The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-07-11
IN LIBBY.
Great Activity in Mining in FIathead
County.

| of F1athead county, and particularly in
the Libby district, as there is the present
season. Not a day passes without wit
| Messing the departure for the hills of pros
| pecting outfits, and this has been going
on until now there is small army of
these venturesome spirits impatiently fol-
| lowing the snow line it slowly crawls
| along up the sides of the mountains The
| exceptionally deep SHOWS OF the past win
| Ter, coupled with an exceptionally back
ward spring, have so far kept many of
| those who intend to prospect through this
section from going into the hills. Even
| now there is many a section into which
they will not be able to go for some time
| yet.
| while the prospectors have been at
disadvantage on account of these adverse
| conditions, those who have owned claims
| in the different sections of the Libby dis
trict have been but slightly Inconvenience
| and in nearly all cases the inconvenience
has extended only to taking in the supplies
| and tools. On many of these claims work
| has been in progress for some time and
| many important strikes and new discover
| les have been reported.
In quartz mining the most notable event
! in the camp is the marvellous showing
which is being made on the SnowShoe,
where more than 100 men are now en-
room is made so that they can be
worked to advantage. The idea of the
management of this property seems not
to be the production of concentrates,
bur the further development Of the prop
erty. 1t Is an open secret that 1t is the
desire of the English holders of the
Snowshoe mine to put up 500 ton con-
centrator to be run In connection with
the present one, which has a capacity of
only $50 tons, but that the development of
the mine is not sufficiently far enough
along to justify this course. Mr.. Wynd-
ham Wynne, who represents the English
syndicate which owns this property, has
been at the mine for about month MAX
ing a careful examination of all the
workings and having maps made of the
developments. While there he started six
new tunnels and laid out considerable
other work which will take some time to
complete, and which will involve the ex-
penditure of a very large amount of
| money.
Charles w. McMeekn, the Snowshoe
company's consulting engineer, has sur
veying party now in the Leigh creek
gulch surveying a route for a f1ume to con-
vey the waters of that stream into Snow
shoe gulch, and 1t is figured that when
this is completed there will be water
enough to keep the concentration running
all winter. Heretofore there has been wa
ter only in the summer months, the mill
having to shut down during the winter
owing to a shortage in the water supply.
There is also water enough in Leigh creek
to run the 500 ton concentrator
The developments in the mine have been
of most gratifying nature. In the bottom
of the winze which is being sunk from
the No. !, or working, tunnel the ledge
has widened out to IA feet and the grade
of ore has increased with the width of
the vein.
AT the Buzz. Saw mine, owned by the
Libbys Creek Mining company, work is
being crowded to the utmost capacity to
get the concentrator running by the LIST
of September. All the other buildings are
now completed but the concentrator
building, and work will be commenced on
this as soon as the millwrights arrive
from Spokane. The f1ume, which is three
and half miles in length will be finished
by the 1st of September The bottom of it
has been laid the entire length and the
carpenters have now started to build the
sides. Work has also commenced on ,ne
new road from the mine to Libby which
was recently surveyed, and a telephone
line will shortly be constructed between
the two places.
In the Rainy creek district work is be-
ing prosecuted on some of the most prom
Using claims and the present season gives
promise of making very good showing
in that camp. On the Mary, which Is own
eb by Near G. Thomas, they have an in
clined shaft down 80 feet and they have
good grade of ore. The ledge is about
five feet wide and the values are princi-
pally in silver and lead
On the Silver Star owned by McCulloch
and others of Libby, they have got
crosseut tunnel in about 20 feet and will
have to go about the same distance furth-
er to tap the ledge. This calm carries
gold and silver and the surface showings
are considered exceptionally good The
Copper Antler, owned by Ben M. Thomas,
has a 95-foot tunnel which is being run to
tap the ledge, and they expect to encoun-
ter the vein at any time now. This will
give them a depth of about 30 feet and
will largely determine the value of that
property. On the ledge above they have
several open cuts. all of which have made
good showings. The Flagstaff tunnel is
now in about 100 feet and is being run to
tap this ledge. This is one of the biggest
properties in the district and it is expect
ed that they will make a big showing
when the ledge is cut.
There has been more activity in the
placers on Libby creek also, than hereto
fore, and there have been several large
deals recently made on the creek
The last of these was consummated
the past week, whereby the Leavenworth
the property heretofore owned by the
Conrad National bank and other Kalis-
pell parties. 1t is the intention of this
company to at once put in an extensive
hydraulic plant and work the ground on
a large scale. The new company is COM
posed of Senator Turner of Spokane and
others of the same place, and they have
plenty Of capital to make the proposition
a successful one.
Messrs. Greenwell & Vaughn, who mad a |
big strike last winter in the bank of gray- |
ell just below the falls on Libby creek, |
are now digging a ditch a mile and half |
in length to bring the waters of that |
stream onto this bar and have already |
completed about half mile of this ditch. |
They will not have it completed to do |
any hydraullcking this summer. however,
as there is too much heavy work to be
done on the ditch. When they started |
this work they were compelled to shovel |
ilVe feet of snow before getting down to |
the earth, and were working in snow up
to few days ago.