Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1883-06-16
Tin Found in the Harvey Range,

JOURNAL otn FOR ten days past IL has
been rumored that prospectors in the
Harvey district had discovered ore car
rying Il large percentage Of tin. For Il
time nothing definite could be learned
regarding 1t, but the prediction Of Pro-
fessor S~treeruwitz was forcibly brought
to mind. The eminent me~tallurgist. on
his trip through the Hills, said, from
surface indications, he would rather
W five square miles Of the Harvey
range than all of the mineral bearing
country around Lead City and Central.
He stated the formation Of the Harvey
range was such an one rs must carry
tin, and that a discovery Of that metal
would yet be made in it. A short time
ago Mr.. +. a. McCulloch, n competent
assayer of New York, arrived here for
the purpose of testing ore from Harvey
district, and after making repeated trials
pronounced il very rich in tin, carrying
from forty to fifty per cent of that min
eral. a number Of tin buttons were ex-
tracted from the rock, and several are
now in possession Of citizens of Rapid
City. Mr.. McCullock at once left for
The east, taking with him specimens of
the ore, and will return to the Hills
within a few weeks ut most to watch de-
v%elolnent upon the mine and make
furtker investigations. The fortunate
owners Of the location are Messrs. S. II.
Ferguson l.. w. Mcdonald and Alex
Madiil, of Harvey, and a. J. Simmons
and Felix PoznanSky, of Rapid City.
Shortly after the discovery was made,
and before tests were made bi Mr. Me
Culloch, some of the rock was tried BY
Mr.. Lindsay, assayer at the Blue Lead,
and pronounced tin ore. A piece of the
ore weighing fifty pounds is now on ex.
hibition at Lake < Halley's bank in this
ritv. The strike is undoubtedly a very
important one for Pennington county
and the Black Hills, as it proves the ex-
istence in this country OF deposits Of a
metal which is very rare on this CONT
nent. The formation in which the dis
covery has been made is identical with
that in which the tin mines of Cornwall
and other places are found, anu as the
same formation extends through the en-.
tire Harvey range, IA great and promis-
ing field is thus thrown open to the pros
pector, with a strong probability that
other discoveries Of the metal will be
made. Indeed, it is believed the same
ore has already been found in several
miues in the vicinity Of the first loca.
ton"
A.. j. Simmons in a letter published in
the Journal of the above date says:
"The ore is the mineral known rs
cassiterite, or the oxide Of tin. AS per
numerous tests made by Mr.. f. A. Nc
Culloch, an accomplished metallurgist
from New York, it carries forty per cent
metallic tin, a little copper, less zinc,
traces of silver and freely gold. Associ-
ated with the ore are found the rare
minerals tourmaliue and wolfram or
wolframite, together with other varieties
of heavy black iron tungstate."
The mine was originally located as a
mica lead, and is only one of the many
instances in this vicinity where develop
ments have shown that the mica bear
ing rock of the country is accompanied
by ores Of far more value, and its the
univeral opinion of the mining men OF
the Hills that a majority of the mica
locations throughout the Hills will even
tually develop into rich silver and cop
per mines.