Custer weekly chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, S.D.) 1890-1931, 1897-06-19
Mining Items,


ii. NJ. Chance came in the latter part
Of last week to have tests made upon
ores taken from various claims located a
few miles west of this place, continuing
his visit two or three days. Results,
said to be favorable, were not definitely
given out.
Harry Francis came in Wednesday
from the Island mine at Four Mile in
which he is interested. He reports
their mill running steadily with salts
factory results. Weekly claan-ups are
made, the last one, occurring early in the
week, being the best made since the
mill has been in operation.
John Bueter came in Saturday from
his mining claim on Lightning creek.
the Caledonia, which he is developing
with favorable prospects of success.
His persevering energy has been =
theme of public remark, and it is ar
IDENTIFY hoped by his numerous friends
that he may soon reap the rich reward
he SO justly merits.
A mine located about five miles west
Of Rockford, discovered by August
Oberg, is being developed and is max
ing a good showing, says the Deadwood
Mining Review. A cross.cut of 10 feet
has already been made in ore and
neither wall has yet been found. The
ore &c &c n nrph1an1n pottea all 81 n
depth of six feet assays from s. to So
per ton, free milling. This is undoubt-
eddy one Of the finest bodies of free
milling ore in the central Hills, and
will, We are informed, stand q thorough
examination.
vANADIUM.
The presence Of vanadium in the ores
Of the Island mine at Four Mile has
been known for some time, but il was
not until last Tuesday that the owners
of the property were advised as to its
existence in payable quantity. Being
DESTROYS of determining the amount and
value of the %vanadium contained in
their ores, the owners selected a number
of samples, and took them to Rapid
City, where they were submitted to a
careful test at the state school of mines.
The following letter received on Tues
day gives the very pleasing and highly
satisfactory result
STATE SCHOOL OF MINRs,
RAPID Cry. 5. d., June Is, 1897.
Mr.. II. II. FRANCIS, Custer City
DEAR SIR:-I have analysed the sam
pie of ore left by you, for vanadium.
and find the sample to contain 1904
ounces of metallic vanadium per ton.
The value of this metal is rather diff
cult to ascertain it is quoted in Elmer
x Amends price list at So per gram, or
Sl60 per ounce, while the chloride of
the metal is quoted at 40 cents per dram,
or $500 per ounce, thus indicating the
great difficulty with which the aia.al ia
reduced. Respectfully etc,
j. G. SMITH,
For the School Of Mines.
THE BONANZA GROUP.
A CHRONICLE reporter visited the
above group of gold claims, which con-
sists of four full locations and two
fractions, a~ggregating five full claims, on
Saturday last. The group is located
about three miles west of this city, and
is owned by the Buttcrield brothers of
this place. Several hours were devoted
to an examination of the various OPEN
ings made upon the property, which are
very extensive, and which, at a moder-
ate estimate, must have involved an
expense in labor, powder and steel, of
not less than from $4,000 to $4,000.
The ore body upon the Bonanza claim,
upon which the greater part of the work
has been performed, is exceptionally
massive, being fully 200 feet in width.
The character of the ore is quartz of q
refractory character, but we'll adapted to
smelling treatment. Its value, as indi-
Gated by more than one hundred assay
tests, made by the most competent as
sayers in the country. is such as to
warrant a handsome margin Of profit in
its reduction, having in no single
instance given q return of less than fye
dollars per ton, and in a number of
instances the tests have run into the hun
dreds. A conservative estimate of the
average value of the ore contained in
this monster vcin would be from seven
TO ten dollars per ton.
This group of claims are among the
Oldest locations in the district, having
been located away back in the seventies,