The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1897-04-06
Idaho'~ siche.t Mineral Zone.
lRoOert Bell in western Mining World.

ny lOI INNING JOURNALS III bue
more prominent mining states
and districts to brag and boast
more or less about the extent,
richness and supreme superior
ity of their particular mineral
belt or zone, and while they fire.
quently advance some very chin
erical ideas, the subject is worthy
of emulation and is usually q
very interesting and instructive
guide to the mining investor and
prospector alike, tending as it
does to simplify the apparent
complex subject of mineral
distribution, which is not so
complex after all but follows
certain well-defined principles
and causes wherever successful
mining has been carried on
throughout the world.
The writer spent several years
in several of Montana's principle
mining camps, and has a very
high appreciation of her wond-
erful metaliferous resources, but
never looked upon them as oc-
curing within the limits of such
q well-defined zone as described
by a leading article published in
the World of December 10, 1896,
which stated that to take a map
of Montana and draw thereon a
line for an axis through Helena
and Virginia City. Make this
axis 100 miles long, then mark a
strip of territory 30 miles wide
on either side of it and you will
have a track about 100 miles
long by go wide, from which has
been produced all the copper,
most of the lead, three-fourths of
the silver and nine tenths of the
gold output of Montana, amount
ing in value to many hundred
millions of dollars.
| would like to tie onto this
great zone and endeavor to show
that it does not terminate with
its southern limit at Virginia
City. Montana, but makes a
slightly reverse curve to the
west mo sharper than the main
Rocky mountain range itself does
a little farther north) so as to in
clude the old camp of Bannack,
Montana, then continues in a
well-defined southwesterly course
through Lemhi, Custer, Idaho,
Elmore, Boise, Canyon and Owy-
hee counties in Idaho to Virginia
City, Nevada, q distance of 600
miles.
Take large map of the Unit
ed States, like the one issued by
the United States land office, for
instance, and draw a line for an
axis from Bannack City, Mon
tana, to Virginia City, Nevada,
then mark off a strip 30 miles
wide on either side of it, and
you will have strip of country,
coursing southwest, about 900
miles long by go miles wide, that
carries continuous string of
rich old placer and lode mining
camps that have produced about
800, 000,0 900 worth of gold and
silver bullion for every 100 miles
of its length. Within this strip
of territory will be found the
productive old camps of Ban
mack, Montana, Gibbonsville.
Leesburg, Loon Creek, Custer
and Bonanza, Seafoam, Atlanta,
Banner, Placerville, Idaho CITY.
Boise, DeLamar, and Silver City,
in Idaho, and Wilbur Creek, Bull
lion, Star City, Dun Glen, Col
conda, Unionville and Virginia
City in Nevada, and numerous
other important camps forming
one OF the longest and most
clearly defined precious metal
zones to be found anywhere on
the American continent, that
possesses some very distinctive
geological and neurological
characteristics throughout it's
entire length, a more thorough
understanding and development
of which will probably result in
the production of several times
the value Of its already magnifi-
cent record, and form a field of
mining activity that will continue
to increase for long years to
come. For instance, it must take
something more than a mere
geological coincidence toaccount
for the occurrence of large bod
les of ore contained within the
walls of true igneous formation,
having a general course north
east and southwest, and produc-