Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1899-06-09
The Scientific Prso,;sslpc,eE,c,,stor..'

The Scientific Prospector.
The questiq1is frequently asked.
why are nd6soiSnti6caIE educa.l
ted mining engineers the discoy-i
erers of more rich mines?' Briefly.
|thezanswer is because they do not
prAnpA& ~ psywhtedly men who
exr-thr, a-ivatHage Of t-chinical
secisytiic training in mine,
rAlogy, metallurgy, geology and
engineering are better qualified 10
prospect inie'ligentll than those
whn1atd no had lIe,c advantages
but usually such men are otherwise
employed and have little time to
prospect, even il 30 disposed. H
A technical educalion without
practical, experience does not fit a
man for even such an humble occu-
patton as pro pcc,ing. While a
prospect rNhose chef reliance is
in his muscle and not in his tech
meal tduca.i0p. may accidently
stumble upon a valuable ore de-
post, he is out looking for mines,
and as all rocks look much the
san.e to him, ii does not concern
him whether Ne picks up quartz,
limestone or ~ fragment Of some
|ergptipe rock, for either may carry
precious metals and his Ignorance
of the character of the rock is his
saffg'Nido } AL miners. whether
technically educated or not, are
prone to search for mineral de.
poslts, veins, float, etc, similar to
those they arc familiar with. TO
the Comstock miner the ideal mine
lis found in the bonanz,s Of the
Comstock; the Homestake miner
looks for the broad zones Of quartz
and schist colored red by oxidiza-
ton; the Leadville miner is in
search Of a contact Of lime and por-
phyry; the Californian wants black
slate and greensboro; the Butte
miner thinks granite fine forma-
ton for mineral; the Arizona pros
|pector will camp with a rotten,
|iron-stained porphyry dyke; the
development Of the Cripple Creek
mines has created a demand for
ahonolite, and in tie Black Hills
If South Dakota tie discovery oi
gold'near the Ragged Top has made
arrowhead flint" the proper ma
terial in which to seek gold; the
miner from Calico. Call, is always
on the lookout for peagreen breccia,
in hope Of finding gold in chloride
again; the digker from South Afri-
ca is satisfied with a conglomerate
reef and Recognizes one at sight;
the miners familiar with Silver
Reef Utah, know that some white
sandstones and diab-clay shales
contain high.grade silver ores.
And SO, in the endless variety OF
form and occurrence, the miner
from each region looks for the
characteristics with which he is
familiar. While the prospector
may locate anything with which
the notion inclines him, he locates
much that is worthless and doubt
less passes much that is valuable,
where the techinally educated min
ing engineer would probably recog-
nize the Worthlessness or the value
of any particular occurrence were
his, attention; directed to it; but, as
previously stated, he is not
prospecting. 1t is rare that the
technically educated, experienced
mining engineer makes a mistake
by condemning valuable mine,
thqpgh ha mayfadmitlUEsibilitie
for Some dhteveloped mines wl1ic4,
never materialize. In all unde-
YelpFedy mines tlierelis uncertainty,
hid thhE ilSnAent of chance cannot
be disguised. Often a too great
Willingness to take this risk results
disastrously. When the Common
wealth mine i'll .Cochise county
Ariz., was in the prospective stag,
it wasivisiledF by technically edu
Gated mining engineer, who, after
an examination, purchased thu
property for a large sum. Thos'
familiar with the history of TIL
mine know no mistake was made
The existence of telluride ores ricl
in gold in Cripple Greek. was mad
known through the discovery O
float by q technically educate,
Fp1illingI Fengihter,l I'whp recognize'
tAeiteahride.a III WI Ill III
Since then, gold is found in pay
.|iug quantities in such a variety G
ffocRs, Of 80 MANY different geologi
cal ages, and is associated wit
such a variety of minerals, it ma
be considered unwise to pass an
rock without attention as unworth
of notice. Within the persona
knowledge of the writer gold an
silver occur in the United States i
almost every kind Of rock know
to science, with the exception {
feldspar-basalt and rocks Of tina
extremely basic type and obsidian
or vitropheres, and rocks of tn
extremely acid type. Undoubte(
ly quartz is the mineral most con