley of 

the Sanpoil at a point 6 or 8 miles due east of Park City is approximately 1,800 feet above sea level.' The range slopes rather precipitously down to the Sanpoil on the east and is more or less dissected 

by the smaller creeks on the west, although the main mass of the 

mountains extends some little distance west of Park City before it 

slopes down to the valley of the Nespelem.

GEOLOGY.

The rocks exposed in the vicinity of the deposits examined consist of 

a series of metamorphic quartz-mica schist, lime shale, argillite, and 

limestone intruded by granite. The sediments are a part of the 

metamorphic series prevalent throughout northeastern Washington 

and are thought to be of Paleozoic age. The granite is provisionally

classed as of Mesozoic age and it is believed to be contemporaneous 

with other granitic batholiths in this part of the State. The metamorphic rocks appear to be conformable and have a general north-south 

strike, although this direction does not hold over the whole of that 

part of the district examined, local variations being numerous. The 

dip in general more nearly approaches the horizontal than the vertical, although strata that stand nearly vertical were seen. The 

intrusive granite masses are so numerous that no continuity exists 

in the dip and strike of the metamorphic rocks.

Faulting is a conspicuous feature of the geology in this vicinity, 

and the displacements along the intrusive contact of the granite and 

the metamorphic rocks are especially prominent.

ORE DEPOSITS.

Along the shear zones, fault planes, and fissures in the metamorphic 

rocks and in the intrusive granite lenticular quartz veins are more or 

less sparsely mineralized by galena, pyrite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite,
PARK CITY DISTRICT. 205

and tetrahedrite, and these minerals also replace to a minor extent 

the country rock in the vicinity of some of the veins. The ores are 

reported to carry appreciable quantities of silver and some gold, as 

well as copper, lead, and zinc. Where the shear zones have been of 

large size the ore bodies appear to be correspondingly large. Enough 

development work has not been done upon the ore bodies proper to 

warrant speculation on the future of the district, and the reader is 

referred to subsequent pages for a detailed description of the ore 

bodies examined.

MINES AND PROSPECTS.

CASTLE CREEK MINING CO.'s PROSPECTS.

Location and general features. Several prospects belonging to the 

Castle Creek Mining Co. are located within a few miles of the company's camp, and the ore deposits occurring on three of the claims 

will be described under separate headings. The camp is at an elevation of approximately 3,700 feet, in the SW. J SW. f sec. 1, T. 33 N., 

R. 31 E., about a mile east of Gold Creek and 7 miles south of its junction with the West Fork of the Sanpoil. The mouth of Gold Creek 

is 13 miles south of Republic, the nearest railroad point and the present base of supplies. By. wagon road the distance from Republic to 

the camp is 28 or 30 miles. If the proposed railroad is built down the 

valley of the Sanpoil, the problem of transportation will become less 

difficult than it now is. Timber and water are plentiful in the vicinity. The erection of reduction works consisting of two Medbury 

rotary smelting furnaces and the necessary power equipment and 

crushing machinery was started by the Colville Mining & Smelting Co. 

but never completed. No large shipments are reported to have been 

made from any of the prospects.

Ore deposits. In general the ore deposits explored by the Castle 

Creek Mining Co. are lenticular quartz masses containing scattered 

patches of galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and a little tetrahedrite. Some silver and traces of gold are reported to occur in these 

ore minerals. The ore bodies have not been proved to be of large 

dimensions, but there are a great number of small, sparsely mineral-, 

ized quartz lenses. No large, well-mineralized veins were seen, and 

the country rock is very much broken up, postmineral faulting having 

been noticed in many places. Replacements of the limestone strata 

are not prominent features of the deposits, most of the ore minerals 

apparently being confined to the quartz lenses. Mining these small 

scattered ore pockets is expensive, and it is doubtful if operations 

can be made to pay under present mining conditions.

Summit. Workings on the Summit claim consist of numerous surface cuts and one adit tunnel which was 350 feet long in July, 1910. 

These workings are located near the top of Castle Mountain and are 

the highest workings of note on the ground of the Castle Creek Mining
206 ORE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Go. The portal of the adit tunnel is a little less than a mile south of 

west of camp, at an elevation of 4,360 feet.

A sedimentary series of argillite, limestone, quartz-mica schist, 

and lime shale intruded by.dikes of granite'of varying dimensions 

constitute the geologic section in this locality. In general the sedimentary rocks appear to dip at flat angles and only minor folding was 

seen. It was impossible to ascertain the general dip and strike of the 

formations because of the disturbances caused by the many intrusions 

of granite. This rock prevails throughout the adit tunnel. Along a 

fault plane in the granite much shearing has taken place, and in a 50- 

foot drift on this shear zone, which is 150 feet from the portal of the 

adit tunnel, the rock greatly resembles shale. In this shear zone, 

which contains much gouge and is about 18 inches wide, are lenticular masses of quartz containing scattered patches of galena, pyrite, 

chalcopyrite, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite. The ore from a small 

stope in this short drift is said to contain 0.06 to 0.12 ounce of gold 

and 35 to 90 ounces of silver to the ton, and 30 to 40 per cent of lead. 

