The Arizona sentinel., 1900-10-03
LA FORTUNA MINE.

Tn the early days of gold discovery of Califor- mia, I94s, when the news reached the god miners Of Sonora, there was a general exodus of the ahie-bodied men who were able to get away northwest to the new Fl Dorado in California, ar5 the state e Sonora contributed mary men to the mining population. They took the old rocd. which was known as the "canliro real, '' from EsUancia and Altar northwestward, nearly parallel to the gulf, following the mountain ridge known as the Gila range, just north Of our present boundary. The road led to Yuma, and in passing the Gila range they went within a few feet or yards Of a very modest outcrop of quartz which no one seemed to consider of sui fcient value to merit any attention. That hum bic and Insignificant quartz outcrop is today the outcrop of the great Fortuna mine.
 '; is situated on the westward slope and nearly at the base of the range Of mountains called on some Of the old rlars the Gi;a range. This trends north westerly and reaches nearly to the Giia river at the point now known as Blcisicll. The railway in it's course to Yuma passes around the northwest point of this range. Where the rocks are exposed at that point they are mostly of homogeneous granite, of gray color and wCathered ont ct the surfaces, which, however, are much pistcd as if by decomposi- tiCn Of some soft substance. Bct beyond these IcT--lying hills of granite there are big oatcrCpS Of rock which to the experienced eye indicate stratifed formations They are indeed strait 6ei. for the bulk Of the range souihwarl and SC itheastward is composed Of regular stratified, laTnin2ted, hard gneissic rock. use the word 'rsneissic" in @ very general and comprehensive sense, for you can describe these rocks with much more accuracy if you loosiize them as misa slstes and hornblendic slates, with inter- poations of cuartzite beds, especially in the upper part of the series, with green stains, sup po>ed to be stains Of copper and decomposition of copper ore, which they probably are al- though there are peculiarites of color, and SC Ic yellow colors, which indicate to me the presence of some other mineral, possibly, tel lnriuIn, which by its decomposition has given these oOlorS. The fact remains, however, that the bullion from the upper part of the vein con- tai IS more copper than it now contains il the lover levels of the nine. The workings which haze been carried on here have developed a coalition Of things which could not be foreUold from an inspection Of the outcrop. The vein CT lude appears to he a chimney, not Q con5ino- GUS ore body, nor 6 continuous vein with an ore bouy chimney CT chute upon iu. As re- nG -ked the outcropping points indicate that tho is no very great longitudinal extension of thi> ore body.
 The vein is remarkable first in this limited out cror; second, in i5s continuity in depth, it's con- tianed satisfactory richness, and the promise il givos Of enrichment by further veins dipping int. it on the foot-wa}l sides
 Same facts in regard to the product or yield: Tha ore pafd from the surface. The product or orc extrarrad lD tO the lime has beer abcilt Sf tons Ter day. which is sent to the 2C-stamp mill a,h stamp of which crGshes abous tons ir every ty7cnty-four hours. The extraction is chiefly and largely by power drills. force Of so men is employed hy this mine and mill Tha greater part of the labor underground and mining is done by compressed air. The lode, was told, was to l5 feet wide. This large space permits the use Of power drills to great adva1tage. In the material hoisted there are fragments of the wall rocks, some of which art thrown out. but many pieces pass through the mil. They would pTe:c- to reject most or this wad rock but it would take more time and cx pelse than it does to mill it. and there is chaaae of some of it containing gold. From these 80 tons ct rock crushed daily the average product is perhaps S+S DOC worth Of gold pel month. Some months they have produced d, high as 5g0G0.
 h the region of the Fortuna mine the forma tions appear to be wholly of mica slate anC hornbiendo slate. win some areuGceouS layer like old r,'caceous Sd .lstones and QuartziteS The mine is SUrroundai by black honbendit slat-s and nlica Slates dipping >oUthw8rd anC scuihwestward at an a-rle of about i5 degrees ard .arSe states arc very evenly laninat-d ridge after lidge Ta~ i, apparently con