The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-08-03
A Helena MAN HAS A MINE
It Is Located Near Manila, Philippine
Islands-Assays Well in
Conner

It is the opinion Of Former Lieutenant
Asa F. Fisk that the mineral wealth of
the Philippines will some day surprise
the world, says the Helena Independent.
At present there is large amount of
prospecting being carried on. and as
soon as the islands are thoroughly pac-
flied, capitalists will begin the develop
ment of the immense mineral deposits
OF that region. This is the opinion of
Asa Fisk, and he intends to back his
opinion. Last night, after spending
few weeks visiting friends and relatives
in Helena, he left over the Great North
ern for Seattle, where he will sail Aug.
{ on the Rio Jun Mura for Yokohama,
and from there go to Manila, where he
is interested in some copper properties.
Together with Arthur Brown, who
was formerly assayer in the Great Falls
Boston & Montana smelters, own. a
very promising copper property no far
from Manila" said Lieutenant Fisk last
night. "Our mine is as yet undeveloped,
and We do not know how large vein we
will have. The ore is good, running
from Al to As per cent pure copper, and I
feel confident that as soon as we de-
velop the prospect, we will have mine,
OF which we can be proud. Mr.. Brown
Is at present on the roperty, which is To-
Gated about So miles from the river. and
I expect to be there by Sept. IL. will
take supply of mining tools with me
from Seattle, and we will begin active
operations as soon as possible.
Our mine has something of history
attached to it. 1t is the same vein
which was worked for many years by
an old Spaniard, up to about six years
ago, when he was killed. He had
number of natives employed who took
the ore out of the ground by very crude
methods, and afterwards smelted 1t in
a small Mexican furnace. In this way
the crude copper was extracted, and the
old Spaniard sold this metal to the ma
tives who beat it into cooking utensils.
and other articles of household use. 1t
is said the old man made a mint of
money during the quarter century which
he spent in this way.
1.-The ore from our mine will have to
he shipped to the United States for
treatment, for the present, at least. We
will probably ship to some of the coast
shelters, although if suitable freight
rates can be secured the ore will be
brought to Butte, where the facilities
for handling copper ore are very much
better.
OH the WNOle, L COnSlueF the mineral
outlook of the Philippines very promis-
ing. At present there is great deal of
prospecting being carried on. a number
of the boys of the First Montana regi-
ment remaining in the island to prospect
Large bodies of comparatively rich ore
are found near the surface and while
none of these have been developed. it
looks to me that when depth is attained
in them, the mineral output of the ISL
ands is liable to surprise the world.
There has been some placer gold found
Gil the island of Luzon, but it has not
yet been discovered in paying quantities.
1.-THE length of my stay in the Orient
will, of course, depend on what our mine
develops into but I expect to be gone
at least three years. I intend to go over
what is known as the northern route
trip, and will stop at several interest
ing places for a few days. From Sc
attic I will go to Yokohama. and will
probably spend a week in Japan, and
then go down to Shanghai for a few
days. I will visit in Hong Kong before
pOinu n Nanilan