Sierra County advocate. [volume] (Kingston, N.M.) 1884-1960, 1895-03-08


tailings with Frue yanners or sim.
liar concentrators in order to saw,
the base metal sulphides contanec
in the ore, and the concentrates
thus saved are generally shipped
to smelter for further treatment,
This method, while it has many
commendable points, is far from
being perfect. 1t can only be
applied prohtably to ores of com,
paraiively high grads and carrying
q large portion OF the gold in q
free state, and any change in the
character OF the ore, which occurs
| in most mines, demands change
IN the mode OF treatment
with its attending expense and
losses. This process also is rarely
adapted TO ores carrying over 10
per cent aud never to those carry~
ing over 20 per cent Of sulphurets,
nor to others having the gold and
silver ia combination with SONS
forms OF antimony or tellurium
There has always been more or
less risk in the selection Of a pro-
O SIS for working the ores from any
mine, and especially for the kind
that we are discussing, for usually
the ores from the upper workings
Of mine are entirely different from
those deeper and require entirely
different treatment. Tho aban-
doned mills one gees in every min
ing district are evidences OF tins
fact.
Lsrgo bodies of gold bearing
iron ryri;es are found in rearly
every mining camp, in fact this is
one of our most common mineral
combinations, but they are rarely
rich enough to bear the heavy cost
OF any of the methods of treatment
now 10 vogue, hence the demand
for cheaper and more perfect
system of manipulation, which
must be discovered.
For lack of a more perfect and
cheaply operated method many
mill men find it more profitable,
IN the treatment of many low grade,
somewhat refractory ores, to use
the present free milling" process
that Is, stamps and copper plates
with it's small cost of operating,
and to permit considerable value to
escape i'll the tailings, than to use
more expensive method that
would save higher percentage of
the assay value of the ore.
AS only a portion of the gold in
quartz mines is present in the free
state, the progressive mill man to
make gold quartz mining sue
cess, must depart from the old
beaten path of "free milling" and
amalgamation. He must look to
new processes and new methods to
make mines pay, for the mechanl
cal appliances and methods which
few years ago were held in high
es ieem because they gave ench
large returns from the rich ores
then worked, are now generally
looked upon as economically applI
cable only to a very limited degree,
aud the lodes of free milling ore
are getting scnrcer aud scarcer
every dag. The losses in working
gold ores, even with the best mod
ern equipped mills, are still enor.
nous and, even al the present day,
not more than 90 per cent Of the
gold contained in the ore which is
worked whether by ife4 milling or
otherwise, is saved. One cause of
the loss ID treating free milling
gold ores ss-.4y-+.s.se-yT---+s- mt -yyifr :
serizea Gae enough 10 li6erate the
puticIss OF gold that they can be
affected 10y tie mercury. II the
ore il not reduced sufficiently fine
to accomplish this object it would
have been better were it to have
remsined in the mine, SO far as its
beng a matter Of profit to the mill
mau.
.lfhen one stops g sons@Sef Sffat
five dollars-worth OF gold in ton
l. 4 Ia