The ore and gangue minerals occur in pockets that do not appear to 

be very extensive.

The surface cuts expose quartz veins in the limestone and shale 

series, and these appear to be more numerous in the vicinity of the 

intrusive granite dikes than elsewhere. The veins are all more or less 

lenticular and are broken up by postmineral faulting. Some were 

seen which had a very flat dip, and in general they appear to have 

the same attitude as the sedimentary formations. Galena, sphalerite, 

chalcopyrite, pyrite, and gray copper are sparingly distributed 

through the quartz, and near the surface the oxidized products 

limonite, malachite, azurite, and anglesite were seen.

Snowshoe. The workings on the Snowshoe claim are about fourfifths of a mile southeast of the camp, a little less than a claim's 

length southwest of the portal of the adit tunnel on the Summit. 

The original discovery hole and an abandoned adit are located at. an 

elevation of 4,225 feet, and an adit tunnel 35 feet above these workings has been driven southeastward for a distance of 180 feet. This 

adit tunnel exposes a shale and limestone series which strikes about 

east and dips 25° S. No mineralized veins had been cut when the 

adit was examined in July, 1910. The discovery hole or open cut 

exposes a quartz vein 2 to 3 feet wide between a footwall of granite 

and a hanging wall of lime shale or limestone. The vein has a dip 

of 5°-10° S. and strikes with the strata that is, east. As only a 

small portion of the vein was exposed in this discovery hole, it is 

impossible to give much information as to the size and continuity of 

the ore body. Galena and some sphalerite seem to be f airly well dis- 

-tributed through the outcrop of the vein. Limonite, resulting from 

the alteration of pyrite, is prominent and stains the outcrop a dull 

reddish-yellow color.
PARK CITY DISTRICT. 207

Mountain .Boy.' Three adit tunnels with short drifts, inclines, and 

other workings are located near one another on the Mountain Boy 

claim, about half a mile southwest of the camp. Another adit 

tunnel, which is about 950 feet long, has been driven through the 

Copper King claim southeastward into the Mountain Boy claim. 

The portal of this adit tunnel (No. 4) is about 200 feet lower than the 

highest working on the Mountain Boy. The rocks explored in all 

these workings are a part of the limestone and shale series which 

prevails over a large portion of Castle. Mountain and the ridges 

projecting from it. The rocks have a general northeast strike in 

the vicinity of the Mountain Boy workings and dip 30°-60° NW., 

although many local variations from these directions were seen.

Only two of the four tunnels represent development on ore bodies, 

Nos. 3 and 4 having been driven to open ground under the ore shoots 

above. The No. 1 and No. 2 workings are within 75 or 100 feet of 

one another and on practically the same level.

No. 1 tunnel is located at an elevation of 3,920 feet. A crosscut 

adit extends 30 feet, beyond which point a gentle incline 75 feet 

long and a steep pitch of 50 feet lead to a level known as No. 3, 

which.is connected with the No. 2 and No. 3 workings. Short drifts 

of various sizes have been run off .from the main level in all directions, having resulted from gutting the small irregular ore-bearing 

quartz lenses that occur along the planes of schistosity of the 

sedimentary rocks. Underground developments show that these 

quartz lenses vary in width from half an inch to 18 inches and in 

length along the dip and strike from 2 inches to 30 feet, and some of 

them may .have greater dimensions. They contain irregularly scattered patches of galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, and tetrahedrite. The ores show some banding and are brecciated by postmineral movement. Both the ore bodies and .the sediments are 

traversed by innumerable veinlets of calcite.

The sedimentary -rocks are less disturbed in the No. 2 workings, 

where a quartz vein about 18 inches wide has been explored for a 

short distance. This vein strikes N. 47° E. and dips 60° NW. and 

contains the same association of minerals as the quartz lenses explored in the No. 1 workings.

RAMORE MINING CO.'s CLAIMS.

Four patented claims belonging to the Ramore Mining Co. are 

located about 3 miles south of the Castle Creek Mining Co.'s camp. 

The developments consist of two main levels, one on the Hercules 

claim and another on the Ramore. The portal of the adit tunnel on 

the Ramore claim, is about 1,600 feet northeast of and 350 feet 

higher than the level on the Hercules claim. No large shipments of 

ore are reported from either of these claims.
208 ORE-DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

Limestone, lime shale, argillite, and quartz-mica schist intruded by 

granite are the prevailing rocks in this locality. The sedimentary 

series has a general north-south strike, although variations from this 

direction were seen in many places. The dip ranges from east to 

west and is not constant over great distances. Faulting is a prominent feature of the geology in this vicinity, especially along the intrusive contacts of the granite and the sedimentary rocks.

