New-York tribune., 1900-12-09
CORE IN SIGHT.
THE METHOD OF DETERMINING THE
PROBABLE VALUE OF A MINE


With The news that John Hays Hammonds
proposal to take charge of the Ihdepeiiue
gold mine had been accepted by the London
owners came the report that the iline ~
been worked out" This statement had been
n,a7a ,,a,, times before and much doubt exist
ed in the minds of interested parties when MI
Hammonds latest report was received This
document showed that the property Whleh lor
long time yielded 40 per cent DIVIDEND On
large investment was still rich in ORE ana ca
pable of producing large profits Mr.. HaHlihOhu
said that the ''ore in sight warranted MN IN
guaranteeing a dividend of 10 per cent, or
S4SS 600 and that would leave about sooO'oVo
out of the years profits 10 be used toward the
further development of the property and locat-
ing ore beds.
The phrase "ore in sight is one that Is wen
understood by people who are interested In the
mining business, but it is misunderstood Oy the
average Iayman. The is not in sight on
the surface but it's existence is established Dy
series Of operations which in many in
stances exceedingly difficult, expensive and Ia
boriOus
Speaking on this subject. DIR. A r. Ledoux
said: There is no way to determine the existence
of gold ore it's quantity, quality or anything
about it unless gets on three sides of the
deposit. and even then there is an element OF
uncertainty about it, Ore in sight is what has
been found after blocking out certain section
of ground. The blocking Is accomplished In
various ways in keeping with the nature of the
ground. Thus. by sinking shaft of 20 feet in
width 100 feet into the earth and then running
a level from this. say, 200 feet. to another
shaft the same depth and width the first.
and then taking samples of the or rock
from all parts of this block, one would have
good idea of the yielding qualities of that par
ticular block This block would be 100000 cubic
feet or about 10000 tons, and the assays from
the four sides the shafts. the tunnel and
the surface would he the gold in sight The
centre of the block. which cangot he reached
until actual operations begun might yield
much more than the assays indicated. and on
the other hand it might be found worthless or
barren rock. In cases where the block of 100
by 2U0 by 20 feet would be deemed insufficient
for determining the value of the mine, another
block of similar size may be laid out below or
beyond the first, and by this series of block
ing the value of the mine as a gold producer is
estimated. 1t is we'll known fact that gold is
often deposited in shoots that run in obIique
and tortuous directions from the surface and
one must be posted on the geology of the coun-
try "a arrive at a correct estimate Of the value
os the land that has been blocked out. \ shaft
for instance. may run for 100 feet through rich
ore. and another parallel shaft 2O0 feet away
may not strike pay ore until depth Of 100 Z et
or more has been reached. The next shaft 2JO
feet further away may have to be sunk stiIl
deeper before the valuable rock is reached, and
this would indicate that the shoot runs diagonal
ly from the surface. This is only one of the many
phenomena in the matter Of sold veins that pre-
sent themselves to the miner and no set rule
can be followed in order to locate the valuable
ore To determine its extent. But the term
gold in sight ore in sight Is usually ap-
piled to the block 10 the series of blocks
which have been examined and assayed on three
sides"