Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1893-04-22
Co-Operative Mining.

men who are interested in the cooper
ative mining scheme which was fornu
lated some weeks ago, assembled at the
court house last Wednesday evening to
listen TO and pass upon the reports Of
the committees which we're appointed
at the first meeting. The committee
appointed to examine the pyritic mines
in the vicinity of Custer reported as
follows
To THE MINERS AND CITIZENS OF CUSTER
CITY, ). ID.
We, your committee, composed of c.
w. Robbins, Ii. Il. Swain, &. w. Hitch
cock and ). ID. Porter, appointed TO ex-
anime the mines around and tributary
to Custer, for the purpose Of ascertaing
if any of such locations carried sut-
ficient amount Of pyrits iron, together
with the gold and silver, to pay for min
ing the same, and shipping TO Deadwood,
to be treated by the pyritic smelling
process, beg leave to submit the follow
ing report, TO wit:
For the purposes set forth above, we
have visited the following mines The
Z,
Omega, Gold Bug, Hope So, West Side.
We do not consider it necessary to give
the result of our tests oil all of these,
but only those which, according to the
assays performed by Mr. Porter prom
ise the best, all things considered.
First. The Omega mine, belonging to
ID. w. Webster and +. Rogers, located
about miles below Custer, on French
creek. Our assay on this ore obtained
from the bottom of 40 foot shaft yield
ed in
Gold 5 sic
Silver None
Iron pyrite 24p.c.
We find here timber and water in
abundance, and the facilities for cheap
mining are excellent. The draw back
to this property for the purpose under
consideration 10 first, it carries a very
large per cent ol silica, and second, the
owners will not consent TO part with
any part of IT in consideration of having
it Developed, but will furnish building,
supplies, tools, ammunition, ETC., To any
company or party who desire to Work
tie a.ine, aud the parties SO working to
have all the ore they take out. We re-
gard this as a very valuable mine, and
will pay handsomely with u mill on the
ground, as the ore will require crushing
and concentrating, but will not pay at
its present development to mine and
ship the ore i'll the crude stats as IL
comes from the mine. This, together
with the other conditions which We have
mentioned, places tins property beyond
our reach, and unavailable for our pres
ent purpose. The owaers Of this mine
are, we believe, well able to deYelop it
and put 1t on paying basis, and We
hope to see them do SO at no distant
day. We will say further that We do
not think that our samples was fair
representation of the value of the ore
in the mine, as the vein is a large one,
and the shaft from which the sample
was obtained has been sunk on the
outer edge, and nowhere near the center
of the vein.
The next property which we come to
consider rs called the Hidden Treasure
mine, cunsiotiug of two full claims 1900
IL in length by $40 feet wide each. 1t Is
situated ON French creek near the old
Dansby camp, about miles west OF
Custer, and belongs 10 Messrs. Johnston
and Barnhart, of Custer. Here We have
NINE of great promise. There are
four distinct veins running parallel
through the two locations. Our sample
was taken from the vein on the vest
side, which is probably the largest OF
the four. 1t has the appearance at the
surface Of being about 90 feet In width,
anu is situated in a very high mountain.
and seems to mark the center of the
upheaval of the southern Hills. Our
reason for saying this is from the OBJ
served fact that all the veins, and In
fact the whole formation on the east
side extending to the Harvey range
dips westward, while the formation ON
the west all dips To the east. The for
nation at this point lis exactly perpendi-
cular This. in our opinion, argues Wei
for the permanance OF the veins Us we'll
as for the richness and extent of the
naturalization. The development work
is as yet quite meagre. Our Sample
represents an average across face Il
about ~ feet, and was taken from an
open cut about IL feet wide and seven
feet deep. The gold value obtained
from this ore by our assay was gold
S4.I2 silver. none, while the per cent
age Of iron pyrite as obtained by pan
concentration is about D per cent. This
result IRON so shallow depth we con
slider most excellent. This ore of course
will not at the present stage OF develop
ment pay for mining and shipment t.
smelter. No Ole ever expected that II
would, for in that case the owners would
to-day bs shipping, and this examina'
tion and report would never have been
called for. The property would under
those conditions to-day be worth no,
less than $4,000. We think the ihdi
cations warrant the belief that the ore
will begin to pay at depth Of say 6O te
20 feet. The whole appearance of this
mine is very similar to the Keystone
on Battle creek. The formation is al.
most identical hornblendic schis
with tale and magnesium lime. with
very little quartz or silica. The ore ii
essentially pyritic ore, sulphite ore
and the iron, it may be safely relied
upon, viii materially increase with
every foot of depth attained. We rec
ommend this property ss well worthy
of your cooperative effort. The owner'
are both men OF family. They art
mechanics, and unable to spare an,
time from their daily ayocation to dew
elop their property. and for this reason
| they nave expressed their willingness
to part with the controlling interest In
consideration of shaft sunk to dsptt
of 100 feet, or its equivalent in tunne
| into the mountain. which ever may b,
thought best in the judgment of tn,
parties contracting to do the work.
Now in recommending this propert,
We, your committee, would have il dis
tinctly understood, that we do not 81
| recommend it with the belief that it i
! the richest mine, or tha highest grad
ore that we could obtain for your con
sideration, but that it is the best, al
things considered, for the reducing ap
pliances within our reach and tor tn
purpose contemplated In the call Of thi
meeting.
The other locations which we hav,
examined each have their merits. The,
are not lacking in gold, but are deficien
in the per centaee of pyrite, which l
deemed exquisite for this experiment
We forgot to say while describing tn
Hidden Treasure mine in the body Q
this report, that the facilities for econo
mical mining and milling cannot b
excelled. There being plenty Of timbe
on the claims, and all four Of the vein
traversing the two claims are crossed b
French creek, which affords an ampl
supply of water for all purposes tn
year around.
With this report we believe that W
have completed our work. We hope
will basfound satisfactory, and ask to