Arizona weekly citizen., 1881-08-21
LOW GRADE ORES.

LOW GRADE ORES.
 The ancient miners in this country only sought the very rich pockets and deposits of ores, for with their crnde fa- cilities only such could be worked with a profit. We are working with good re- suits ores running from 80 per ton up- ward. But the great mass of the ore Is of a lower grade, and when science has solved the question of cheap reduc- ton millions of dollars in ore now passed over as valueless will be extrac ted, and add to the wealth of the coun- try. The question of treating low grade ore is attracting attention, and there IS no doubt that in the near future the problem will be solved Our miners and prospectors should bear this in mind, and if they should have low grade ores take care of them, for the time will come when they can realize on the metal they contain. The mIning men in other sec tions are looking after low grade ores with reference to the future, and We have no doubt that 1t is a far-sighted policy. The Denver Tribune has the following very sound editorial on the question, which Is entitled to cOnsidera- ton:
 The wealth of 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 profit, 1t will add millions to the yields now obtained from high and medium grades alone. It is gratifying to know that We are ap- preaching this stage-slowly to be sure, but nevertheless surely. Great advances have been made in the past three years, greater than in the whole eighteen pre- ceding. We are realizing handsome profits from ores to-day which a few years ago were either left in the mines, or, if raised to the surface, cast into the waste piles. Many of these dumps are now being overhauled, and thousands of tons taken from them to the mills and smelters. Messrs. Taylor x BruntoD, of Ieadville, have demonstrated their ability to make splendid profits out of 20-ounce silver ores by the stamping process. As a consequence their mill IS crowded Much of the ore sent there is taken from the dumps of the Robert E. Lee and neighboring properties. Tins shows that the country throughout Is coming to the method long ago estab- lished ln Gilpin-smelting for the high
 grades, stamping for the low. We have wasted IIore gold and silver in the past twenty-one years than we have saved. This seems an extravagant statement, but 1t Is true There are more tons of ore in abandoned levels and stopes and in the dump piles of Colorado that should be reduced at Q profit than have been milled and smelted since the first discovery of gold and silver in the Rocky mountains. This may be doubted, still 1t is religiously true. Examine any of the mining districts carefully, and you will find it so. The reason is plain. Only a small percentage of the ore in any mine IS high grade. Owing to the heavy cost of treatment, transportation, etc, in past years, only this small per centage of the whole could be marketed. The remainder, constituting a vast ma jority, had to be left in the mine, or cas- over into the general dump as waste. This fact IS known to science. The day will come in the near future when some one of the many engaged upon the problem will open a way for the utiliza- ton of all these waste piles-nOt all the rock in them, but for hundreds of thou sands of tons that may be assorted ont of them and converted into bullion. h. deed, the process has already begun. Large invoices from these very sources are reaching ArgO and other reduction works. Still there is grade in these piles, which, however closely assorted, will not pay for smelting. This must be treated by cheaper method That is what we are waiting for Happily, we have not long to wait
 Enterprising men in Leadville and in some of the older districts are leasing and bonding dumps for term of months or years. They expect to reap rich harvest from them. One that we are personally cognizant of contains from twelve to twenty thousand tons that will run from 30 to 70 ounces per ton, all cast out as waste during the era of high charges for transportation and reduc- tion. There IS probably clean net profit of S150,OOO, even under present rates, in this single pile of ore. This Is but one instance of many that could be named. In the mine 1t came from there are perhaps 2O,OOO tons of tow grade worth from 30 to 60 ounces silver per ton-left there because it could not be marketed. It can be marketed profta- bly, now, and some of 1t is being taken 1 down. Two years ago it was practically l worthless. These cases illustrate briefly, l but oomprehensively, the advances we are making. He who fails to see Tn l them the opening of brilliant and long | continued era of prosperity for the | State We live in is wilfully bind.
 Now then, for the moral. Save your | low grade ores. If taken out of the | mine, make a separate pile for them; don't cast them into a general waste | rock dump. Let all miners, ill the | newer districts especially, take care of l all material not rich enough to pay pres | ent rates. Put it where it can be readily | reached next year, or two years hence. | Before that time probably a market for he major part will be opened. You cannot use them now, and 1t will take | put little time to assort them for the fu- .ure. They will then represent a large | part of your profits.