Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-05-17

CliNcI, l1HC ouHCCo
Gold, fine ounces $3.50. ........ 233, 1z6
Lead, fine pounds .............. 2O,344,75O
Their alu is given as follows:
Copper, at $16.75 per cwt... $40, 941, 905 "A
Silver coinage value) ...... q, 1865 So
Gold .......... .............. 4,olS,lo6 30
Lead, at $4.75 per cwt $500. 1904 33
Total ...... ...... 80. 49,. SOS, 49, 1907 "a
The gain is more than 33 1-3 per cent
in the value of the production over 1898.
There was an increase of nearly 28,50O,-
900 pounds in the production of copper,
and this mean a gain Of SIS. 600, 900 in
this metal alone.
The report says: at will be noted
that the most attractive features in the
production Of gold in Montana during
1899 were furnished in the mining of cop
per ores and in the results achieved by
the cyanide process. Since the employ
ment of this process in the winning of
gold from tailings and low grade ores
on a profitable basis in Montana, the
annual returns from this source have
each year been practically double those
of the preceding year,, until it now
reaches the large figure given above. 1t
is not likely that this ratio of growth
will be continued in the immediate flu
ture, but it is safe to predict that the
creditable production already achieved
will be maintained, n hat eventually
a greater and more profitable field for
cyanide, in the winning of gold, will be
opened in Montana, the Importance and
extent of which cannot at present be ac-
curately predicted.
1.-The gold taken from the cupriferous
ores, almost all of which came from the
Butte district, was greater in quantity
in 1899 tina the same yield had been in
1898, due to the larger tonnage of ore
mined and the subsequent greater pro-
duction of the several precious metals
contained.
1.-The diminished yields of gold in sew
eral of the classes of ore noted are ex-
plainable in various ways. The decrease
in the amount of gold from placers has
been a small but constant one for several
years. Because of the unsettled condi-
tions existing some years ago many who
had followed quartz mining turned to
the washing of gold from the gravels
that abound in the state"
In accounting for the increase in sill
yer production Mr.. Braden says that it
was largely due because of the re-
newal of operations by properties that
had been idle for years, the most impor-
tant new producer being the Granite
Bimetallic of Philipsburg.
Relative to the copper industry, Mr..
Braden says:
Copper is the paramount feature of
! the mining industry in Montana. More
than so per cent of the total values won
in the state during 1899 came from the
mines at Butte in the shape of gold, sill
Yer and copper. The effect on condi-
tions, both local and general, is enor-
nous. While the number who find direct
employment in mining and reducing the
copper ores cache into the tens of
thousands, it is not greater than those
indirectly benefited by the manufacture
and sale of the necessary supplies for
| thacn ayon1nvaC ond fnJ tho wines Tho
towns of Butte, Anaconda and Great
Falls, having a combined population of
more than So, 600, exist solely to minister
to the mining and smelling Industries
connected with copper mining. But
more important than is all this great
advantage to Montana and to the COM
mercial life of the country, is the effect
on the industrial progress of the world.
"The maintained high price for cop
per throughout 1899 proves that the de-
mand for the metal is genuine and the
supply limited for immediate needs. This
latter fact, too, is proven in that while
the production has constantly increased,
there has been no accumulation of public
stocks, and shows that the Industrial
consumption of the metal has at least
kept pace with the production. Nearly
one-quarter of the worlds supply OF
copper in 1899 came from Montana. The
mines of this state, therefore, have made
j pOSSlUic Will THEIR output OF copper the
expansion of the electrical industry, es-
pecially in installations for power trans
missions, of ship building, and of marine
engineering. besides many other indus
tries, among which are the manufacture
of structural materials and convenience
for domestic and public use. But for the
Montana copper to make the supply as
large as it was in 1899, the advancement
in all of these branches would have beer
delayed, and in some cases even prohib-
ited." +.
The mining of lead in Montana is vet
in it's infancy, the amount of the metal
secured in 1899 being less than for sew
eral years previous.
In the gold product Madison county
shows a heavy decrease from the yield
of 1898. Madison county's total mineral
output for the year was $64S, 254 40,
against nearly q million dollars for 1898.
Deer Lodge county's output was $685.
O19.16, and Jefferson county 81, 36S, 227 81,
both counties showing a decrease. Gram
lite county placer and quartz mines pro-
duced So, 735, 426.16, a gain of nearly Sc
per cent over the production of 1898.
Lewis and Clarke county produced 81
a77, S67. 46. the output of gold being the
largest of any county in the state during
the year.
Meas!ser oounty's production was s42c.-
4S6. So: Missoula county, $50, so. 81, and
Park county. Si22, 900. Is.
! Silver Bows output for the wear is
Valued at $3.50. .sa2.S2. Butte's produce
ION af nfsciouc metals since 1882 is val
,ssS a; $685.: ,aea.M