Omaha daily bee., 1889-05-27
MINING ATCOLORADO SPRINGS
Reducing the Production of Metals
to q Science.
WORKING INTO THE MILLIONS
Silver I'm the Lead, and Gold a Good
Sccond--How the Mines Are
Developed - RELICS Of
Former Days.
The Great Output Of Ores.

The Great output of Ores.
IDAHO SPRINGS, Colo, May 22.-
| Especial to THE BEE. There is more
interest taken in scientific mining
among these mountains than at any
| previous date. And those who are
operating mines state that mining more
than ever has been reduced to system
so accurate that, as a business, it is no
more uncertain in its results than any
other pursuit understandingly followed.
| The output OF ores is greater than ever
before, and the results more satlsfac-
tory, owing as well to the improve
| ments in mining machinery, and the
| erection of necessary mills and other
works, rs to the acquired skill in find
ing and handling ores.
In support of the above assertions,
some facts and figures ut hand shall be
| used To substantiate them. From 1855
to 1869 the total products of the mines
OF Clear Creek county amounted to
SlS2,s23. In 1874, the mining excite
me mt having been intensified, the out
! put aggregated $2,2O3,947, and the
| number en- gagged exceeded that OF any
former ye ars. In 1880 the products
summed up S2,904 ,72S. The population
| had increased to abo ut 1000, and the
number of miners to 1850, the largest
number ever engaged up to that time.
| and more than have been any year
| since. After that date, and till 1885,
there was a shrinkage in the value OF
the output. In the last-named year the
mines of the county land speak of this
| county onlyl, yielded about SO 900 900,
| though there were not as many miners
| employed as in 1880.
The mining industry is better organ
lied and has more confidence in the GER
| tainty Of a steady business than at any
| period since the discovery of gold at
| Pixies Peak; and, though carried on
nearly without excitement, is acquiring
a deserved place among the industries
| of the state>
| In the earlier years of the mining
| operations the implements were rude
| and inexpensive. There were no ma
| chimes for hoisting ore from perpen-
| dicular shafts, and when prospectors
| found signs or indications thought to be
| good, horizontal tunnels were cut into
| the sides of the mountain so as that they
| might trundle their findings in wheel
barrow to the mouth of the opening.
Afterwards, small cars propelled on
| tramway superseded the wheeled
barrow. improvements and inventions
| have gone on apace, till steam power
and approved implements have para
lyzed the old methods.
The time was when the ore and the
| rocks in which it was found went to
| market together, making transporta-
| tion so costly that many q good mine
was vacated because it would not pay.
| Stamp mills, custom and sampling
| works as well as reduction and concen-
| tratlng mills in the mining region are
| now preparing the ores for shipment so
| as that the minimum cost of transporta-
| tion is reached.
Each mine is recognized by its name,
| and dealers in ores are as familiar with
both name and location rs an Omahan
| is with the stations on the Union Pa
cific railway. A heavy traffic is carried
| ON in the precious metals. Buyers are
here in quest OF it just as cattle and hog
| dealers frequent South Omaha.
Silver predominates in quantity and
| value in most of the mines. Gold is
next in value, and both are usually, if
| not always found in the same rocks.
| There is great dissimilarity in the ap-
pearance in the rocks, however, taken
from mines not very remote from each
| other, owing to the presence of iron, or
copper, or lead. There is mine just
| above Graymont very rich in lead-said
| to be 80 per centum of that composition.
| The company working il pays so per
cent royalty to the owners and make
| money out OF the transaction.
Ores are found in the mountains only
| in fissure veins. There are no carbon
| ate deposits at Leadville. The assures
are simply seams of variable widths be-
tween the walls of rock, many of
| which extend to a great
| depth. In one mine near
here-the Champion-situated on the
| tip top OF Bellevue mountain, the vein
| has been penetrated to the depth of 800
| feet, ana the ore is borne in buckets one
| mile and a quarter to the mill at the
| base of the mountain. The transporta-
| is effected by means of a seven-eighth
| inch steel cable above ground, sup
| ported on tressels. Some of the veins
| are nearly perpendicular; others dip at
| different angles, all the way from eight
| to twenty degrees, and can be traced
east or west, frequently, several hun
| dred feet.
In ride from Idaho Springs to the
western terminus of tho Colorado Cen
| tral railway, twenty-one miles, not n
few Of abandoned mining works may be
seen. Relics of pioneer miners are in
| sight, such as log-cabin shanties, old
| fence posts still standing, and tunnels
| from which ore had once been taken.
| The traveller can discern very many
places where prospectors have lately
| been at work puncturing the sides OF
| the mountains for the purpose of de-
| termining whether the ore is rich
| enough to reward the miner for his
| labor. Specimens are taken to the as
sayer, who, after putting it in his cruci-
| BILE. settles the question.
There is no dispute about these noun
| tains being full Of metallurgic sub
| stances. SCRIBE.