The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-19
La SALE COPPER MINES.
Michigan Syndicate Will Build a
Smelter In That Section.

GQQ6lI6T
A special from Telluride, Colo, TO
Denver News: Captain ]. w. Angel,
representative of a Michigan syndicate
of capitalists, which is operating in the
copper fields of the La Sal mountains,
has been in town for the past few days
negotiating for the purchase OF addi-
tional property The sale was cOnSum-
mated yesterday. 1t involves a group
comprising nine full claims, 800 by 1,50O
feet, located on Disappointment creek,
in the western part of San Miguel
county, a short distance this side of the
property in South creek where the syn
dictate has been developing for about a
year. :. Il Robinson, J. W. Ward and
w. Jensen, well-known cattielnen, are
the grantors Captain Angel will at
once erect buildings, lay in provisions
and supplies, and put a force of men
to work and within two or three weeks
VIII begin regular shipments. He has
developed the fact that the La Sale
mines, farther down the river, have an
almost inexhaustible quantity of rich
Gre, and he says the Disappointment
veins are quite as promising as were
the best of the La Sale claims on the
surface. Mr.. Angel has made a thor
Ough exploration of the La. Sale region
and fines the copper belt to be about
thirty-fiVe miles in width by eighty in
length. The veins, he says, are as per-
feet true assures as are to be found
anywhere. A numbe- of members of
the syndicate are from the Lake Su-
perior copper regions, and all pro-
nounce the La Sale section far more
promising than that of upper Michigan.
The territory covered by the copper
veins is greater in extent and the ores
very much richer. The higher-grade
mineral now being extracted from the
South creek mines Is Skinned Cr1Ida 10
sneiters. Some of the ore runs as high
as 20 Der cent copper per ton. Several
cars have run 3S1s per cent copper and
BIZ ser cent silver. Forty-nine tons
shipped TO Chicago paid a handsome
profit, Notwithstanding the long haul
TO deliver it to the shipping station and
the long distance from there 10 Chi
caso.
An Observation-Disclosures lot was
shipped to Liverpool, England, which
paid d. profit and commanded great
deal Of attention among mining men
on that side OF the ocean. The mines
are without doubt the highest-grade
copper properties in the United States
They are very advanUag eously located
for easy, rapid and economical devel-
opnIent, in fact, nature has already de-
VelCped them in a general way, by
draws and gulches, better than any
human agency could have done. The
ldIAGsl VEN Is tiilil1 4Gel VIDE ana
from this size they diminish to three
feet in width. In addition to copper
and silver the mineral runs small val
ues in gold. The ore is also free smelt-
ing.
Mr. Angel visited Detroit last fall
fer the purpose Of consulting with the
stockholders relative 10 building a cop
per matte smelter, and it was decided
TO begin the construction of one imme-
di2fplV nTsOn Angell'S return IN
Colorado.
The smelter is being built on La Sale
creek. close to the mines, and viii be
ready for operation in about two
months. 1t viii have a capacity of
from thirty to forty tons daily. As
there are thousands of tons of ore in
sight. Ar. Angel is under the impress
sion that the capacity of the plant will
be largely increased in the near future
if it does satisfactory work. The ore
can be delivered from the mines TO the
smelter for so cents per ton. and ore
that runs as low as per cent copper
can be handled at q profit. a consider
able quantity of the ore is practically
solid copper and silver, running from 65
to 20 per cent in the former metal and
300 to goo ounces in the latter. there
fore no advanta;a viii be gained by
mating this character of the product,
and after the smelter is put in opera
ton Il viii continue to be shipped to
SHELTERS in its crude state. Several
large specimens have beer brought to
town in which there is practically no
rock at all.
There has been much talk the past
season about the La Sale copper mines
that seemed to be exaggerated, but all
doubts as to the existence Of large bod
les of rich ore and strong veins in place
have been overcome.