Lewiston teller. [volume] (Lewiston, North Idaho) 1878-1900, 1896-10-08
PLAIN Talk on Ore Testing.

There are men in every line of busi-
ness who differ greatly upon the prin.
ciples underlying that special branch
and the methods under which ii should
he conducted. Some are honest in
their differences, while others are vii.
ling to sacrifice their real opinions to
any matter ofexpediency which prom
ises more ready and full returns of cash
to their Golfers. There are assayers
who believe the prospeclor should be
encouraged" by overstatiny the value
of his ore and who hubitually give
small re:urhs, from a "trace" to u few
dollars per ton. upon ore which they
know 10 he totally barren, thinking by
this fraud 10 keep the miner ut work
for days, or perhaps months, upon II
prospect which will yield nothing,
spending valuable time and money to
no purpose save that Of giving few
dollars worth of work to the assayer.
Perhaps the prospectOr sends samples
to two different assayers, and one re-
turns him "no trace" while the other
gives him q value Of u few dollars per
ton. The biggest return is almost In
variably accepted as correct, AMI The
"no trace" man is charged with fail
ure. Some assayers say it makes no
difference whether they return "no
trace or dollar or wo Il ton, because
in neither case Is the ore Of any value
I claim the contrary and assert that
the accura " Of an assay of ore of very
low grade is much more important
than that Of an ore carrying hundred
dollars per ton, for the reason that In
the first case difference between mo
t,ace" and a dollar or two may decide
the expenditure Of hundreds or per-
haps thousands of dollars in develop
ment; while In the latter the ORE will
be shipped anyway: and We have all
learned that the smelters will pay for
nothing but the actual contents of the
ore. Then, too, these returns OF value
from valueless ore are often result of
accident or carelessness IN the hands
Of an assayer who has every intention
of being honest. A particle of rich ore
in the grinder left from the last sam.
pie, a sailed crucibie. loaded cleaning
brush, q dirty mixing cloth, fiuxes
containg a little precious metal; these
and other matters Of carelessness, un.
cleanliness or disorder about the labor
atory are continually making the diff
ference between reliability and WORTH
lessness in the result Of assaying. The
general public Is not competent to
judge of the qualifications Of an assay
er any more than those of physician.
Any man may buy an outfit for hun.
dred dollars aud stick out his shingle
Chemist and Assayer," when In real
ity he knows no more about the cor
rect application of the prin ciples I'M
DERIVING the trade he processes than
the man in the moon. Such Instances
are more common than many would
believe, and sometimes people of in
telligence who would at once realize
the foolishness Of hunting out the
cheapest lawyer or doctor will give
their patronage to such an assayer
just because they can get his services a
little cheaper than those OF man who
is competent In his profession and
who realizes the Importance Of taking
pains.
A good assayer IL often charged with
failure because his customer Is igno-
liant OF the first principle of sampling
ore. Sometimes piece OF rock is
broken IN two, the halves sent to
different assayers, widely VARYING re-.
suits are obtained, and one of the op.
orators Ia charged with all error, when
IN fact both are correct, and the results
are chargeable to the fact that the met
al wss unevenly disseminated through
the sample. 1t il well to remember
that like results can only be reasona.
bly, expected when the sample /, finely
crushed; thoroughly mixed and care.
fully divided. The careful miner will
treat his sample in this way. grinding
As hne rs his circumstances will permit
mixing aud dividing carefully, and in
every case reserving a portion OF the
sample so that check assay can be
made II desired. As the best men are
liable to an occasional mistake no con.
sentative miner will expend any large
amount OF labor or money uoon the re-
suit OF single assay, hut will base his
future work upon the concurring re-.
suits Of two or more reliable assayers.
The best practical test Of the quaiifi-
cations OF an assayer is his ability to
check with the sMeiters on their ship
'hent pulps. aud II you are In doubt
with whom to trust your work 60 to
YOUR frip 0A~ ln 4. 80, .,r<> .,t>s.~,o.o o.,l