The adit tunnel on the Hercules claim, at an elevation of 3,600 

feet, has been driven due east for a distance of 430 feet and this part 

of the level is almost entirely granite. A contact between the metamorphic sedimentary series and granite is encountered 120 feet from 

the portal of the adit. On this contact, which runs northeastward, 

a drift has been run for a distance of 180 feet. Near the end of the 

drift is a 100-foot crosscut. Along the contact between the two 

kinds of rock is a zone of intense movement which has an average 

width of about 5 feet and a dip from 45° NW. to vertical. Galena, 

sphalerite, chalcopyrite, pyrite, pyrrhotite, and tetrahedrite are more 

or less disseminated through the sedimentary rocks in the vicinity of 

the intrusive granite, and some of limestone strata are replaced by 

these minerals. In the crosscut from the drift is a small vein in 

granite. This vein strikes N. 65° W., dips 65° SW., and is only a few 

inches wide. It contains similar association of ore minerals, together 

with quartz and fluorite. As exposed by the workings on this level 

the major part of the mineralization is. scattered through the metamorphic sedimentary series near igneous contacts in small veinlets 

containing also some quartz, calcite, and fluorite and as irregular 

partial replacements in the limestone and lime shale. The extent 

of the mineralization has not been determined, but as exposed in the 

drift along the main contact it appears to have been pockety and 

irregular.

The Kamore adit tunnel has been driven N. 4£°.E. for a distance of 

440 feet. About 40 feet from the breast a branch crosscut extends 

northeastward for 600 feet, and from this branch several short crosscuts have been run. On a good-sized vein cut" 220 feet from the portal 

a short drift has been run and a winze sunk for 45 feet on the footwall. This vein is the only ore body of note exposed in these workings. It strikes N. 20° W., dips 30° NE., and is about 10 feet wide. 

It has been explored along the strike for about 70 feet. The hanging 

wall of the vein is granite and the footwall is a part of the metamorphic series. The vein filling is chiefly quartz, with which is 

associated some fluorite and calcite. Sphalerite, galena, pyrite, 

chalcopyrite, pyrrhotite, and tetrahedrite are irregularly scattered 

through the quartz and disseminated through the sedimentary 

series, locally replacing the limestone, and these minerals are also
PARK CITY DISTRICT. 209

found in small fractures in the granite. The ores are reported to 

contain appreciable amounts of lead, silver, and copper, with some 

gold and zinc. Four analyses by H. J. Armstrong, of the Republic 

Gold Mining & Milling Co., show the presence of 2.7 to 9.6 per cent of 

lead and 13 to 59 ounces o| silver and 0.05 to 0.07 ounce of gold to the 

ton. The intrusion of the granite which has so promiscuously 

invaded the sedimentary series was accompanied by severe dislocations. The fractures thus caused and the contiguous limestone 

strata have been more or less mineralized by ore-bearing solutions, 

which followed the intrusion. The limits of the ore bodies have not 

been ascertained, and much work has been done on this level that 

has not tended to develop the main ore body exposed 220 feet from 

the portal. In fact, the developments have been carried away from 

rather than along the course of- the ore deposit. If the ore body ia as 

persistent as its general appearance where exposed seems to indicate, 

it does not seem unreasonable to suppose that the deposit could be 

profitably exploited by concentration on the ground.

WASCO.

Several claims about 3 miles a little south of west of the camp of 

the Castle Creek Mining Co., on top of the first ridge west of the 

main course of Gold Creek, constitute the Wasco group. On these 

claims a shallow shaft, several small surface cuts, and a short adit 

tunnel represent the development work. No shipments are reported 

to have been made from this group.

Medium to fine grained quartz-mica schists intruded by granite 

form the ridge in which the Wasco workings are located. The 

general strike of the sedimentary rocks is north and the dip is about 

60° E. The intrusive dikes of granite follow the general direction 

of the strike of the schists and range in width from a few feet to 

several hundred feet or more. Molybdenite and the oxidized product 

molybdic ocher, together with large crystals of muscovite, occur in 

many of the granite dikes in this locality.

As no connected development exists on the ore deposits in this 

group the ore bodies exposed in the different workings will be described separately. A shaft at an elevation of 3,900 feet and said to 

be 40 feet deep, but practically full of water when seen, exposes a 

quartz vein about 12 inches wide which strikes N. 30°-40° W. and 

dips 15°-40° NE. The vein is in granite and is sparsely mineralized 

by galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and pyrite.

