Arizona weekly citizen., 1888-06-02
MINING IN ARIZONA.
An Able and Interesting Article on the
 Mining Outloox for the Territory.
(Writen for the Engineering and Mining Journal
 by Alex. Trippel, N, k)

by Alex. Trippel, N. R)
 Having recently visited 6 number of mining districts in Arizona. l thought that s brief summary ofmy observations might not prove wholly unlnterestlng to the readers of the Engineering and Min ing Journal
 The general miping results of the ter rtory for the past year do not differ es- sentially from those of the preceding twelve months; h other words, there
 was DO substantial increase of produc- tIon either of the precious metals or of copper and lead. The principal reason is attributable to the continued depre- citation in the price of metals, which
 more or less crippled some inning ven lures, reduced profits m others, and dis
 courBged the investment of capital ID
 new enterprises. The effect of this was
 naturally more severely felt in country
 where varied and cheap transportation,
 extensive reduction facilities near the
 mines, and cheap fuel were needed but
 not obtsInsble, thus making 1t far more
 difficult to combat low prices than could
 be done ID localities more fa5ored Tn
 thess respects.
 Another important obstacle consisted
 in the fact that many mine owners hay
 ing exhausted their means in compArs-
 lively cheap surface work, now needed
 capital for further development of
 theIr properties, and this was not forth
 coming. While these endorsements
 greatly retarded progress by causing so
 close 0 margin between profit and loss,
 they st the same time scied as a stimu
 lant to the introduction of better ma
 chinery and appliances, and to the gen.
 ersl improvement of mining and metal lurgical methods. Viewing the present ststus from this standpoint, Arizons has made rapid and important progress, and with a great number Of new mines Op- ened and others further developed
 (some ofthem upon a large scsle) it IS
 but reasonable to expect that the present
 year will show a very material increase of metal production, not only in copper but in the precious metals and lead as
 well.
 As 6 matter of course the copper out put will be more than doubled, The workings of the Arizona Mining Com psny st Clifton and the Copper Queen Mining Company at B.sbee are upon s large scale; the former including a rail- road already built and the latter 6 small railroad from Fairbanks, in oontempla ton. The Old Dominion Company of Globe, has recently started two furnaces although no new or larger plant IS spoken of as yet. Besides. 1t is more than probable that suudry other good copper properties in GilR and Pinal counties will be worked shortly, these counties being especially rich in cupri- | ferrous deposits. The plan of consolIdst- ing many properties under the same ownership and management is evident | ly the intention of the Bisbee and Cliff l ton companies, 1t being the only one which permits taking advantage of the facilities offered by large plants. Argentiterous and Buriferous copper ores occur in Ysvapsi county-the latter particularly in Yuma county, where ex- celleDt copper ore IS found. ssssying from $50 to $500 per ton in gold, with some silver. The mines of these coun- ties, with the exception of tho United Verde group, can be said to be fairly prospected.
 The silver industry, particularly, has made substantial progress, It Is well understood now that permanent profits do not, ss & rule, originate from rich temporary "strIkes;,' oui, on the con trsyy; Generally from loS grade ores, averaging between 20 and 35 oHnces per ton ID silver, extracted ID large qusntl- ties from powerful veins or deposits, and cheaply mined, handled, and metal lursically trested. Very rich ore is found in nearly all the counties; but, as elsewhere, with few exceptions, such ore | is not present in large or lasting qnsn- | titles.
 A material assistance to close mill work is the frequent use of fconcentratoTs without which, it can truthfully be said, many large mines that are nov in opera tion could not work at all Concentra- tion applied directly to the ore, or indi- | rectIy to the tRilings, IS to-day recog- nized as a most important factor m sue | cess. The results of milling without it would be wasteful and unsatisfactory. The introduction of the Boss" mil | ling process has also proved of greet | value and benefit.
 Roasting is attempted in but few mills; but where it is employed, ss in the SIl- | yer King mill. 1t Is done with great skill | and economy. Arizona can be justly proud of the records made by several of | her larger silver mills, wherein the work | is accomplished at a cost ranging from | s5 to S965 per ton (the latter figure in | cluding roasting and chloridizing), and | where the final product so nearly reach | es the assay vsiue of the ore.
 The territory has but few mining or | metallurgical plants of great magnitude. | Among these the Grand Central m O. | chise, the Vulture in MarIcopa, and the II Silver King in Pinsl counties, may b. | mentioned, but there are numbers of | smaller well-constructed and sbly-mBn- | aged mills ID many localities.
 A new field for silver mining, for | which AriEons Is not well prepared, + | the production of silver lead ores. With | in a very recent period many extensive and valuable lodges of such smelling ores have either been discovered, or
 more intellIgently prospected, especially | ID Pima coutny, in the Tucson, Santa | Rita, and Pat8gOniRn mountains, where. | I am convinced, immense masses of suob ore csn be extracted. The ore is moder- | ate in grade, i. C., from I5 to 40 ounces silver. and either carries ample tiuxing | qualities, or the necessary fiuKiDg ma | terial is procurshle ID the vicinity. At | present the facilities for smelling are ex- | tremely limited. The works especially | built for custom ores do not seem to be | popular and are too distant and insc- | possible for wagon transportation. So that the better class of ore in conse- quence is shipped to eastern works, such
 as those of Socorro and Fl Paso, for re- | duction. leaving the lower grade ore un-
 available. Although the railroad freight
 rates have been reduced they are still too high, and the transportation charges \ to the railroad too expensive 10 leave
 much, if any. profit to the miner.
 The ssmpling works, recently estab. lished at tucson and Prescott, have aided to mitigate this embarrassment by offer
 ing at least speedy settlements to own CTS; but the want of several centrally
 located smelling works is apparent enough. The expected resumption of | work iu many silver mines of Cochise, Pinsl, Pima and Ysvspsi counties will
 increase the bullion product greatly this | year.
 An obstacle of importance is the water | question in Tombstone. Without active | cooperation progress ID the fsmo1s
 mines Of this well known town will be
 much retsred; nearly sll the work done
 at present being necessarily above the | vater level: meanwhile many smaller