The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1893-03-08
Why the Bunker Hill and Sulli-
van Mine was Closed Down
Recently.
The Low Price of Silver and the
Railroad Tariff the
Cause.
A Former Helena Man Sells an Interest In
\ COur d'Aleno Mine-Looking for
Wardnor.

A few days ago The INDEPENDENT printed
a dispatch from Wardner, Idaho. to tho ell sot
that tho Bunker Hill and Sullivan mine had
closed down. Manager Bradley, in reply to
queries by u Cour d'Alens Miner reporter.
gave tho following statement OF the reasons
that led to the cessation Of operations:
I'VE have discharged the entire force of
miners. but will keep fifty to seventy men
employed for a couple Of weeks or so to
make a cleanup Of the ore already broken
down In the slopes and the reserve that is
always kept in the bins at the mine and at
the concentraotor. which amounts at this
time to about 5000 ons. have i%nstruc-
tions from the owners Of the mine to sell
the material and supplies Of . perishable
nature. which would preclude the probable
ity Of an early resumption OF operations.
The mine has been shut down simply
because We oanno afford to work it at the
present prices of lead and silver. coupled
with the existing rates Of freight and
smelter charges. The fact has been staring
us in the face for some time that while we
might work along and pay expenses We
would soon exhaust our best bodies of ore
that are TO- opened up in the mine. We
have been taking out ore since last June,
barring unavoidable delays. without doing
any development work whatever, as the
profits have been insufficient to warrant the
expense Of further exploration. The rail-
roads are certainly pursuinR a very short
sighted policy in insisting on a rate that
prevents us from working our low grade
ores, We have immense reserves Of ores of
a low grade. aud wo have also the proper
concentrating plant for. working it. By
this is meant ores that will average about
eight tons of crude ore to one Of concen-
trates. The ore that We have been working
has averaged about six and one-half to ons.
'Our mining expenses-for mining. tram
ming and concentratiuG-have been $4.55
per ton on the crude ore. This is in the
the neighborhood Of $50 per ton on the con-
centrates. The railroad and smelling
charges are 80. 30 per ton. On concentrates
assaving IS per cent lead and tventy-nine
ounces of silver per ton you can easily see
that there is very little non left for the
owners OF the mine. No mention has yet
been made of taxes, insurance. administra-
tion and legal expenses, the amount of $50
per ton applying entirely to the local ex-
penses previously mentioned.
The owners have no desire to work out
their best ore without getting some return
Tor tne large sum OF money expended on
this property. They hope to get all this
back BY the time the ore is worked out.
otherwise the Investment il not a good one.
This low grade ore will surely be
worked at some time. The railroads
running into this region represent large
Investments and it is not likely that they
will be abandoned. They can easily afford
to make a rate that will allow US to work
our plant to its full capacity on these low
grade ores. When they are prepared to do
this we can give them 100 tons Of ooncen-
trates daily to haul. where we have been
giving them but sixty-fvs tons under
existing conditions In that case we could
furnish employment to from $50 to 700 men
in place of about 425 just discharged. De-
mands have been made on the railroad
companies for some months, and they do
not seem disposed to give such a rate as
will insure tho working Of the mine at a
profit. The parties owning the mine can
afford to wait until n time as decreased
freight rates. or an increase in the metal
market, will permit them to work it with
some hope Of remuneration for the capital
invested. Consequently the mine is closed
down indefinitely"