An open cut 300 to 400 feet north of the shaft and about 50 feet 

higher exposes a contact of the granite and schist along which occurs 

a quartz vein about 3 feet wide, sparsely mineralized by chalcopyrite, 

pyrite, and sphalerite and the oxidized products malachite, azurite,
210 OEE DEPOSITS OF NORTHEASTERN WASHINGTON.

and limonite. These ore minerals occur in pockets. The vein 

strikes northwest and dips 65° NE. An opening on the same vein 

50 feet northwest of this open cut and 25 feet lower shows the vein 

between walls of granite. No ore minerals are visible in the main 

vein, but three small cross fissures which strike northeast and dip 40° 

SE. are filled with quartz carrying some chalcopyrite and sphalerite. 

Other small workings show the same general scattered mineralization 

in quartz veins in granite and schist or between the two kinds of rock.

An adit tunnel, from which there are several short drifts and crosscuts, has been driven for a distance of 350 feet at an elevation of 

about 3,900 feet. In this working a vein has been exposed for short 

distances in two places. Where seen the vein appeared to strike 

N. 60'°-70° W. and to dip 45°-55° NE. The vein is 24 inches wide 

and is composed mainly of quartz with the ore minerals <{ steel" 

galena, chalcopyrite, pyrite, sphalerite, and tetrahedrite sparsely 

distributed through it. The ores are said to contain appreciable 

quantities of silver and copper and some gold.

The scattered distribution of the ore minerals in these veins, their 

lenticular character, and the general conditions under which mining 

is carried on in this district, at present far away from direct railroad 

transportation, all militate against the economical production of ore 

from these deposits.
INDEX.

A.

Acknowledgments to those aiding........... 1-2

Advance, description of.................... 193-195

plan of, figure showing................... 194

Alkire, placers near.......................... 37

Amphibolite,-occurrence of.................. 15

Anaconda prospect, description of........... 57

vein in, section of, view of............... 56

Andesite, gold deposits in................... 23-24

occurrence and character of.............. 18-19

use of term.............................. 142

Sec also Lava flows. 

Antimony, deposits of....................... 30

Area,-location of............................. 1

location of, map showing................ 1

Argillite, occurrence and character of.. 12-13,93,94

B.

Bancroft, H., and Lindgren, W., on Republic

district........................ 133-166

Basalt, occurrence and character of. ........ 11,19

Batholiths, intrusion of...................... 11,16

Beecher claim, description of................. 70,88

Belcher district, access to.................... 167

fluxing ores from................... 30,167,170

geology of............................. 168-169

iron in................................... 28

location of............................. 166-167

mining in.............. . ................. 167

ores of...................../..... 28,30,169-170

prospects and mines in................ 170-179

topography of........................... 167

map showing........................ 168

Belcher mine, description of........... 167,175-179

ores of................................. 178-179

plan of, figure showing................... 177

section of, figure showing ............... 178

Belcher Mountain, rocks of and near....... 167,168

Ben Hur claim, description of............... 163

Bibliography................................ 2

Big Iron mine, description of............. 70,82-83

ores Of............................. 27-28,70,83

Blacktail mine, description of................ 159

Blue Bar, placers at......................... 35

section at................................ 35

Blue Star mine, description of!... 96-97,98,105-106 

Bonanza mine, description of.......... 52,54,63-64

discovery of............................. 4

production of............................ 4

Bossburg, mines and prospects near......... 62-64

Boston & Maine mine, description of........ 145

Breccia-conglomerate, occurrence and character of...................... 19-20,144

Brock, R. W., workof....................... 199

Brooks mine, description of.................. 116

C.

Page. 

California mine, description of............. 200-201

ores of.................................. 24,201

Castle Creek Mining Co., prospects of.. 204,205-207

Cedar Canyon. See Deertrail district.

Chewelah, description of..................... 92

Chewelah Copper King mine, description

Of.................... 92,96,98,102-104

view of.................................. 74

Chewelah district, future of.................. 104

geology of............................... 93-95

location of............................... 92

mining in............... ^.............. 92

ore deposits of..................... 26,27,95-98

prospects and mines in................. 98-111

topography of........................... 92-93

Chico mine, description of. ................. 154

Clark claims, description of.................. 47-48

Clark Fork, description of................... 10,41

prospects east of......................... 49-51

prospects west of........................ 46-49

Cliff claim, description of.................... 49

Climate, character of........................ 2-3

Collier, A. J., on placer deposits............. 31-38

Columbia River, mines and prospects northwestof.. ....................... 59-62

mines and prospects sou the ast of....... 54-59

valley of, description of.................. 10

gold placers in....................... 32-37

Columbia River Gold Mining Co., claims of. 124-125 

Colville, climate at.......................... *3

mineral discovery at..................... 4

smelter at............................. . . 6

Colville Indian Reservation, opening of.....'. 4-5

Colville Valley, description of................ 92-93

prospectseastof........................ 98-109

prospects west of...................... 109-111

Congress mine, description of ............. 182-185

nickel in........................ 30,182,184-185

vicinity of, geologic map of.............. 182

Contact metamorphism, effects of......... 22,70-71

See also Ores.

