Omaha daily bee., 1899-02-07
MINING IN The BLACK HILLS
Rich strike Of Gold Ore Made at
Depth of ZOO Feet Upsetting
Some Prevailing Theories.

| DEADWOOD, S. D.. Feb. 6.-CSpecial) y
| A rich strike Of ore was made this week
in the Ulster mine at Ragged TOP. owned by
| a. j. Smith and associates. The strike was
made in tunnel which had been run into
the mountain 200 feet starting from near the
bottom Of the gulch. The ore came from 4
vertical and II is very rich samples as
saying as high as 5000 a ton gold. The
same vertical was found on the surface at
the top OF the mountain, and it has been
worked there for a year or more by leasers
carload OF ore Is being shipped each week
from this surface-working at the present
time. This ore is the richest refractory ore
mined in the Black Hills. The general aver
age OF this Ulster property is between $50
and 800 per ton and some shipments have
been made which averaged $3.50 to a car.
Until the strike made ;tlis week by A. ].
Smith, which is about 25O feet lower down
than the surface workings, it has been the
general opinion that the ore plnched out at
about the seventy Ave- foot level The dis
covery has created considerable OF a stir
In the district. In the Ragged Top camp
there are no producing mines at lower
depth than 100 feet. At this depth the ore
seems to loose its value. The camp Is dug
up all over with small gopher holes"
which have produced rich pockets of ore
The Smith discovery OF ore on the Ulster, to
many, proves a theory held that after the
barren streak OF rock is penetrated rich ore
will be found again. 1t Is similar to the
way the Holy Terror, in the southern hills,
was opened up.
Ragged Top camp is producing about
seventy-fve tons Of ore per month, all of
which comes from the surface. Great things
are expected from the deep mining of the
Kilpatricks, who will soon have their hoist
ing plant completed at the Dacy shaft, which
is to be put down to lower quartzite. The
fact that the surface ores are so rich in
gold leads is the opinion that on the lower
ore contact very rich ore bodies will be en-
countered. The Fitzpatrick brothers will ex-
pend 100000 If necessary, in order to fully
demonstrate their belief that the ore bodies
exist on quartzite.
A mile south of Ragged Top camp is
Calamity gulch. The Spearhsh Cyanide COM
pany has lease on the Metallic Streak
lode of several claims and about 10000 tons
Of ore have been mined thus far. The ore
is low grade, with an average value Of $40
&. ton, gold. The company last summer
leased and Bonded the old stucco mill at
Spearfish and converted it into cyanide
works. 1t has been running very success
fully for six months on the Calamity gulch
ore and a high per cent of the value in
the ore has been extracted A carload of
ore was shipped from the Crown Hill mine
to the plant for test run and it was found
to be especially amenable to the process.
There arc in the Grown Hill, Squaw creek,
Anna creek and neighboring camps large
quantities of this low grade ore, running in
value from IS to s14 a ton gold, which
could be shipped to Spearfish at fair profit.
Talk on the various copper prospects IN
the vicinity Of Deadwood is heard on every
hand. The two large eastern companies
which have purchased extensive tracts of
mining ground on the copper ledge extend.
ing south of Deadwood are making exten-
sive plans for mining the copper ore on q
large scale. 1t Is stated that within three
months the Deadwood G. Delaware smelter
in this city will be using Black Hills copper
ore exclusively as fux. City property
has already commenced to appreciate In
value, especially in the vicinity of City
creek, owing to the prospect Of the work in
the copper mines. There is a great de-
mand for stock in the copper companies,
which were organized a few weeks ago and
the companies report enough treasury stock
sold already to put them on good financial
basis.
There Is a large amount OF work being
done on Elk creek in Pennington county,
in the vicinity OF the Uncle Sam mine. The
district has had bad name for several
years, ever since the Sam closed down A
short time ago Archdeacon Ware Of Dead
wood became interested in the Uncle Sam
property and commenced to organize com
pany for the purpose Of starting the old
mine to producing ore He has interested
number OF Chicago men in the enterprise
and with the controlling stock held by him
self strong company has been effected. A
large stamp mill stands on the property,
which came in the early days from the
Esmerelda mine at Central City and the
Big Missouri mine north of Lead