The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-01-26
ZINC MINING At THE WEST.
PecuIinrities of n Growing Industry
in Missouri and Kansas.

From the Age of Steel.
Zince is just now the monarch of the
metals mined in this region, because of
the immense prices which the metal COM
mands; because of the vast deposits OF Il,
and i'm the production of this ore Southeast
Kansas and Southwest Missouri leads the
world The ore principally mined Is
technically known as sulphide of zinc or
sphalinte and is found in several varieties.
but Is distinguished chiefly by its color,
and known as Jack, resin jack and black
Jack. It Is the most abundant ore in the
district, and the price paid for the product,
ranging from 1923 20 $36 per ton, makes
mining 1t a highly profitable business.
Zinc ore proper is of somewhat Irregular
distribution, sometimes found In thin
sheets and others in massive bodies, sone-
times in great chambers and apparently
natural cavities of the earth, and again
buried in a peculiar clay-lilxe formation.
commonly called Sewage" sometimes
thoroughly disseminated through brecci-
ated rock, which necessitates the use of A.
volume of high explosives In sucessfuuv
mining II. The reason for the peculiar
conditions and occurrences of these zinc
ores are chiefly assignable TO structural
considerations, and to the nature of the
rock of the region in which il Is found
Much of the lead ore is found with the
zinc ore, and has to be milled TO separate
the lead and the zinc, the same as wa
crush the rough ore to separate the zinc
from the waste rock
Lead Is mined in two forms One Is the
ever-familiar galenite, or sulphlde Of lead.
the other the cerusite, or carbonate OF
cad. commonly termed dry bone" aud
the latter is generally a direct product az
the decomposition of the former. ana Itlsa
silicate is found near the surface.
In disrupted formations, such as prevail
mere, mineral deposits are likely 10 occur
at any depth and on any level OF the for
nation, and so 1t often happens that che
Old abandoned mines, upon being reopenea
are prohtably exploited upon higher levels
or above the workings exhausted Years
ago. Other mines which were supposed
10 have been worked out are now yieIdin0
rich returns upon being worked at
lower depth than the old excavations. IN
some mines the entire formation To tho
greatest depths exploited has been found
replete with ore so profusely dlstributed
that the removal Of the ore bodies leaves
the formation completely honeycombed.
Deep mining Is just now an all-absorb-
ing topic, and the revelations which this
deeper prospecting is making seems Ia
Justify fully all OF the growing faith IN
the future Of the district. Years ago the
mineralogists said that there must be bet
ter ore bodies lower down. But the miners
were willing TO let well enough alone. ana
they continued to gopher around near
the surface without adding to the labor Of
lifting the ore from greater depth There
was another reason which helped 10 con-
fine the mining TO shallow workings. Wa
Ter, with the primative appliances, was a
great bugaboo. Now the Introduction of
better pumping plants has shown that Il
can be controlled SO as not to interfere
with lower workings. In the Eleventh
Hour" mine az Carterville. drifting IN FIVE
feet Of ore at a depth OF 245 feet is now
going on. The drills have developed the
presence of ore 300 feet down. The rule.
so far has been that the percentage Of
zinc In the ore increases in the lower
workings