Cooke Mountain, limestone from.. 168-169,170-171 

limestone from, analyses of.............. 169

Copper, deposits of.......................... 27-28

Copper Butte mine, description of........... 79

Copper Key mine, description of... 167,168,173-175 

magnetite ore from, analysis of.......... 175

ores of........................... 28-29,174-175

plan of, figure showing................... 174

Copper King (Chewelah district). See Chewelah Copper King.

Copper King minec(Northport district), description of...................... 57-58

rocks at, view of......................... 57

211
212 INDEX.

Copper Queen mine, description of.. 95,97,108-109 

Cosalite, analysis of.......................... 132

Costs of mining, data on..................... 8-9.

Covada district, access to.................... 189

antimony in............................. 30

fossils from.............................. 14

geology of............................. 188-189

location of............................... 187

. mapof.................................. 190

mining in................................ 188

ore deposits of.................... 25,30,189-191

prospects and mines of................ 191-1.97

topography of........................... 188

Cusick, precipitation at...................... 3

D. 

Daisy, placers near........................... . 37

section near.......:...............'.....-. 37

Danville, deposits near.................... 199-200

Deertrail district, copper of.................. 115

geology of..................... 113-114,119-120

location of............................. 111-112

mills in.................................. 112

mining in............................... 112

ore deposits in.............. 25,114-116,120-122

origin of........................... 115-116

treatmentin...................... 122-123

production in........................... 4

prospects and mines in................ 116-120

location of, map showing............. 117

silver-lead deposits at.............. 112,116-118

topography of......................... 112,119

 tungsten in.............................. 29

Defender claims, description of............... 80-81

Delmonico (Enterprise) mine, description

Of.......:................... 96-97,105

Diabase, occurrence and character of. 11,15-16,93,95 

. oresin................................... 24-25

Dikes, occurrence and character of........ 11,16-18

Disseminated ore deposits, occurrence of.... 28

Distillate, cost of.......................... 8; 72-73

Double Standard mine, description of....... 61-62

-Drainage, description of..................... 10

E.

Eagle mine. See Blue Star mine. 

Eagle Mountain, geology near............... 93,95

geology near, map showing.............. 94

Easter Sunday mine, description of. 65,67,70,83-84

ore of, analysis of........................ 83

Enterprise district. See Covada district. 

Enterprise mine. See Delmonico mine. 

Eureka district. See Republic district.

F. 

Ferry County, mining districts and deposits

in............................. 133-203

mining districts and deposits in, map

showing...................;..... 198

production of............................ 155

Field work, extent of........................ 1-2

First Thought mine, costs at........:..... 9,72-73

description of......................... 65,71-76

geology at............................... 73-74

map of.................................. 74

ores of............................. 23,69,74-76

analyses of.......................... 76

First Thought Mine, production of.. 4,23,65,69,71 

section of, figure showing................ 73

First Thought Mountain, geology of......... 68

map of.................................. 72

prospects on............................. 71-77

rocks at, view of......................... 66

view of.................................. 72

Fissure veins, mineral deposits in.......... 23-24,

26-27,70,114-115 

view of.................................. 101

Flag Hill, prospects on.................... 165-166

Flux, ores mined for......................... 30

Fossils, lack of........................ 10,14-15,16

Freighting, rates for......................... 9

Frisco-Standard claims, description of.... 52,58-59

vein in, section of, view of............... 57

Fuel, abundance of.......................... 5

G.

Galena. See Lead-zinc.

Geologic history, outline of.................. 20-22

Geology, description of...... ^............... 10-20

See also particular districts. 

Germam'a Co., claims of, description of. 112,118-119 

discovery of............................. 4,118

location of............................... 118

map of...............................'... 118

mills at. ................................. 6

diagrams of......................... 123

ore deposits of.............. 29,114-115,120-123

origin of............................. 122

. treatment of....................... 122-123

section at, figure showing...........;.... 119

tungstenin................. 29,114-115,120-123

analysis of........................... 121

view of.............................. 120

vein of, view of.......................... 101

Gibraltar Mountain, rocks of................ 142

Glacial debris, effects of..................... 21,06

. occurrence and character of.......... 10,20,188

Globe claims, description of................. 78

rocks at, view of......................... 66

Gold, deposits of............................ 23-25

discovery of............................. 3-4

Granite, occurrence and character of...... 11,16,93

Granite Mountain, rocks of................... 140

Granodiorite, occurrence and character of.. 17 

Great Kepublic mine, description of......... 60-61

Greenstones, mineral deposits associated

with............................ 22

occurrence and character of. .............. 11,12

origin of ................................ 15,22

H.

