The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-12-29

that A. w. McCune is one of the mos
; fortunate mining men to be found i
, this western country, and that if h
: keeps on in the same line that he ha
been following for the past ten year
he will soon be able to buy a city Xix
Salt Lake just for a plaything."
why, what has Mr.. McCune beel
doing?" asked the reporter.
well, I will tell you," was the an
swer. For the past II years Mr.. Nc
Cune and his associates have beef
mining up. in British Columbia in thu
Kootenay country, and it is eviden
from all that l can learn that the.
have some of the richest mines in tn,
world in that region, and from ont
OF these alone they can derive a ne
income or profit of $1,000 a MONTH
THAT sounds rather big" said the
scribe
Il know it does" replied the gentle.
man, but 1 have just seen a letter
from there that corroborates every
thing that l am about to tell you, anC
there are a number of prominent bust
ness men in Salt Lake who have also
seen this letter and who are bestowing
hearty congratulations upon Mr.. Nc
Cune, and they are also envying him
his good fortune, although he richly
deserves it
'At SLOGAN, in West Kootenay dis
trict,'' continued The Herald's inform
ant, MIR. McCune and w. l.. Hoge OF
! Anaconda, Mont, own a group of four
! mines called the Payne group, which
embraces the Payne, the Maid of Erin,
the Mountain Chief and the Two Jacks
claims, and the strong ledge of high
grade mineral can be traced through
| the entire length of these properties.
/ These claims are located on the two
I sides and over the top of steep hill,
and tunnels and drifts from both sides
/ have opened a body of very rich min
eral for a distance of 1000 feet, and
as work progresses the ore zone is get
ting much larger. The shipments from
tins mine Tor the month of Decent Der
will be LOCO tons, which will net the
owners a
HUNDRED DOLLARS A TON,
which means the handsome sum of
100000 for the month. The mine is now
in shape so that a Acton shipment
can be made daily without any diff
Guilty, and the beauty of the thing is
that this can be kept up for an in
definite period, and that every foot of
work that is done on the property
opens up that much more virgin
ground from which to derive an in
creased revenue. This is a magnificent
showing for one month, and there is
no telling what the showing will be
for the next so days. as at the mine, al
the Maid of Erin tunnel, there are now
1000 tons of ore already sacked for
shipment that will carry even higher
values than the consignments during
the month
At this the reporter gasped a little
in his surprise, but the gentleman was
not half through with his story and
continued as follows:
Il took the liberty to copy some Of
the assays that the superintendent of
the mine inclosed in his letter, and l
know that they will surprise you. In
the Payne tunnel, in the face of
which there is fine body of ore, the
galena assaying IS per cent lead and
215.S0 ounces in silver to the ton while
the carbonateS showed values of $3.50
per cent lead and 1920 ounces in sill
yer. In the Maid of Erin tunnel, where
the body of solid mineral has widened
out to &c inches in width, the hard
galena ore assays 1880 per cent lead
and 237.25 ounces in silver to the ton
and the carbonates give returns of 48.40
per cent lead and 1880 ounces in sill
yer. This, of course,
IS VERY RICH ORE,
and the pleasing feature of the whole
thing is that the lead pays for all the
expenses of extraction, shipping and
working charges, leaving the silver
clear profit, and it is often that the
ore carries values of 1000 ounces in sill
yer to the ton, so that YOU can see
that the estimate of 800 net to the ton
is very conservative one, and it will |
not be long before the mine will be
opened so that the extraction of 1000 |
tons of ore a month will be nothing !
but childs play, as work is being |
pushed from both sides of the hill and |
within so days connections Will be |
made between the tunnel in the Payne !
ground and the Mountain Chief tun-
mel. The Payne tunnel is now in a dis
lance of 410 feet while the Mountain
Chief is in 440 feet The latter is
about no feet above the Payne tunnel,
vertically, and 1t will take about 800
feet more of work before they will meet
at the dividing line, when they will be
connected with an upright or a Wine,
go in at one side of the hill and out
1t the other, which will facilitate OPP
as the ore from the Mountain
Chief workings can be handled through
he Payne tunnel and then to the rail-
Dad, which is but 200 feet below the
mouth of the tunnel. The mine
IS WORTH FIVE MILLION TO-DAY,
it is worth a cent, and it is the great
st producer in British Columbia at the
present time, without a doubt; and it
S a conservative estimate to say that
n the Payne claim there is now all of
hree millions in ore in sight
But this is not all that Mr.. Nc
tune has in Kootenay," continued the
'entleman above referred to. "as he is
Interested in the Idaho mine in the
anne locality. This is another of the
eayy producers of the district, and
he net returns for ore sold for the
Month of November, according to the
tatement sent in by the superinten-
ent of the property, amounted to $37,-
1872, and this handsome sum does
ot include other big shipments dur
ng the merth from which returns have
OF been received The ore in the
IDAHO is also very rich and nets the I
wners of the mine $3.50 ton, and this
roperty is shipping about a carload J
ore a day at the present time. ]
THE NICKLE PLATE.
The Nickle Plate is another rich ,
roducer that is owned by Mr.. McCune z
nd Mr.. HOge. but this mine is located I
{ Rossland in Trail Creek, to which f
lace railroad has just been COM {
leted- The ore in this mine is very S
Ugh in grade and there is no doubt S
Ut that this will prove to be one of L
lie lbonanZas of the district a
Still, continued the interesting mar a
ator, this is not all. as Mr. McCune
interested in SO mines and claims r
the Kootenay region, and with the a