The Anaconda standard., 1899-08-08


base ore there was Is going out The
mine has been developed by about 800
feet of tunnels, and the vein is
blanket one the prevailing character
istic of that section.
Ed Murphy, the manager of the COM
pany, who is on the ground at present,
came down from the mine on Sunday
to superintend the loading of the mill
machinery and reports that the very
best progress is being made and that
already the foundations for the mill
have been excavated and that as soon
as the sawmill can get the material
out that there will be a place pro-
say at what date he expects to have
the stamps dropping, but is using
every means at his command to crowd
the work
Digging a Half Mile Tunnel.
The South Bend & Montana Mining
and Milling company, a company which
was organized last year under the laws
of the state of Washington, for the
purpose of operating mines in the Lib
by district, has undertaken a big job
on it's placer ground on Libby creek
in the nature of long tunnel, which
has been started to tap bedrock at a
place which will enable them to thor
oughly prospect the ground before put
ting in an extensive dredging plant
This tunnel will be at least a half
mile long, and when completed will
enable the company to sink shafts and
drift from them to determine the rich
ness of the ground. The bedrock on
this ground is very deep being at
least 40 feet, and how much deeper
has never been determined on account
of the water driving the men out of
the shafts before it was reached. This
company owns 100 acres of this placer
ground, and if the expectations of the
management are fulfilled there will be
extensive plants put in some time next
season.
The ground owned by this company
extends for a mile and a quarter along
the channel of the creek with the banks
on either side. There are also several
old channels of the creek running
through this ground and immense de-
posits of the yellow metal may be
found in them. This company has
taken up one feature Of placer mining
in Libby which has never been even
experimental with in this section. He
intends to save the black sand, which
forms the residue in the pan, after
everything in the gravel except the
gold has been washed out. Repeated
tests of this sand show that it carries
a high value in gold with no trace
of any base. 1t is also very rich in
iron, which gives 1t its great specific
gravity, and renders it very valuable
to the smelters as a tiuX. Enough of
this black sand to make smelter test
will shortly be shipped. and if the re-
suit is satisfactory Whitley concentrat-
ing tables will shortly be put in to
save this value, which has been al
together lost in placer mining opera
tons heretofore in Libby creek.
The plan of this company is to put
in a Jeffrey dredge to work their
ground. This is an endless chain
bucket dredge, which is operated in a
boat Ga feet in length. The boat needs
only enough water to float it and can
be warped up or down stream. The
ladder supporting the chain can be
regulated to any necessary depth, and
the buckets deliver their load of gravel
to a grizzly, is feet above the deck of
the dredge.. The buckets are capable
of raising up bouldsrS weighing a ton
and the power is furnished by a steam
engine on the deck of the dredge. The
grizzly stops the larger rocks and they
are dumped on the bank from chute.
The finer gravel dropped from the
grizzly into suice boxes, which are
supplied with water from a centrifu-
gal pump under the, boat. The dump
from the sluice boxes is also on the
bank and the channSl thus left free
from all distractions. Three of these
dredges are already in successful op-
Grafton at Bannack, in this state.
They are working on ground that was
prospected and abandoned 80 years
ago, and which to-day would be with
out value if this dredge had not been
invented. These machines are adding
$4,000 per week to the worlds gold
reserve at comparatively small eX-
penditure. The dredge will be capable
of handling 700 cubic yards of gravel
every 10 hours.
There is a vast amount of gold in
Libby creek No one has ever doubted
that. 1t is not sacked and ready for
shipment, and the first cost Of get
ting ready to take it out will be con-
siderabl but when this is once sur
mounted a rich reward awaits the
courag ageous investor. ~
Levenworth Mining Company.
Further up Libby creek from the
ground owned by the company above
described the Levenworth Mining
company has a force of men al work
opening up some placer ground and
getting ready to handle it on a large
scale. They have just compleced the
digging of a three-foot ditch for a
distance of more than 800 feet through
the solid bedrock for the purpose of
getting fall to the ground, and in a
few days will have the water running
through the sluice boxes. This COM
pany was organized recently in Spo-
kane and has acquired the placer
property lately owned by the Conrad
National bank and others of Kalispell
and Libby. Senator Turner of Wash
ington is one of the organizers and
principal owners in this company, and
most of the capital TO operate the
property has been put up by Spokane
parties. The property. is being man.
aged by F. w Cunard, an old Cali
fornia placer miner, and he is enthu-
siastic over the outlook. not only for
the success of the venture which he is
managing, but for the outlook for
mining the whole of Libby creek on
the larger plan of hydraulicking, and
there is no question but that this is
the future of the placer mines on Lib
by creek. 1t is a safe estimate that
there are several millions more of gold
in Libby creek than has ever been taken
from it, Notwithstanding the fact that
nearly all the best ground along the
channel has been worked.