The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-05-20

blow q rock right ~ Thorn, Tho cause OF
u was simply the fact that they had loft
under ssnsion which had always previously
had tho support Of tho rest Of tho rock.
While they were working daily shat effect
did not have time 70 take place. but whsn
shsy, went back after leaving ~ idle the
strain had become 80 great that u had
popped . pisos ont from b face o. re
small motions, and these motions Will
oonatsntly produce surfaces OF f'ic.
tjon. The effects of such movements ID mol
9 grinding but IL q crushing BY pressure.
He thor explained the changes produced In
. crushed mass Of slate by the simple 40
tion Of rain water psrcolatina through
down ward. Rain water contains inst two
things that arc very active and powerful!
Reoloaioally, one II oxygen from the AIR and
the other Ii oarbonic acid from the mir.
Tbs atmosphere consists OF oxygen and
nitrogen and contains n small amount Of
oarbonio acid. or there three gases oxygen
Is more soluble In water than nitrogen, and
oarboni0 acid 10 more soluble than either Of
them, consequently rain water contains
more oxygen than nitrogen, and n much
greater portion OF oarbonio acid than tho
air. some thirty or forty times as much.
The effect OF she water containing that in
sulphursta. Ii TO oxidias them. producing
the rusty appearances Of surface ores. In
tho second place the effect Of tho carbonic
acid In the rain water 10 10 attack the sill
Gates OF the alkalies and alkaline ea,ths,
80 that tho way that water has been acting
Tor a while upon such sub
a. clay states containing lime.
1t may take ont a lot Of tho silica. releasing
II as free silica and putting in carbonic
aoid to form oarbonates of lime instead.
II tho rock has been acted upon in this
way by tho surface water. it can be deter
mined by testing it with acid. II it e1er.-
vesces IL contains carbonate of lime. and
that carbonate of lime is the product of
water upon %silieate Of lime. II IT does not
eforvesce II probably has not been altered
at all. or else the products of the alteration
have been leoohsd out. In such cases the
broken mass may be rscemented with Its
own material by simple pressure wlshont
constituting 9 true brsccln. Another Of.
feot Of surface waters Is the production OF
clay by the removal Of lime md alkaiiea
from tho ailicates which contain them, and
tho leaving of more or less pure silicate OF
slumina, which may also act as n cement,
although it is generally soft and absorba
and retains q good deal OF the internal
moisture of the rock.
1ha doctor said that all these operations
which he had spoken of could take placo.
md did take Ilaoe in this mountain with
out any reference whutever to any mineral
vein; they are transformations perfectly
familiar III geology. expected under such
dependent Of and disconnected with thu
processes by which mineral veins ate
formed. II the history Of the Drum Lum-
mon mountain had stopped when these
processes were over. the mountain would
DO there to-day with all the slips and all
the slides and all the breccia I'M all tho
mixed up, crushed, Abraded, ground mate
rial and what not which has been presented
in the case; all formed prior to the forma-
ton OF the mineral vein. and all independ-
ent and all of it part of the history of an
ordinary country rock.
Dr.. Raymond next described the vein
system in the vicinity of Marysville and
the formation of veins. The formation OF
mineral vcins Ia preceded, he said. in cases
like the one under consideration, where the
veins are admitted to be assure veins, by
the formation Of assures and then by their
liberalization or filling. The processes
which he described as regards the various
masses of the country rock on the Drum
were Independents of the naturalization Of
any vein. but they were such as to make 1t
impossible for a portion of the eountry
rock so affected to become mineralized,
This brecciated material and the material
in which the aggregated silica is deposited in
oAA0tA VOAA0s AAAAAk e4olus uOb ny CEybtHlH az
in the case OF mineral veins. but by an
amorpheous or solid mass of silica, are pro-
cessses which 80 choked the rock .that no
mineral solution can get through it.. This
Ia rock that annot become a
mineral vein, because it has
been otherwise occupied already with
something else, and stopped up 90 that
mineral solutions will have to avoid it. A
new tissure may be made through it, and in
that fssure there may be a deposit of min
eral, or a new movement may crush il over
again and open it. There are, however,
tssurss OF later origin in all these rocks.
running sometimes through its material.
many; some Of them have been mineral
lied and constitute mineral veins, although
he was not aware that anyone has ever
been worked to q large profit. In the
Maskelyne tunnel he found three such
veins crossing the tunnel In the q ante.
The doctor described the assure system
to which the Drum Lummon and The Cas-
tletown lodes belong. He said tho Drum
Lummon fssurs is q false ~fissuro, and one
is not left to the situations or polished sur
faces to infer how big a fault 1t is. Dutina
this part Of the examination the doctor
said that 1t seemed a desirable thing in this
lawsuit to have smooth walls. He said he
never found them a desirable thing in min.
ing. A vein with ore in 1t. the walls of il
smooth and polished; that is the
general rule. md the reason is that the ore
bearing solutions whom they come into q
widsned place on a mineral vein. they have
something to say sbout the wall; they cut
upon the wall and gnaw it. and they make
the vein bigger.
After tracing the i1ssure he said the last
place he could see it was on the thirty foo,
level of the moline. He said IL was utterly
impossible to be sure where it has been OK
posed by any surface cuts of the st. Louis
claim. He said he would try TO ex uress
himself with perfect f%rankness. He fslt
quite positive that the f1ssurs which has
come up 10 regularly from below ought to
oross the side lines and appear in the st.
doubt was this: In the first place there is
a sng in the ground where the surface be-
gins to descend toward tho region in which
the sixty-fvs foot shaft Is located, and
goes on down to the town of Marysville.
In illustrating this point he said he knew
of a case In which q rich lode was located.
and was lost at the depth of fifty
rest Of was 800 feet above
on the mountain, located BY another man.
just as this apex shaft might hayo come
down. This case was in Smoke valley,
Nevada. The miner when hs got down
fifty feet he found that his vein, with its
wall. and part of the country. half an acre
of 1t, had slipped down the hill, and the
other was up above.
Dr.. Raymond holds that q lodc Ia a min
eralized zone OF took, and il TINT minor
al zed zonc IL inside of a assure, it is a
nssure vein. and In determining the width
of the assure vein, IL is utterly vain and not
pertinent TO say that there are two lines
which can be given, from between which all
the ore was ever taken out of the vein.
-ls-L .-.- aha, t. A. E--A A.