The semi-weekly miner. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1882-1886, 1883-04-14
LOW GRADE ORE.

An Enterprise Which Might be
Successfully Operated in
thiss Camp.
Superintendent Foulke has for sew
eral weeks been Experimenting with
two of Frue's Concentrations at the
Star mill. We took q walk up to the
mill a day or two ago, and found
these machines running smoothly
and in perfect order. Five stamps
are used to crush the pulp that
feeds them, and, of course. the poor
est grade of ore is selected for these
stamps. BY this method Of concen-
tration $25 ore is worked with profit,
Is per cent being realized from its as
say value. No. 80 screens were first
employed on the concentrators, but
a gradual grading down showed i'm
proved results, until now a No. 16 is
in use and Mr. F0ulke thinks a No.
II or IA will be an improvement even
on that. The result of the expert
ment SO far has been entirely salts
factory, and MI. Foulke believes
that this process will prove the sal
vatlon OF his company, and cannot
fail to work wonders for all districts
whose mines carry large quantities
of low grade ore that cannot be
worked at q profit under the old
milling system. Another very i'm
portant item resulting from the con.
centrators is that the grade of bullion
produced is much finer; the Star bars
have improved in grade from 40 to
over 600 since the new system has
been in operation. 1t also saves
much labor in sorting ore. the servi-
ces of seven men in this capacity
having already been dispensed with
at the Star.-W White Pine News.
A common complaint among own
ers of small mines in this district is
that unless their ore is exceedingly
rich they cannot afford to pay the
tolls charged by the custom mills. It
is also a fact that on the dumps of
the Alice, Moulton, Lexington, An
aconda, Shonbar and many other of
the larger properties, thousands of
tons of ore which assays from SIS to
$35, is piled waiting for the time to
come when low grade ore can be
worked at a lrofit. If the statements
in the above excerpt are correct, and
we have no reason to doubt the We
racity of the report, silver
ore can be milled as cheaply
as gold ore, and there is little or no
ore mined in this district which
might not be worked at profit. This
being the case, the introduction of
milling machinery, capable of work.
ing $25 ore, saving rs per cent of the
assays, would work something of a
revolution in the mining operations
of this camp. The immense piles of
low grade now lying on the dumps
would swell the already splendid out
put of the camp; hundreds of smaller
mines now lying idle would be
worked by their owners, who, al
though not possessed of sufficient
capital to build works for the
reduction of their ores, would
be enabled to deyelope and work the
mines, could the ores be reduced at a
reasonable rate of toll by the custom
mill. With the process referred to
in the above extract, no doubt this
desirable result would be attained,
and the custom mill in this camp
which can save Is per cent of the
assay value of the ore will get all the
ore they can crush.
The process referred to would
prove a profitable enterprise if con-
Quoted merely as a concentration. and
the concentrations shipped to reduc-
ton works. In cases Of low grade
ore, it would probably take two
hundred tons of quartz to make one
ton Of concentrations. Allowing
that SIS per ton were saved, the one
ton of concentrations would be worth
5000. The cost of extracting we
will put at 81 per ton, hauling 50,
milling IS, shipment to reduction
works and reduction 5000, discount
ON silver at $3.50, sum total, $3.50 for
extracting, hauling, milling, ship
ment, reduction and discount, leaving
a balance in hand of $3.50, clear profit.
But suppose ore would mill. $40 per
ton, then the profit would be 81, $50.
All around US the Importance of
custom mills and sampling works.
as profitable investmen. IS, and
factors in the development of the
mining industry are fully apprecia-
ted. Works of this kind are about to
be erected at Virginia City, Dillon
and Ogden. At the latter place large
works will be erected,
which will depend chiefly upon Mon
tana for patronage. At Salt Lake
works r in successful OPP
Grafton, where the ores are brought
from a distance and sampled off9
large scale; the sampling company
purchasing the entire shipment on
the basis of value as shown by the
If custom mill at Ogden
can reduce Montana ores at a profit,
and if sampling works can be sue
cessfully operated in Salt Lake at a
distance from the mines, a rich field
for investment is certainly presented
in Butte, where the mines are close
at hand and every natural advantage
for the successful Inauguration
of such an enterprise.
Another Good Man Gone.
Henry Swanson, who has during
the past year occupied the position
confidential clerk for Lynch Bros.