Harper, J. L., on Republic ores.............. 151

Hartford group, description of.......... 97,109-110

geology near............................. 93,95

Hell Gate Bar, placers at.................... 33

Hercules claim (Park City district), description of........................... 208

Hercules prospect (Ferry County), description of........................... 200

History, geologic, outline of................. 20-.22

Hoodoo mine, description of................ 117-18

Huckleberry Mountain, rocks of............. 11,12

Hydroelectric power, generation of.......... 5
INDEX. 213

I. . Page.

Igneous rocks, occurrence and character of.. 15-16,

19,95,114 

Index map showing location of area......... 1

Insurgent claim, description of.............. 162

Intrusive rocks, occurrence and character of.. 11,

16,19,93,95 

Iron, deposits of............................. 28-29

Iron Mountain mine, description of........ 201

J. 

" Jay Gould mine, description of...... 97,98,106-107

Jenny prospect, description of............. 202-203

K. 

Keller, description of........................ 180

smelter at........................... 6,180,185

Keough claim, description of................ 59

Kersantite dikes, relation of ores and........ 27,102

Kettle Falls, settlement at.................. 3

Kettle River group, description of..... 6,65,85-87

Keystone mine (Ghewelah district), descriptionof......................... 104-105

Keystone mine (Covada district), description

. of............................. 189,195

Knob Hill, description of.................... 164

Knowlton, F. H., on lake-bed fossils...... 141-142

L. 

Labor, cost of............................... 8

^ . Lake beds, fossils from............;........ 141-142

occurrence and character of............. 18,141

Lamprophyre dikes, occurrence and character 

I of............................ 17-18,95

Last Chance mine, description of........ 52,54-56

* Laurier prospect, description of............ 20t-202

rocks near.............................. 11,202

Lava flows, occurrence and character .of...... 11,

18-19,142-143 

Lead King claim, description of.............. 48-49

Lead-silver, ore deposits of, occurrence of.... 54,

116-118,180,181 

ore deposits of, origin of...........:... 115-116

treatment of, cost of................. 9

See also particular districts, mines, etc. 

Lead-zinc, deposits of................. 26-27,44-51

See also particular districts, mines, etc. 

Liberty mine, description of................ 97,110

Limestones, analyses of...................... 13,95

folding in, view of....................... 57

occurrence and character of........... 12,13,95

viewof.................................. 66

Lindgren, Waldernar, aid of............... 1-2,197

Lindgren, W., and Bancroft, H., on Republic

district................................ 133-166

, Literature, list of............................. 2

Little Frank mine, description of............ 117

Little Giant prospect, description of......... 87

Lone Pine claim, description of......... 159,160-162

Lone Star mine, description of_.......... 197-199

ores of.................................. 28,199

Longstreet mine, description of............ 195-196

Lucile Dreyfuss mine, description of......... 200

M. 

McKinley group, description of..... . ........ 88-89

McNally prospect, description of....... 70-71,84-85

Manila mine, description of................ 185-186

pros of,.-.....,,......................... 28,186

Page. 

Map of northeastern Washington............ 39

Marble, occurrence of........................ 12

Meade claims, description of................. 51

Mesozoic rocks, deposition of................ 21

mineral deposits in...................... 22

occurrence and character of.... 11,16-18,68,140

ores in. ......................... ........ 25

Metaline, description of....................... 40

Metaline district, access to................... 40-41

future of................................. 45-46

geology of............................... 42-43

 lead and zinc deposits of................. 44-5.1

location and extent of................... 40

mills in.................................. 41

mining in............................... 41

'ore deposits of........................ 26,43-45

origin of................................. 45

prospects in............................. 46-51

shales from, analyses of.................. 43

topography of........................... 41-42

Metallurgy. See Ores, treatment of. 

Metamorphism, effects of.................... 21-23

Meteor mine, description of................ 191-193

plan of, figure showing................... 192

Mills, stamp, construction of................. 4

operation of............................. 6-7

Mineral deposits, formation of, periods of.... 22

kinds of ............................... 23

See also Placer deposits an-d particular

places, mines, and metals. 

Mines and prospects, description of......... 39-210

See also particular mines. 

Mining, economic conditions of............ 5*6,8-9

history of................................ 3-5

methods of.............................. 6,38

Mining districts, description of.............. 39-210

See also particular districts. 

Molybdenite, occurrence of.................. 30,45

Monzonite porphyry, occurrence and charac-*

ter of.............. 11,16-17,68,169,189

Morning Glory mine, description of.......... 165

Mountain Boy claim, description of.......... 207

Mountain Lion mine, description of:....... 164-165

N.

