Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1899-10-23
DIAMONDS AND TIN.
IN Old Comstocker Tells of Austria
las Mineral Wealth.


Nearly all the older mining ,1en OF
the west remember, says the DenTtr
Mining Reporter Mr.. John Howell
a monument miner of the earlier JaTs.
and for some years largely int"rr5te1
in the famous Comstock mine his
name is especially familiar in Callfof-
mia and Nevada. Mr.. Howell is now
taking a fortune from the mines OF
Australia and his name has become as
familiar in that country as 1t was IN
America. His present field of operation
is in the north western portion of New
England (Australia) district, but it is
called the Ivernell field, because lver-
nell is the nearest town.
Although situated in the midst Of the
IyernelI fields of diamonds and tin,
Mr.. Howell is engaged in the develop
ment of what is there called the silver
lead mines, which are of complex
character, containing silver, Lead AMI
copper These mines are of comIara-
t:ytly recent discovery. Mr.. Howell is
part owner Of the Bora Creek lniT'e,
whe; : he is in personal superiutend-
anc.e of large development.
While on a recent visit. to Sidney he
vas interviewed by the Daily Telc-
graIh and, though describing the par
tfcular section in which he vas most
c,,, 4rned. he related fac-s of special
interest concerning the tin ana ia
rnond workings of Iverne'l ard f"ssy
cafrps.
rim mining at Tinghi, the i:ead cen
tar, he said has revived 0nd3r the IL
1uanre of the wonderful vance Iii
price. The tin found there is PRINCIPAL
ly what is known as al1uvial tin. NO
LII
discovered. but the tin gotten has peep
found more or less in creeks ard g.Ii-
lies and some of it has been found llr-
deriving the basalt. The great bulk,
however. has been taken from the sur
face of the ground, and they have not
found a really genuine tin lode nut
they have come across little veins OF
it in the granite, which do not go doW1
to any extent, but soon give out. Inc
alluviaI tin which they have SO 1ar
been working successfully, seems 10
have come from the general decoIapo-
sition of the granite in which these "
tie veins exist, the tin having been shed
off and found it's way into low places
such as the bed of creeks, ana SO on
AS to the nature of the country, ii can
best be described as granite ':ounrfY
oyerlaid in many places by heavy fields
New England district is certainly field
spathic and porphyritic granite.
Mr.. Howell believes the prospect OF
rriees of tin maintaining their present
level are good, as stocks are low IN
the principal markets of the world,
and the output has not increased, but
has, in point of fact, decreased, par
ticularly as regards the great mine OF
the Malay Peninsula, where they have
been getting very large quantities OF
the metal. 1 presume that this VIII De
an incentive to again work grounds in
the Ivernell district, which heretofore
have been considered valueless-
The diamond fields, Mr.. Howell
thought offered a prospect of great at
traction. There was a large extent of
diamond bearing country which had
not been at all well prospected- The
principal mines at the present time are
in Doggy Camp, which is about 16
miles from IvernelI. The precious
stones exist in the district in what is
known as diamond wash, which is
mass of round water-worn pebbles.
sThts seems to have travelled through
water-courses for a very long distance,
hut the source from which it comes
has not yet been ascertained. Zinc IS the
primeyal deposit of this diamond-bear-
ing wash, a second formation of basalt
mas taken place over it which in some
cases. overlies the heaviest deposits OF
diamonds. In other places the dia-
monds are found in beds of shallow
creeks.
Work in the silver mines of any ac-
count has been in progress less than
two years and now nearly the whole
country is being pegged out either for
diamonds, silver, lead or tin