Gilpin observer., 1900-03-01
HOW TO WORK A MINE.
Carl Wulsten Insists That a Vertical Shaft
Should Re Sunk.

all sides from prospectors, mining men
(par excellence, as the Frenchman says
and would-be mining experts. This
bon mot is applied to sinking discov-
cry shafts upon discoveries of mineral
bearing veins or outcrops. The greatest
fallacy that can be, says Carl Wulsten
in Mining Reporter. Surprising the
prospector follows the mineral in its
tortuous strike, dip, pitch and condi-
ton; with probably Il couple of hun
dred feet he will have IL shaft which
has become utterly impracticable for
extraction and which has become IL
source of continuous extra expense,
worry and frequent accidents.
l was once put in charge of Il mine,
the Leavenworth. which was $50 feet
deep, with II working shaft which had
followed the mineral" l found six
teen different slopes in the shaft, and
eleven rollers made of iron pipe, over
which the steel hoisting rope had to
run. Before had been in charge forty
eight hours | had put in four new roll
lers, and had to make two spices i'll
the steel rope had three buckets up
set in their transit and two pieces of
wall plates dislodged in the shaft. And
as the owners of the mine did not want
to spend any extra money upon the
mine | could not sink n new and per
pendicular shaft upon the really good
mine. The consequence of this tortuous
work shaft being the only avenue of
ore and rock extraction was, that all
/ could do, | could not make the mine
produce a cent over and above working
expenses, and within II month | had
to shut up the mine for good A good
mine gone to the dogs for want of n
practical perpendicular hoisting shaft.
in different way than by sinking
shaft upon the vein and following ii in
all its differences of strike. dip and
pitch of the actual ore vein. When the
vein of mineral has been discovered
and found to be of value by following
it. say, for thirty to fifty feet in depth.
carefully sampling and assaying the
extracted ore, so as TO be sure the dis
covery will pay to develop further in
depth, do not stop until solid walls or
permanent confines of the ore vein
have been reached. Then get n com
petent surveyor to survey the diScov-
cry. BY strike and dip let him make IL
profile of your 800 feet length of
claim center line. Peg your 800 feet
properly and number the pegs consecu-
lively from one on. Plat course and
profile properly. Now establish the
course of the vein as discovered. say
by making four or six cross cuts upon
il mt four or six different places ON the
l.J00-foot claim, so as to be able to eX-
pose the vein plainly and he able to
obtain the dip of the vein and its walls,
if there are any, which can be properly
read by cyclometer. Now conduct the
course line as a perpendicular line and
plat upon it your four or six openings
lnd their respective dip. Such plating
will very correctly show where the ore
vein is upon the i, 800 feet length of the
lode claim.
Thus 1t will be seen that the vein, in
maintaining its straight course for the
whole length of the center line of the
lode clneim when projected according
to its dip forty-five degrees south from
perpendicular, over the profile contour
of said 800 feet of the center line of
the lode claim, looks upon the ground
plat tortuous-like. and still upon the
| level Is straight. Now there is no diff
ficulty for perpendicular shaft to 90
| down hundreds of feet, for at every
! 100 feet the engineer who has To do the
surveying of the mine lin German.
Observation-Disclosures can very easily
tell how far each cross-cut at each 100
foot level has to be made TO cut the
vein. If it maintains its course and dip.
II ntl, the tTOSS-cuIS 1T every IttIOOl
level will tell. To do this correctly the
engineer has to establish the true me-
ridian Mt or near the work shaft on the
surface permanently, and carry such
true meridian underground to each 100
foot station in the perpendicular work
shaft.
| The competent engineer knows that
! this procedure is troublesome and diff
| cult to attain. hang down four plumb
DObS, one in each corner of the shaft
| Then connect each corner Of the shaft
/ on the surface by transit with the true
/ meridian established on the surface
\ correct triangulation has to he made
from the three stations of the true me
! ridian with the four plumb bob sta
/ tons on top Of shaft. That gives me
two cross-courses and two rlght-an-
gular courses for each plumb bob sta
ton below. Thus rectifying the last
/ irregularity in measurement and course.
A collmator is also II very desirable
instrument for use In this work. This
instrument Is II transit accessory which
can easily In adjusted to any irst.class
mining transit. 1t nsures absolute cor
RICHNESS. After the mining surveyor
has carried the true meridian by true
angle measurement into each level sta.
ton OF the mine he can very cnsily es-
tablish guide marks for the cross-cuts
and drifts, so that the mine foreman
OF shift boss cannot fail to cut the ore
vein ut every level and thus insure cor.
rect connection with the perpendicular
shaft ut each level. That insures n
solid hosting shaft. permanent elcva-
ton. no trouble nor extra expenses and
IN economical extraction. But If the
hosting shaft Is sunk In the ore body.
following. the mineral what terrible
things may happen! We have such an
example In the great BassIck mine In
Custer county The work shaft OF this
great bonanza was sunk right in the
big mineral deposit. the ore was stopod