The new North-west., 1871-11-04
from III, Mining journal. Oct. I"th.l
Siirev !SWtliiMN IN !MOHfNMN.
L. GENERAL CoNsiDERATIONs.

nrr bcnriicinicd on the spot They nr.
treated by smelling though by far Tho
greater part Of the Moninnn silver cr's ART
rally matchmaking ores. The works do
not treat Argrnin ores "n1 y - the production
Of the district being far lr.s tlnm the caln
city Of ilr" smrl,ing works. but also mcnrly Y
ali the silver orca which nrr nj the present
iimc minrd throughout the whole Territory
In some respects the hmmtion Of these
works Is well. IN other respects very bndly
chosen. When the mines "i Argent wcr,
first discovered. seven or eight years ago.
the mineral deposits. which nrr nearly all
located on the limestone hill north OF Ar
gcniH, displayed lead ores mn top some ui
them very rich in lcuh. and most OF them
with u satisfactory percentage Of silver.
True I" ia, usual mode "f developing MN
ing districts IN the West. several parties
rushed ia the conclusion That the ores Of
these mines must m snrltcd. though there.
WAS u" minr "lrncl I" n greater depth thar.
twenty five f,ri. Works were co,is,,i iucntly
erected. first h!y the 81 Lou,s nnd Montana
Mining Co.. afterwards by A. VI. Eslcr,
and snl' later hy Mrssrs. Io"llc. Leach l.
stap'CI"n. 80 that Argcmin now boasts six
blast and tvs" r,ilrlliny furnaces. But un.
fortunately II was soon discovered that in all
the lead nnd silver deposits occurring IN the
limestone whirhr comprise ninety nine hun
trcdths 81 the Argrn,H mnrs--thc ore be-
came continually poorer IN lead with In
crcnsing depth. though II Utninrd. IN most
eases. i,s"riginnl prrrcniHgcOf silver. This
soon siupImd one of tho works entirely.
while the others could work only from time
l., time. nt long intervals. whenever u sutll
cheney of lead ores had accumulated to per
nit OF "a short campaign. Smelling. under
inf IA sesb.
the high price of charcoal. Of labor. tho
poor quality Of accessible fire. proof material,
and tho cosilinrss OF smelling large quaint.
ties of tluxcs must bc nlhch--coul.l. there.
fore. not bc very profitable. Csl"eimlly as
the reduction of the lilhMrgc and subsequent
shipment al The lead was out OF the ltcs.
tini,. Even since the rnilronl has come
within less than four hundred miles Of Ar
gcnln the lead cannot hc shipped D ndvam.
tnge. except IN the winter. when. on ~.
count OF The scarcity Of return freight i0
(nrinnc this may hr done nj II cost Oi $50
per ton. But even nj COriLnc lead lNs u
value of only three and u half cents per
pound. thus leaving two and u half cents
per pound II. II mnrsin for reduction from
ores POOR in lead and for losses IN smelling
The r"nsrpmrrr IL. of course. TINT the
smelling works cannot pay anything for the
lead IN the ores. aud that the cost Of s,ncli.
ing. as well ns frigh, and the profit Of tho
smelling works. must come out Of the con
tents IN silver. This. and what IL still
worse for the miner. quite arbitrary buying
rates on the rnri "i the furnaces. hns per
milicd the mining Of silver ores in Montana
"a dwindlc down to small fraction of what
nrc now mined IN especially favored local.
iiirs. and the production Of silver in Mon.
innn for this year will. under the most in.
voinhlc circumstances. not exceed *:5O. 600.
whereas u should hc. according IL the Hhun
dance "t the ores in the Territory which arc
nvnlabl" even ~ present, not less than
u, SOC. .OO0
AS ! mentioned before. by far the greater
part of ,hc now known SILVER ores Of Mon.
t,na should n"i hr treated 10y smelling ut all,
but hy chlOrdizimg. rmsting and nmnlga
nation. This process IL not only far cheaper
than smelling. hut Il Is also, under the cir.
less affected hy Quotations IN
the quality nt the ore NJ furnished by the
mines especially when the Stetcfcl,lt fur.
mace " the Grucknrr cylinder nrc used for
ronsing. since in these Mp,'nrailiscs u vary.
ing percentage Of lead will have little iuhu.
cncr on either the cost or the perfection Of
the ruusting.
Lately Mrssrs :. II. Enl,,n T. Co.. who
own the lnrgcst smciiing works Ot Argcntn.
have acquired by purchase vein which &c.
ours IN the granite immediately on the bank
OF linttIcst,akc creek. This vein carries very
good lead ores. carlmnntrs. ph"sj'hHtcs and
mol yhdrnntcs on the surincc, and gnlcDa in
tho lower part Of the shafts. Tho owners
are now hard nj work 10 open this vein. 80
~ to get adequate stopping ground and r.
serves ns soon ns possible. The lode IL. on
~ average, ns far M exposed. three feet
wide, and contains MI ore seam Of twelve tO
fifteen incua. which Is very solid aud free
from gnmguc This vein. which L. christ.
&. nod tho Ferdinand. and the Eaton and I.c'
. al Tcndrr--'lrposi,s In the limestone above.
which both contain very good smelling ores
in ncsts--aro probably sufficient To deliver
all the lead ores needed for tho present ca.
Iacity OF the smelling works IN order 10
extract tho silver from tho quartz,sc silver
ores bought fromO thcr districts. But if In
these mines. also, the percentage Of lead
should decrease ns much In depth N Il has
done In all tho others Of tho district. the
poor location. For besides tho existence Of
these plumbitcrous ores In tho immediate
vicinity, there IN nothing In tho location 10
II. except u very good water.
power and the ncig hl"'rl,OOd Of u n,nrl he'd,
which furnishes good hearth for the cu.
pcilimg furnace. Charcoal and iron orc
have 10 bc Mught nj hugh prices, and u good
lining for the blast furnaces IL not at hand,
granite being used for this purpose In de-
fault of something better.
And In n commercial point of view. Ar.
gcn,n will certainly never amount 10 any.
thing, a. no railroad is likely 10 toucl, t.
| have hintcd above, that In years hcrcaf.
ter. when lead shall have acquired certain
value In Montana. the amaigsmntinE pro.
tpss, which would 10 NJ advantageous ut
the present time. will not bc IN place for
tho bcnitlcia,iOn ot tho silver ores Of tho
Territory. 1Iut nature. which Inns NJ bOun
lifully supplied this Territory with tho ores
of MI the metals. hns also here furnished
tho means Of introducing u rational process
for tho extraction Of tho precious metals
from tho ores under discussion. ! refer 10
tho existence Jf = vast amount Of sulphur
rcttcd copper ores In various parts of the
Territory. Some Of these dcDOsiis arc h.
cntcd close to y natural line Of railroad, |. o.,
near tho low Deer Lodge Pass In Butte
District. Il II probable that tho main line
of the Territory, tho North Pacific railroad
will run through this pass and down the
valley Of tho Deer Lodge.
These copper veins carry ores very free
from gNnpua, principally yellow sulphurota
aud pcocock. both mixed with Iron pyri,cs.
Near the surface, however. these minerals
are oxydizcd and converted into carbon.