The times., 1901-05-13
THE PRESIDENTS JOURNEY.


J PHOENIX. Ariz. May AT Congress
Junction. Ariz.. the Presidents special
| train left the main line and ran three
miles up into the mountains TO Congress
Mine, the largest gold mining property in
the Territory of Arizona. The train stop
ped at the mine station surrounded with
little huddle of miners homes, in the
midst of a bleak and desolate looking
country encircled by a barren mountain
range 1t was the Presidents first visit
to gold mine, and no member of the
party enjoyed the experience more than
he did.
Congress mine was discovered by pros
pectors for gold about twenty-five years
ago. They struck a good vein and worked
1t, taking out enough ore to assure them
selves that they had rich and profitable
lead. They soon found. however. that the
rich deposits lay far beneath the surface
and that a large expenditure of money
was needed to develop the property. This
they could not undertake and the mine
was sold to Diamond" Joe Reynolds. of
Chicago, who formerly ran the famous
Diamond Line of steamers on the Missis-
sippi. This was in 1887
Reynolds sunk two shafts and then in
1894 sold the property to its present own
was not until then the real development
of this rich property began. Then the
deepest shaft went but 900 feet below
the surface, and now shaft No. 3, sunk
by the company. is S,15O feet beneath the
surface. 1t was down this shaft that
Secretary Hay, Secretary Hitchcock, and
Postmaster General Smith, together with
a number of the ladies and several other
members of the Presidential party went
and witnessed the practical operations of
gold mine. a drill was set in operation
for the benefit of the party and the
miners, in their rough dress, were very
courteous in explaining all the workings
of the mine. This shaft is the deepest of
any gold mining property In the country
There are six shafts sunken into the
mountain, and five OF these are now
working. There are two stamping or
crushing mills where the ore is broken
and pulverized, one of which was but re-
Gently built, and has thus doubled the
capacity of tie plant. Three hundred men
are employed by the company at
the mine, about one-nalf of whom
are miners. who labor hundreds of
feet below the surface, bringing
up the precious metal On an average
about 25O tons of ore are taken out of
about $50 of gold to the ton.
The process by which the glittering par
ticles of gold are extracted from the
humps Of ore and are separated from the
quartz and the crumbling earth is an in
teresting and somewhat intricate one The
ore is brought to the mouth of the shaft
In cars, and in passing to the mills the
cars run through a long tunnel through a
portion of the mountain, and the ore is |
into large receptacles, from |
W hich ii goes into the crushing machine |
and Is pulveriZed by the srampers.
The dust Is then concentrated on the |
shaking tables, where the sulphides which /
contain the bulk of the gold are separated /
from what is known as the tailings These |
sulphides are shipped to the smelter at |
El Paso, where the gold is extracted. The |
mine sends on the average about fifteen |
;ar loads of sulphides a month, and the |
yield of gold varies from $3.50 to $500 a
on. The tailings are worked at the mine
~ the cyanide process. After being seq
'egated from the sulphideS the tailings
ire roasted, then treated with cyanide of
potassium and leached. This solution is
roughs. where it is preeipitated on zinc
haVings. After this it becomes necessary !
o treat the combination with suiphuric |
icid TO separate the gold from the zinc,
md the precious metal then comes out in |
powdered form II is then gold dust.
The next step and the concluding one |
{ the mine is to melt the gold in q cruel
lie and pour il out into bricks or bars.
his is usually done once a month. and
he process was delayed several days in
rider that the President might see the
netting of the gold and the making of
he brick The one turned out while he
vas at the mine weighed about Loo
iInces, and was worth nearly $4,000. ii
an alloy of about $3.50 worth of
liver as a small amount of the white |
1etai is found mingled with the yellow in |
he Congress mine. and a small trace of
aser metals. The bricks are sent to the
lint at Denver. where the gold is refined |
lid all of the alloy taken out. +. B. /.