Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1896-01-31

tention of tapping at a depth o
600 feet the rich ore chute shown
in the upper works. From tn,
lower tunnel the ore can be run
10y gravity on trestle across the
creek and dumped directly into
the ore bin in the mill building
from thence to the rock clusher
and thence to the battery. The
tunnel is splendid piece of work
manship, timbered throughout in
the most massive manner. Pend
ing its extension along the vein,
ore for present use in the mill will
be taken from the upper tunnel,
where it can be quarried out and
loaded into wagons and hauled
down hill to the mill at slight cost.
The ore from the upper works will
average S24 per ton in gold. 1t is
charged with iron oxides and
sulphurets, and tests that have
been made show it to be 75 per
cent. free milling and % per cent.
of concentrating ore. An arastra
was erected some years since and
several tons of selected ore
run through it which yielded $40
per ton in gold. About so tons of
this selected ore is now on the
dump and will be the first to be
worked in the new mill, which
will give the owners a little ready
money to prosecute further de-
velopment work and put in a
larger milling and concentrating
plant. The mill machinery is
now all in place and the fire built
under the boiler, and the first
crushing of ore will begin as soon
as the ice is out of tho bitches in
the coming spring. A further
sluicing off of the top dirt is also
projected to uncover the ledge on
the surface and thus ascertain the
exact length Of the rich ore chute.
The Deadwood ditch crosses the
ledge and the upper tunnel is
started on that line. A fiume will
be built at this point and the
water used to do the sluicing, as
the widest and richest part of
the vein lies Immediately below
the ditch, so that it was impolitic
to do any underground work there
on account Of seepage and Jack of
material for boxes and fumes.
But with the sawmill on the
ground the water can be diverted
from the soil by fume and the
best part of the ledge exposed
at small expense. There may be
and doubtless are many more val
uable ledges in Elk City, but they
are not yet developed to show up
so much good ore as is now in
sight in the Cleveland mine. The
property has been in the hands of
its present owners for six years.
Several parties of old-timers who
knew of or suspected the existence
of the ledge in early days have re-
turned in the last six years from
California and elsewhere with the
intention of prospecting for and
locating it; and in two such in :
stances good cash sum was
offered for the property but de-
clined.
The west extension of the Cleve-
land is called the Relief, and dis
covery shaft sunk 70 feet west of
the lower tunnel shows a very
strong body of SIG gold ore. This
location crosses Relief creek and
continues up ON the north hill side,
where it fed a small gulch which
was worked and proved to be very
rich in early days. The exact To-
cation of the ore chute on this ex-
tension of the vein is not yet pre-
cisely determined. The east ex-
tension is known as the Crystal
which crosses the south fork of
Relief creek and shows strong
groupings wherever prospected.
About 600 feet south of the Cleve-
land is another and parallel vein
on which are two locations, the
Mountain View and Sunrise, own
ed by the same parties. No work
to amount to anything has been
done on these claims, as it is the
intention to open them through
the lower tunnel on the Cleveland
The groupings, however, indicate
strong veins of q more free milling
character of ore than that of the
Cleveland vein. About 500 feet
north of the Cleveland is another
parallel vein on which the com.
pany have made one location
called the Bah.