Napoleon mine, description of............ 65,89-91

fluxing ores from........................ 30,89

mill at.................................. 6

ores of..:............................. 69-70,9JL

Nespelem Bar, placers at,................... 32

section at................................ 32

Nevada mine, description of............. 96-97, 111

New Republic mine, description of.......... 143

glory hole in, view of.................... 146

Newton, H. W., on operation of mill......... 7~8

Nickel, deposits of.......................... 30,181

Ninemile Creek, deposits on................. 180

placers at................................ 34

section at................................ 34

Northport/ description of.................... 51-52

rocks near............................... 53

smelter at............................... 6,52

Northport district, geology of ............... 53

location of............................... 51-52

mining in-............................... 52
';*" 

214 INDEX.

Northport district, ore deposits of........ 24,26,54

prospects in............................. 54-64

topography of........................... 53

transportation in...................1 . '. 52

North Star mine, description of.............. 77

0.

Okanogan County, mines and prospects in. 203-201 

Old Dominion mine, description of........ 126-130

geology near. .........'...:-.......... 53,128-129

oresof.............:................ 26,129-130

plan and section of, figure showing....... 128

Orchid mine, description of.................. 115

Ores, change in, with depth......... 25,26,151-152

treatment of............................. 6-8

cost of............................... 9

See also Mineral deposits. 

Orient, description of........................ 65

Orient district, access to..:.................. . 65

fluxing ores of........................... . 30

geology of.>.........................:.. 19,66-69

location of............................... 64-65

mills in.................................. 65,90

mining in................................ - 65

ore deposits of............. 23,24,26-28,30,69-71

prospects and mines of................... 71-91

topography of.....;..................... 66

Orient prospect, description of......... 70,71,79-80

Oriole claim, description of.................. 46-47

O'Sullivan Creek, placers at, discovery of.... 3

Oversight group, description of........ 167,170-173

plan of, figure showing................... 171

P.

Paleozoic rocks, deposition and metamorphismof......................... 20-21

mineral deposits in...................... 22

occurrence and character of.............. 11,

12-16,42,67-68,139-140 

Palmer, Chase, on Republic ores........... 148-150

Park City district, access to.................. 203

geology of.:.....'......................... 204

location of............................... 203

mining in................................ 204

ore deposits of...................... 25,204-205

prospects and mines in................ 205-210

topography of............................ 204

Peach Bar, placers at........................ 33

section at................................ 33

Pearl claim, description of................... 159

veins in, figures showing ............. ; 157,161

PierreCreek, glaciation of.................... 66

 Pierre Lake, prospects east of................ 82-85

Pin Money claim, description of........... 170,173

Placer deposits, description of............... 32-37

gold of, minerals associated with ........ 32

origin of............................. ' 37

mining of, methods of.................... 38

relation of, to terraces.................... 31

tenor of.................................. 31

Polepick mine, description of.............. 186-187

Pomeroy mine, description of................ 70,83

Pre-Cambrian rocks, deposition and metamorphism of..................... 20,21

occurrence and character of..... 10,11-12,66-67

 . Page. 

Princess Maude mine. See Southern Republic mine. 

Prospects and mines, description of......... 39-210

See also particular prospects, etc.

Quartz diorite, occurrence and character of.. 17 

Quartzite in porphyry, view of.............. 66 . Quartz ite Mountain, geology near ........... 93

geology near, map showing.............. 94

Quartz latite, gold deposits in............... 23-24,

. 69,144,146-153 

 occurrence and character of...... 19,68,143-144

Quartz veins, copper in............'....... 27,96,97

Quaternary deposits, deposition of.........:. 21

occurrence and character of........ 20,144-145

Quilp claim, description of................ ] 57-158

R.

Railroads, construction of................. 5,40-41

Rambre Mining Co., claims of.............. -207-209

R. E. Lee prospect, description of........... 196

ores of.................................. 30,196

Relief, details of............................. 9-10

Replacement deposits, occurrence and character of............ 26-28,96-97,179,180

view of.................................. 56

Republic, description of............... 3,4-5,9,133

mills at.................................. 7-8

view of.............................. 154

panorama of............................. 133

sections at, plate showing................ 134

Republic district, access to.................. 134

bibliography of........................ 137,138

geology of.......................18,19,138-145

map showing........................ 134

history of.............................. 134-135

location of............................. 133-134

map of................................... 136

mining in..........".................... 135,136

ores of............................... 23-24,137

treatment of....................... 136-137

production of.................... 4,135-136,151

prospects and mines in................ 153-166

map showing........................ 136

topography of......................... 137-138

vein of, views of......................... 156

Republic mine, description of........'.. 146,154-157

ores of......................... 148,151,156-157

plan of, plate showing. ..................' 156

production of............................ 155

sections of, plate showing................ 156

veins of, figures showing........... 146,155,156

Rhyolite, occurrence and character of........ 19,68

Rivers, transportation on.................... 6

Riverside claim, description of.............. 50-51

Rockcut, rocks near ........................ 11,12

Rogers Bar, placers at....................... 35

section at................................ 35

S.

