Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1871-09-15
MINING DEPARTMENT.

MlNlNU UEF All MIN l.,
There are other forms of physical force
to which ought perhaps, to refer, in
order to get the necessary light to examine
mineral strata, and ore deposits But L
am afraid am keeping your readers 100
long from the results Of my investigation
in the lead district and will commence at
once with what little we have evolved from
the forces referred to.
Before we start, however, allow me TO
say word in reference to the course
intend to pursue | shall not start out
with theory already formed nor Shall
[ assume position for the purpose OF
defending it, but shall commel.ce with
some simple facts or truths, with which
we are familiar facts that form the first,
simple elements Of practical knowledge
But would have it understood, thai
such facts are relative, and such
Knowledge is relative. That is they are
related to other facts, that form the element
of higher class of knor'edge. And we
must not be surprised, if in the following
these facts we find ourselves rising from
the simple to the complex; or from the
pra ,tical to the scientific. The simple
facts, or particular phenomena with which
We start QUIT followed, will soon merge III
larger and larger groups of phenomena
Indeed we can assign no bonds to the grand
succession of phenomena, that Will ever be
unfolding themselves before US, and If we
find our way across the charm that seper
ates the phenomena of the lead district
from their course, it will be by the light
of these facts, as they continue in their
relative positions.
The simple fact with which | shall COM
mence, is the fact, that the deposits of ore
in the lead districts, are always found in con-
nectiop with assures. The ore may not
always be in the assures; we sometime find
it at certain depth, deposited between
the beds of the strata on either side of the
assure This is often the case in our
horizontal openings. Or the tissure may
sometimes apparently close. This is of
ten the case as it enters the cap rock,
beneath which, large deposits of ore are
found But where the ore is found, a
seem in the rock, if nothing more is al
ways found in connection whit. have
often seen large deposits of ore beneath a
cap-rock. or by the side of bar, III which
the assures was closed to seem no larger
than a knife blade; yet evidently closely
related to the deposit fore.
But This fssure is not mere accident
in nature, or mere crack in the rock, re-
lated in it's origin to that ore called joints
in the rock, produced by its acquiring a
crystalline structure 1t has we'll defined
bearing or course, conforming fully to the
directive influence, noticed in the bearing
of assures in other and well established
mining regions The bearing of all the
principal assures, are laid down very
accurately by Prof. Whitney, in the map
accompanying our last report. By refer
ence to this map, we notice that there Is
uniformity in all the principal assures
and close approximation to an east and
west course, as much so as we find in the
bearing of assures in any other mining
region. ....
Another fact with which we Gas miners)
are familiar, is the fact, that where these
east and west assures are productive, they
are always accompanied by north and south
assures intersecting them, at, or nearly
at, right angles. This is not an occasional
occurrence, but general throughout the
lead district 1t is apparently the result
of one of the established laws of this sys-
tenn of assures and not for this system
of assures only, for it prevails where
ever mineral veins are found. Nothing is
more familiar to miners the world over,
than the influence of north and south,
or cross assure, on the vein in which he
is working. In almost every instance,
it either enriches or improverlshes it.
However much mineral veins may differ
in other respects. in this they are one.
In fact it is like one of the characters
common to all the species of genus.
One very important feature of these fiss-
ures IN the lead district, is there forming
into groups along given lines that is a
group of parallel assures, along the same
line within from five to ten feet of each
other. These groups of parallel assures,
are called by the miners-ranges hence
we hear them speak, not only of east and
west crevices,or assures, but of east and
west ranges. The term mineral range in
its application to these gronps of assures,
is just as significant, and expressive
among miners of Wisconsin, as the term
mineral vein or lode, is among miners
of other mining regions.
The arrangement of these simple facts,
may not be very instructive to your read.
ers, because of their familiarity. I have
introduced them here, not because they
are of any especial interest in themselves,
but to prepare the way for a higher class
of facts, to which they by their nature are
related or because they are the first links
in the chain of facts leading to the cause
or origin of our deposits, and I wish to
have them understood in this light