Arizona republican., 1899-06-09
Astonishing OutCrOppingS in the
 Briggs District.
THE COPPEROPOLIS VEIN
"A Description of inc properiy and Operations of the Arizona Hin- ing and Smelling COmpanY-Pro- jeGfed Visit fo inc, Crown Point. inc Rough Rider-Camp Of Colonel BrOdie.

Briggs, Ariz.. June 7.-(Special cor
 respondence of The Republican, J.
 Leaving Briggs at an early hour this
 morning I have today ridden over one
 of the most richly mineradzed sections
 of the territory have yet visited. I
 expected from what had heard of the
 district to see something we'll worth the journey but I was altogether sur
 pTised at the number and extent of
 the outcrops of copper veins with
 which the silver Bradshaws within
 radius of half a dozen miles of Briggs
 are thicllly scanned.
 Chief among these outcroDs is that | of the great Copperopolis vein which
 I rode over for five and a half miles The full extent, however, of this inn
 mense surface indication of the min
 eral wealth below is upwards of seven miles, and the outcropping of the vein can be traced, is indeed plainly visible, for almost the entire distance.
 About two miles north by east of Briggs is a shaft now being sunk on a spur of this vein by the Arizona Cop per Mining and Smelling company, an association of Detroit capitalists. This shaft is now down 125 feet in the hanging wall of the vein, which they expect to intersect at about POO feet.
 From two levels driven in the vein at about fifty and 100 feet above the shaft several hundred tons of high grade oxidized ores have been mined and are now on the dump. The shaft it is expected will cut the vein at about the water level when the character of the ores will undoubtedly change ana become sulDhides. Mir John Baker, the general manager, who started these operations in March last, has re- turned to Detroit on a visit and in his absence his son, MT. Fred w. Baker. is in immediate charge The Arizona Mining and Smelling company owns seven claims or 7.5OO feet on the big vein, their claims being known as the Alta, Bessemer, Swansee, Monarch, Crevice, Jones and Atlas.
 The Copperopoiis property, compris- iEg eight locations on this mammoth vein, immediately joins the Detroit company's property at the southwest end. These eight claims, known as the Malinda Jane, Mammoth, Patanka, Copper Crown, Cobre Grande, Copper Glance, No. 1 and No. 2, are owned by Dr. J. M. Ford of Phoenix and extend for 12,O00 feet along the crop. Dr. Ford also owns fourteen additional claims located upon spur veins along the trend of the big vein. In addition there are nine mill sites also located and included in the CopperopoliS group of mines. The development or this group consists of prospect shafts and open cuts upon the various veins. The largest amount of development has been done on the big vein in the mine known as the Mammoth and con- about 300 feet of levels and drifts. This big vein is undoubtedly the larg- est outcropping or surface exposure of any copper vein yet discovered in tie territory and along its entire length is a continuous ircn capping ranging in width from 100 to 600 feet The vein has a bod strike cutting all of the formations along its course at nearly right angles, and some of it's remark able features are the occurrence Of great ore lenses or siwells the most pronounced of which occurs at a point where the vein traverses the Nam moth mine. Here is an ore Tense of more than 600 feet in width and 1,50O feet in length, and this entire Tense is true gossan or the ircn cap of a copper Veln being composed of vein stuff more or less heavily impregnated with masses of hydrated peroxide of iron in a sp0ngy condition.
 The whole mass is copper stained and traversed by numerous bands of copper ore in the form of oxides, red and black, with more or less arsenicaI copper, and these bands of ore are from few inches up to four and five feet in thickness. The well known of copper sulphide ore to become leached in the upper DOT fled, and the condition of the iron cap ping of this vein points with as near as can be reached in mining to rich base or sulphide ore at or near the water level
 The great width of the outcrop and the extreme and continuous length of this vein makes it veritable phenom-