The Marble times and Crystal silver lance., 1900-10-26
CRIPPLE CREEK AND THE MILLS

The new mills and smelters now in
course of erection says the Denver Re
publican, are relying on Cripple Creek
to furnish the ore of Il combined ca
pacity of about LOO tons ii day. This
is the best evidence that the builders
are relying on the output of the camp
being doubled in tonnage at no distant
day. The plants now in successful op-
Grafton are putting through on the ay-
erage of |. 800 tons daily, and each is
receiving up to its full capacity. 70 be
added soon are the Union and Dorcas
mills at Florence. the Portland chlorl-
nation and the Standard slnelter at
Colorado City and the Rocky Mountain
smelter at Florence. The first named
will be in operation by the first of next
month"; the DorclS is said TO be COM
pleted and ready TO start. and ground
has been broken on the Portland plant.
The SmelterS are being built with the
least possible delay. and in II few
weeks both will begin receiving ore.
1t is worthy of note that while with
every new mill the cry goes up that
there will not be ore enough to go
around. there has not been mill built
since the camp opened that did not be-
gin enlargementS MS soon rs Its process
was found to be adapted To the Cripple
Creek ore. The heavy increase i'll the
capacity which is to come within the
next two months gives rise to this old
cry and this time there would appear
10 be some cause for propoundlng the
question as to where the ore Is to come
from to keep them all running 1t is
an extraordinary heavy Increase which
comes at this time.
But there need be no fear that the
mills will fail to find all the ore they
need. The milling capacity has been
too low for months. and the result of
that shortage has been to raise the
average of the ore treated by forcing
the operators to hold back their lower
grade. This result has been apparent
for IL long time. Scarcely any of the
mines have been shipping lower than
$50 ore. Willie in the early days Of the
operations of railroads the so tonnage
was considerable. The sliding scale of
treatment charges has made the mills
favor the higher grade, and that Il
shortage in The treatment capacity has
practically permitted them to say what
class of ore should be shipped them.
In consequence, the principal producers
have confined themselves TO working
their higher grade shoots, whereas. if
the mills We're short. and the market
was open for $50 ore. they could all
make additional tonnage of this grade
with but very little expense, and they
will do so as soon is the congestion of
the mills is relieved.
Another thing which has helped to
discourage the mining of low grade is
the fact that the two railroads to the
camp have been getting all the bust
ness they could handle, and the sliding
scale of freight charges made it to
their interest to haul the ton or ore for
which they received the most money.
There will be another outlet ready in
the Short Line at about the same time
the new mills are ready to start This
will help to revivd the mimi" of low
grade. 1t is not so very long ago that
the burden of the Cripple Creek re-
turns was $40 ore. There was much
said of the enormous bodies of such
grade, which the camp was to mine as
SOOIi as it got mills and railroads. The
public, which watches the monthly es-
tinlates of the output, has become con
vinced since that all this talk was un-
warranted. but the district has been
mining higher and higher grade every
year, and the great returns from $50
rock remains practically untouched in
the mines. But the day must come
some time. even if it should develop
that it is not now at hand. If it is
longer delayed. ii will be because the
higher grade again crowded ii out by
absorbing even this later heavy in
crease in the milling capacity.