Sand Creek, shales from, analyses of.......... 43

Sanpoil district, access to.................... 180

geology of............................... 181

location of............................... 180
INDEX. 215

' . Page. 

Sanpoil district, mining in................ 179-180

ore deposits of........................... 181

prospects and mines in................ 182-187

topography of......................... 180-181

Sanpoil mine, description of............... 162-163

Sanpoil River, description of........... 10,180-181

geology near............................. 142

placers on............................... 37

Seaman claim, description of................ 57

Schellenburg claims, description of.......... 49-50

Scotia prospect, description of............... 78-79

Second Thought claims, description of....... 76-77

rocks at, view of......................... 66

Sedimentary rocks, metamorphism of....... 12

occurrence and character of ............... 11-15

Sediments, metamorphosed, ores in...... 24-25,26

Selenium, occurrence of................... 148-150

Shale, analyses of............................ 43'

glaciated surface of, view of............. 56

Shale, mineralized, view of.................. 57

Shear zones, mineral deposits in.......... 23,24-25

Siliceous ores, treatment of, cost of.......... 9

Silver, deposits of........................... 25

Silver-lead ore. See Lead-silver ore.

Silver Leaf mine, description of............. 197

Silver Queen mine, description of.......... 125-126

Stxmile Creek, placers at.................... 34

section at............................... 34

Smelters, operation of....................... 6

Smith,H. F.,goldfoundby................. 3-4

Snowshoe claim, description of.............. 206

Southern Republic mine, description of... 153-154

ore of.................................'151,153

views of............................. 146

Stevens County, mining districts and ore deposits in........................ 40-133

Stranger Creek Bar, placers at............... 36

section at................................ 36

Strawberry Creek, placers on................ 37

Stray Dog mine, description of ............. 193

Strobeck mine, description of.............. 104-105

Sullivan Creek, shales from, analyses of..... 43

Summit claim, description of.............. 205-206

Sunday Morning mine, description of........ 116

Sunset mine, description of............... 52,59-60

Surprise claim (Republic district), description of................. 146-147,159-160

veins in, figure showing ............... 157,161

Surprise mine, description of................ 200

Swamp King claim, description of........... 70,88

T.

Terraces, placer gold in...................... 31

Terreil, A., cited............................ 150

Tertiary rocks, deposition of................ 21

mineral deposits in... 22,23,68,141,145,146-153 

occurrence and character of.............. 11,

18-20,68-69,140-144 

Thomson, F. A., on Republic ores......... 148-149

Timber, growth of........................... 3

Page. 

Tom Thumb claims, description of.......... 166

Topography, descriptio'n of.,................ 9-10

See also particular districts. 

Toulou Mountain, geology at............. 67-68,90

map of.................................. . 72

prospects on............................. 77-82

Trade Dollar claim, description of........... 163

Transportation, cost of..... 1................ 9

means of................................ 5-6

Tread well mine, description of............... 56

Trojan prospect, description of........... 67,81-82

Tungsten, deposits of........................ 29

deposits of, origin of................... 115-110

See also Germania mine; Tungsten King

mine.'

Tungsten King mine, description of...;... 130-133 

location of, map showing................ 131

ores of.............................. 29,131-133

analysis of........................... 132

rocks in, view of.......................... 132

Turk, smelter at............................. 6,112

Turtle Rapids Bar, placers at............... 36

U.

XJmpleby, J. B., on granite intensives........ 16

on Republic district........... 135,144,151,162

United Copper mine, costs at................ 9,100

description of........................ 92,98-102

discovery of............................. 4,98.

ore deposits of................ 27,92,96,100-102

origin of...............v............. 102

ores of, assay of.......................... 102

section in, figure showing......:.......... 99

vein of, view of.......................... 100

views of and in......................... 74,101

U. S. Copper Gold mine,description of...... 97,107

V.

Vegetation, character of.

W.

Wander claim, ore from..................... 172

ore from, analysis of..................... 172

Wasco mine, description of................ 209-210

Washington mine, description of:......... 197-199

ores of.......:.......................... 28,199

White, David, on fossils..................... 14-15

W. J. Bry an claim, description of............ 69

Wilmot Bar, placers at...................... 34-35

Windfall mine.............................. 97,108

Wolframite, analysis of...................... 121

occurrence of, view of.................... 120

Y.

Young America, mine, description of.. 52,64,62-63 

discovery of............................. 4

production of............................ 4

Z.

Zinc. See Lead-zinc.

29122° Bull. 550 1<!

O