Albuquerque daily citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1895-1903, 1901-03-07
HOW TO VALUE MINE
Experts Method Of Estimating the
Worth Of ''Ors In Sight"
Always an Eieaest of vscsrtaisty
Even Usder the Most Advas-
sso Investigations OF
Deposits.

With the news that John Hays
Hammond's proposal to take charge
of the Independence gold mine had
been accepted by the London owners
came the report that the mine had
been worked out This statement
had been made many times before. and
much doubt existed in the minds of
Interested parties when Mr.. Ham
mond's latest report was received,
says the New York Tribune. This
document showed that the property
which for n long time yielded a 40 per
cent. dividend ON "a large investment,
was still rich in ore, and capable of
producing large profits. Mr.. Ham
mond said that the core In sight" wnr-
rantcd him in guaranteeing a divi-
dend Of ten per cent. or sass, 1000, and
that would leave about 100000 out Of
the years deposits TAI I've used toward
the further development Of the prop
erty and locating new ore beds.
The phrase "orc In sight" is one
that is well understood by people who
are interested in the mining business.
but Is misunderstood by the average
layman. The ore Is not '"in sight" on
the surface. but its existence Is es-
tablished by a series Of operations
which nre in many instances exceed
ingly difficult. expensive and labori-
GUS.
Speaking on this subject, DIR. A. Il.
Ledoux said: There il no way to de-
terminc the existence OF gold ore, ito
quantity. quality, or anything about
itunless one gets on three sides Of the
deposit. and even then there Is an ele-
ment Of uncertainty about II. Ore in
sight ~ what has been found after
blocking out u certain section OF
ground. The blocking is accom-
plishcd in various ways In keeping
with the nature of the ground. Thus.
by sinking a shaft Of 90 feet in width
100 feet into the earth and then u n
ming n level from this. say 200 feet. to
another shaft the same depth and
width ~ the first, and then taking
samples of the ore or rock from all
parts ~ this block u would have a
good idea Of the yielding qualities Of
that particular block, This block
would be 400 900 cubic feet. or about
$4,000 tons. and the assays from the
four sides. the two shafts, the tunnel
and the surface would he the gold in
sight Tho center Of the book, which
cannot he reached until actual opera
tions are begun. might yield much
more than the assays indicated. and,
on the other hand, IL might be found
worthless or barren rock. In cases
where the block OF l~O0x20ON2O feet
would be deemed insufficient for do
termining the value OF the mine, an.
other block OF similar size may he
laid out below or beyond the first, and
by this series OF blocking the value OF
the mine as a gold producer Is esti-
mated. IL In a ~weli-known fact that
gold is often deposited in shoots that
run In ohlioue and tortuous direc.
tions from tho surface. and one must
be posted on the geology OF the coun
try To arrive at "a correct estimate OF
the value OF the land hat has beer
blocked out. A shaft, for instance
may run for 100 feet through rich ore
and another parallel shaft 200 feet
away may not strike any ore until d
depth Of 100 feet or more has been
reached. The next shaft 200 feet fur
Their away may have to be sunk still
further before the valuable rock II
reached, and this would Indicate tina,
the shoot runs ~dingonally from the
surface. This is only one Of the many
phenomena in the matter Of gold veins
that present themselves To the miner
and no set rule "a be followed In or
der to locate the valuable ore or tc
determine its extent. But the tern
gold in sight or 'ore in sight is usu,
ally applied to the block or To the
series of blocks which have been ex
amined and nssayed on three sides