Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-12-17
TIE SILVER KING.

\ Visit to this Famous silver Producer
 Hon. J. r. Knapp and J. A. WhitmOre,
 of the CITIZEN, have just returned from
 8 visit to tine famous Silver King mine 1 Through the courtesy of the Superin- ! tendant and under the guidance ot the 1 efficient foreman, Robert Bowen, who
 has been with tEe property now for
 many years, they visited the 70O-foot
 and other levels iu this truly wonderful
 mine. They feel good deal 6s the Queen Oi Sheba dld after beholding the glory and the wisdom of Solomon that
 the haif had not been told them. IL is one of the few properties which the 'lOug bow of the average frOntlersmUn Is unable Co Oyerdraw, and m relation to which evtravagaut expressions seem commonplace. The property IS opened up tO a depth of 1UO feet. The only
 work done on this level has been to chamber 1t out preparatory tO stOping.
 The chamber IS now about lUOxlJ0 feet. and there Is ore In every face. How much larger the orc chute will prove on this level none can tell. Certainly the outlook for the 500 level when that IS opened up, which will probably be doneI the first of next year, Is most hatterlng. There is no level in the mine in which the ore has been exhausted, and some idea of the capacity of the mine for producing ore can be surmised when we say that If there was hOisting and re- duction capacity sufficient, 300 men could be employed stOplng ore on the 700 foot level alone. Two years and half was consumed in partially stoping the $50 foot level. The reserves III the 1 mine are simply enormous. The reduc- | ton works now in use, a twenty stamp | mill with eight Frue cOncentratOrs, is | wholly inadequate to such property, l and while we do not speak by the card, l We have little doubt that one of the | early moves will be the erection of a | 2J0 stamp mill on the Gila river to be | connected wIth the mine by rail. The ! water at the mill is hardly sufficient for | the present works. The daily ship | ment of ore from the mine to the mill l IS 6J tons.
 Savants are still at work trying to de- | vise some plan for working the base | ores which this mIne produces. The | ore Is native silver and sulphlde mixed | with galena, zinc and every known base | metal The gangue IS pOrphyry, heavy | quartz and black spar. In some places | in the mine the quartz and spar occur entirely separate and distinct from the porphyry, and iu other places 1t IS mixed. The ore occurring Iu poTphyry concentrates readily with satisfactory results, as high as 95 per cent. Of the value being saved. The quartz and spar have nearly as great specific gravity as the metal It contains so that concentra- tiOn IS not the process for this character | ot ore, and 1t is sorted and left at the mine to be utilized as future wisdom and experience may direct. Besides this character of ore they nave a fine, large and rich body of free milling chlO- ride ore in the surface which can be worked when pans and settlers are add ed to the works.
 There Is no danger of Arizona losing its reputation as a silver producer while the Silver King holds out and there IS nothing to warrant the impression that it will cease producing for years to come. IL has already produced more silver than the entire Territory of New Mexico and has virgin ground enough to more than double it's output.
 The Bike an adjacent mine owned by the Mowry Mining company Is a promising property. They have a shaft down about 6OO feet expecting to strike the King ore chute at about 1000 feet.
 There are other properties m the vicinity of Pinal and Silver King that will when railroads open up the county, | become profitable bullion producers but | the King stands alone in any country, | Territory or country. It 1t the chief.