New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-08-26

pertinent and this establishes the value OF the lead,
he must then pay the others fabulous prices for hay-
ing developed their wealth Development is not the
rule among the miners who own most OF the valuable
mines OF at least fractions of them. The freeze
out game is much moro common. One cannot sue
coed without securing additional claims, so as to
Justify shafts or tunnels and his necessities are fully
appreciated by the other owners, and they get mp
most expensive layout for him. have seen sew
era parties sinking separate shafts in the same lead,
producing ore at from SIS to SIS per tun, because OF
the small space worked by each shaft, where tunnel
would deliver all the of the lead at cost not eA
ceedug s. per tun In this way companies are often
involved i'm disastrous expenditure to procure their
ore from first-claSs mines. They believe certainleads
to De good; they buy two, FIVE or ten hundred
feet on them without knowing how their
claims are located how the lead can best
be worked; they invest thousands OF dollars
to purchase ship, and erect machinery, and when
they want their ores they discover that while they
have plenty of good under ground several others
own intervening claims, and compel them to buy
them out at ruinous prices or work their claims OF
good leads at a positive loss. No company should
ever purchase a lead foI the purpose of working
it without an accurate map showing the location OF
every claim the lead the streams of water acceSS
be to mills the formation of the ground travcrsed
by the mine its altitude and grade, its timber, ana
satisfactory points for shafts or tunnels which VIII
command the ore at the least cost. When companies
announce in their prOspectuses that they own Claims
on q dozen different leads, whose names are III good
rcpute as valuable mines, unless they own connected
claims ON some or more well-tested leads, which
can be worked by one shaft or tunnel rest assured
that the projectors of the companies either have been
feafully cheated, they seeking TO defraud the
public by the sale of stock that can never be valuable
unless by accident have explained in detail tlis
feature of mining claims, because is the rock on
which very many have wrecked the most sanguine
hopes and it is alike the interest Of the country at
large and Of stockholders chat they look well III inc
start to this peril mill once erected, whose sue
cess depends upon the control Of adjoining Claims
certain TO suffer eXtOrtiOn to degree often 1at' u
make its bed in bankruptcy, beside untold wealth.
Another fundamental error committed by nearly
al companies, is the expenditure OF hulu!'u' ~
thousands of dollars to start mills before thoi i''
are developed This is the common disease 'h"' mas
spread homeless failure throughout the mountains
ond stra1oe 70 saw the most stupendOus failures
how, Ic,, made by the most trusted scientific men.
II will doubtless starle thousands of your readers,
Inf il is nevertheless true that there is not single
cold mine in Montana that is developed and few, If
any. in Colorado. Good pay rock" has been found
here in the surface ores and they have been worked
with tOeTable success but the character and value
Of the leads down where they are clearly defined, no
one has as vet ascertained. Experienced miners
Judge of them by the walls, day pockets, and
streaks. and pronounce them the most valuable and
Trustworthy in the world but one claim of 200 feet
on a lead may be of surprising richness, while
another may cap, or pinch, or marrow to almost
nothing. One claim will present free gold while the
adjoining claim will be strongly mprcgnatcd with
iron as to defy reduction by the ordinary stamp
mill. have seen free gold and heavy sulphurets
at the same depth on the lead, and within 100
feet of each other When these facts considered,
sensible men will see the folly of rushing up mills on
undeyeloped leads, where they have to runthe risk
Of striking barren mines character of ores that
their mills will not reduce. No mining company in
Colorado or Montana should entertain the idea Of
purchasing machinery for at least year after they
have secured their mines. When they have pur-
chased their leads-always being careful TO have
their claims in body bodies, sufficiently large for
the most economical mining-they should employ
trustworthy experienced, and practical miner TO de
vclop their mines. Ten or twenty thousand dollars
thus expended viii prove beyond all doubt the char
actcr aud value Of the ORE and until at least 1900
TINS Of ore on the bank its value proven its cost
calculated and its peculiaTities ascertaned, nothing
else should be considered. If the mines refuse to
u
paratvely slight and the project can be abandoned
without involving the sacrifice of the whole capital
Of the company and the embarrassment Of many Of
its founders Companies thus foilcd, with the eX-
pensiye mills erected, are naturally tempted 10 bor
row and assess additional sums, with the faint hope
that they may succeed by mistaken perseverance,
until finally hope and means fade ont together and
the enterprise is abandoned in despair.
If the mines prove valuable, and an abundance Of
good ore can be produced at reasonable cost, the
character Of the next TO be considered and the
selection Of the proper machinery lad power to To-
duce IT, and save the largest per centAgc of the gold
silver Por crushing all kinds Of free gold quartz
the ordinary stamp mill is the best while for slight
mixtures of the pyrtcs of iron the CHILEAN mills and
barrel amalgamators are preferable, as an ndispen-
sable adjunct. The stampmill ia the simplest and
most wasteful machinery used in the reduction Of
II requires less skill and is less expensive The
Gillian mill does better work and with the barrels,
VIII often take gold out of the orc after it has
been reduced by the stamps and ordinary amalgama-
! hon than the stamp process yields. When the ore
is largely mixed with the base metals as IN Colorado
there is 10 process yet perfected that viii reduce it
proftably The best scientific talent Of the country
and Of portions of Europe is directed to master
these refractory ores and they are steadily attaining
higher measure Of success; but until they have en-
tirely succeeded amateurs have no business expert.
menting with any of the various patents which food
! the markets. Companies which develop Such ores
viii save money by waiting for science to oyertake
them, and they can do it with entire confidence
that they will ultimately maketheirmines profitable
! When companies have thus fairly developed their
mines and ascertained the character of their ores,
they can readily determine what kind of machinery
obest adapted to their wants, and they can then
wisely proceed to ship IT. First however they can
not be too careful in looking to the quality and COM