The weekly Arizona miner., 1881-09-02
Low Grade Ore.

Under tiIis head the Denver Tribune
 prints the following editorial, the language
 of which applies equally well to Arizona:
 ,t1The wealth If this country Is in the low
 grade ores. When we can reduce material
 from the mines which contains half an ounce
 in gold, or fifteen to thirty ounces silver per
 ton at Q profit, t viii add millions to the
 yields now obtaiued from high and medium grades alone. IL Is gratifying to know that we are approaching this stage-sloW-iy to be sure, but nevertheless surely. Great ad-
 Yanees have been made in the past three
 years, greater than n the whole eighteen proceeding. We are realizing handsome profits from ores to-day which few years ago were either left in the mines, or ii raised to tine surface, cast into tie waste piles Many Oi these dumps are nov being Oyerhauled, and thousands of tons taken from them to the mills and sineiters. BIessrs. T2vIJr < Bruatcn. ol Leadviile. have demonstrated their ability to make splendid profits out cs -0-ouuce silver ores bv the stamping process As 8 consequence their mill is crowded Much of the ore sent 1 there is taken from the dumps of the Robert | E. Lee and Eeighboring properties This shows hat the country throughout i5 coming
 
 pin-snc.5iEg for the h;.h grades stamping for the low. We have wasted more gold and silver in the past twenty-five years than We have saved. Ihis seems an extravagant statement, bu5 it Is true There are more
 tons of ole in abandoned levels :nd stopes and in the dump piles If Colorado that should be reduced at a profit than have been milled and and slnelted since the first dis a
 tains. This may be doubted, still IL Is re- l1igiously true Examine any of the mining districts carefully. and you will find i. se.
 The reason Is plain. Only a small percent
 age of the whole could be marketed The
 remainder, constituting vast majority, had
 to be left III tLe Inins, or east over into the general dump as waste This fact Is known
 Ito science. He day will come in the near
 fature when some oEe of the many engaged
 upon the Protssm will o,,en-a way for the
 utilization of al. these waste piles-not aI.
 the rock ln them 5Us fes hundreds ot thou-
 sands cf tons that may bs assorted out oi
 them and converted lL55 bullion. Indeed.
 the process ha-s already begun. Large in
 voices from these very sources are reaching Argo and otl=r re,luc-len works Still there IS a grade in these pilys. which. however, close assorted. Uiu not pay fur sneiGng. This mGs5 be treated by a cheaper method. That is what We are waiting for. Happily,
 we have not long tO wait
 Enterp1ising men in Leadviile and in some of the older districts are leasing and b..nd ing dumps for term If months or years. They expect to reap a rich harvest from them. One that ee aIe personally cognizant of contains from twelve to twenty thousand tors that will run from thirty to seventy ounces per ton. all east out as d waste during the era of high charges for transportation and reduction. There Is probably clean net profit Of SI50, 600. even under present rates, in this single pile of ore. This is but once instance oI many that could be named. In the mine 1t came rom there are perhaps 20, ,000 tons oi low grade-worth from thirty to sixty ounces silver per ton-le1t there be- cause 1t could not be mark. ted It can be marketed properly now, and some of 1t Is being taken down. Two years ago 1t was practically worthless. These cases illustrate briefly, but comprehensiveiy the advances We are making He who fails to see Ill ! them the opening of a brilliant and long conuinved era of prosperity for the State We live in Is wiItui.y blind.
 Now then. for the moral. Save your low 1 grade ores. II taken out of the mine. make !! a separate pile Tor them; don't cast them into general waste rock dump. Let all ! miners, nl the newer districts especially, i take care of II material not rich enough to | pay present rat-s. Put Ii where 1t can be i readily reached next year, or two yeaIe ! nence Before that time probably market ! for the uaj,r part will be opened. You can- not use them ROW. and 1t will take but little | time to assort them for the future. They will tlen represent large part of your profits.