Adams County news. [volume] (Ritzville, Wash.) 1898-1906, 1898-10-19
NEWS Of THE MINING CAMPS
ITEMS FROM THREE STATES.
Another Great Strike in the Famous
lie Roi-Big Strike in the stand
ard-SiIver Smelter In Montana
starts Up Agnfn-The South Half
Doing Well.

A big strike has been made in the
famous Standard mine at Wallace, Id. On
Thursday night the crosscut from the
first shaft level, at a depth OF 200 feet
below the long tunnel, struck the ore IN
the big vein.
Since then the miners have crOsscut
nine feet in amost solid galena, 90 per
cent, of which is clean shipping ore.
This is the first level opened below the
perrnanent water line in this mine, and
gives assurance of the continuity in depth
of this great ore chute. The strike Is
100 feet below the surface. The ore
assays from Ito 10 per cent in lead,
and from SO to 6l ounces in silver. This
is even better than the fine ore bodies
above, from which the Standard people
have paid their great dividends running
from $55 900 to $4,000 per month.
, The mine, under the management OF
John A. Finch and A. b. Campbell, Is
now employing about $50 men, and IS
shipping about 800 tons OF ore per day.
The new ore body will be opened up as
rapidly as possible, and shipments VIII
then be increased.
The company has ordered a new hoist,
and it will be installed about the first
of December. 1t will be large enough to
sink 500 feet below the long tunnel level,
and will cost $4,000. The cylinders Will
be 6Ox2O, with Corliss valves, Blake con
I densers and all the modern improve
ments. 1t will sit in large chamber,
80. feet wide, "a feet high, and 80 feet
long, at depth from the surface OF 9oO
feet.
strike i'm the LIE ROf.
Another m0mentous strike has been
made in the lie Roi, this time i'll the
slopes midway between the 800 and G0C
foot levels. Eight feet OF ore has been
uncovered, averaging Is per cent copper,
$50 in gold and 10 ounces in silver,
which, according to present prices OF
copper and silver, gives total value OF
$lOO 10 per ton. With copper at IL
cents, the copper value alone is $44 10,
and the silver, at 60 cents per ounce,
is worth SO. The new find is the rich
est that has ever been discovered in the
mine with the exception of the ore in the
Ridpath stope, which carries about equal
values.
The recent discovery was made in
peculiar way. The ledge at the point
where the ore was found is about 10 feet
wide, and ore in it occurs in streaks. De
yelopment of the mine had been carried
on in one of these streaks, which had
been stopped for width OF 20 feet. a
large body of low-grade ore was remoy
ed on the footwall side of the stope. Last
week Superintendent Tregear put ma
chine at work prosecuting the low
grade rock, which proved to be about 10
feet thick, when it gave way to an eight
foot body OF splendid gold-copper ore ly-
ing close to the footwall.
Need Concentrating Plants.
Every mining man who has visited
the gold belt of the Occur d'Alenes since
quartz mining became an established IN
dustry has commented on the lack OF
improved concentrating machinery, al
though all our ores are base enough al
ter a few feet depth is attained that 4
large part of the values can not be saw
ed on the plates. This backwardness Is
the more noticeable because on the south
fork the silyer-lead miners have the
most perfect machinery to be found any
where in the world.
Until less than a year ago the mills
had nothing more effective t.lan bumper
coneentrators-the crudest concentrat-
ing implement known-nothing else hav-
ing been tried except in the jenkins and
Daddy mills, where canvas plants had
been put in with very Indifferent sue
cess.
Last spring there was Whitley van
ner added to the Idaho pant, but the mill
was shut down about the same time, so
there was no opportunity to test it. In
Colorado it has proved very successful
on gold ores and recently the Granite
Mining Company put one in its mill
seven miles east of town.
Rich Ore In the Wonder.
As the claims on the south half are
opened up they are showing results that
are far superior to their surface promise
II. Z. Shafer returned from that section
and exhibited some assays which he as
serts are about an average OF those that
have been obtained from ores taken from
:, the Wonder, property owned by >. K
Graves and George Wooster Of Spokane
and himself. The development on thu
Wonder consists Of two shafts and some
surface work. Samples taken from sur
face cuts assay sl6.s4. From the bottom
of an 1S-foot shaft the ore assayed $50. 81
in gold and four ounces in silver pei
ton. From the. bottom Of l0-foot shaft
. In 10 feet Of solid ore, the assays show
ed value Of $50 .53 in gold and " 81
+ I, in silver.
The Wonder claim is near the 25-mii'
post ON the San Poll river and abou
three miles south Of the Davis camp
There are several other claims that hay'
equally good surface showings but tn
development upon them is very little
Taken as whole, that region is
remarkable one" said Mr.. shafer. :"
consider that it cannot be surpassed j
either quality or quantities Of its mincra
deposits.D
On. Big Greek.
In lie Yankee. group ON Big creek !;
Id..ho. the Blake brot..ers have a respect
able fortune. They have been workii
there for years, occasionally shipping
carload of ore. Their ore body is smal
and they have never felt justified in pu
t;rg an any considerable force eonten