Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1893-03-18
The Poor Mans Mine.

The phenomenal success whicn mas
crowned the labors Of the owners Of the
]. X. mine, located near Hill CITY.
should be an inspiration to every mine
owner and prospector who has heard OF
it. Lampert. one of the owners OF the
property, furnished q reporter for the
Rapid City Republican with these facts
concerning the opening and operation
Of the mine, which is making wealthy
men of himself and his partners:
/ had been interested for some time
in the j. r. with my presen. partners,
Henry Petit and A. Cresse. We bad
done our representing each year but
with the opening OF 1892 | told the boys
we might as well turn in and see
whether we had anything in the proper
ty. Early in February we found ore
that surprised us. We kept at work,
running in to tap the vein which ex-
tends north and south along the ridge
with dip to the west. Finding that
We had a valuable propsrty. negpE~Asz
for ten stamp mill which was ut tn
operation, bought &C surprisingly low
figure and set il up on the property,
making use of the water in Spring creek
for power. During the fall we made a
number Of runs taking out in al some
$4,000, enough to pay for all improve
ments including the steam plant neces
sary for winter work. and leave nice
margin besides. We are now cross
cutting along the veins stopping down
ore into the cars and running II out to
the mill. The clean up for this week
will probably amount to 81 500. Our
south drift is now in 100 feet and all in
ore. The ore is hard to describe. It's
q sort Of pot pourri Of quartz, slate, tale
and oxadized substances and most of il
carries concentrates which we are now
arranging to save. having ordered three
Colorado bump tables for that purpose
place the average value Of our ores at
ten dollars per ton.
The experience Of Messrs. Lampert.
Petit and Cresse is forcible ilustra-
tion of what any two or thrse men who
own valuable property, but who have
little available capital. can do if they
only will. A couple of years ago the ].
r. was only prospect, fairly well
developed. The men who owned it
continued to develop and open it up,
until they had uncovered body Of ore
which no doubt would not then haye
sssayed any better than hundreds Of
others, within twenty i've miles Of it, do
now. The tests Of the ore encouraged
them, and they determined to male the
mine a producer. They made that
their sole object. and sacrificed every
thing to that end. They had to be con-
servative, their stamp mill was neces-
sarily small, but they got there just the
same, and in little while their mine
had become something which is very
rare in the Southern Hills-an actual
producer of gold bullion, and mine in
the true sense of the word.
The owners of the j. r. are prospecting
far beyond their expectations. Unless
We are mistaken the original owners
have not sold q dollars worth <SSsck.
bdt the product OF the nine, Ia1S >vai
and treated with their own hands,
remunerated them for their labor. and
furnished them with capital which en-
ables them to work on a moro extensive
scale. The "poor mans mine" gives
promise of making millions. and the
success which these three men are en-
joying, will follow others who emulate
their worthy example.
Within a radius Of ten miles from
Custer there are located hundreds OF
gold properties, upon which thousands
of dollars have been expended. Bodies
of ore which are unlimited in extent
and which prove marvelously rich when
assayed, have been uncovered, and yet
in all this district we have not single
producer. One hundreth part of the
labor and money expended in assess
ment work in Custer county this year
would change q prospect into a mine,
equip it with mill. and prove to the
world that gold and plenty of it, is
hidden in our mountains and valleys.
We grumb.e and growl because we and
our possessions are misreprssented
and malignsd. We grow old and cross
grained with weary years of waiting for
some monied man to come along and
buy us out. And yet isn't it possible
that while the outside world has been
unjust to US and to our country, we also
have been unjust to ourselves? Isn't it
possible that with cur energies united
and exerted in the right direction We
might accomplish part of what we
expect others to do for US? Isn't the
example of the three men alluded to
above worthy Of emulation, and may we
no. profit by their experience