The Springfield herald. (Springfield, Baca County, Colo.) 1887-1919, 1901-02-15
HOW TO 1ALUEAMINE
t1pett's Method Of Rsti..stas tAs
Worth II ''ors In Stght."
AiwsyS ~ Mensat sS UnSsssaaAsp
Nvsa UndsF the 0sst AAvaA-
AA6seus Investigations -
DsDssits.

With the news. that John Hays
sHammondv proposal TO take charge
Of the Independents gold mine bad
been accepted by the London ownezs
came the report that the mine bad
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 tho property
which for a long time yielded 70 PCT
cent. dividend On . large investment,
was still rich in ore, and capable Of
producing large profits. Mr.. Ham,
mond said that the ''ore in sight" war
ranted him in guaranteeing div.
dend often per cent, or $4ss, 1000. and
that would leave about $500, 900 out of
the years deposits TO be used toward
the further development Of the prop.
eFty and locating new ore bsdA.
The phrase "ors In sight 10 ono
that is we'll understood by people who
are interested in the mining business,
but is misunderstood by the average
layman., The ore 10 NOT "in sdghv' on
the surface, but its sxistenee is es-
tablished by series Of operations
which are in many instances exceed
ingly difficult expensive and labori-
Gus. :; r
: Speaking; on this subject, Dr.. A. 3.
Ledoux said: There b NO way 70 de-
termine the existence Of gold ors, it's
quantity, quality. or anything about
itunless one gets oh three sides Of the
deposit, and even then there IL an ele-
nent Of uncertainty about it. Ore in
sight Is what has been found after
blocking out certain section Of
ground. The blocking is accom-
plished In various ways in keeping
With, the nature Of the ground. Thus.
by sinking a shaft of 20 feet in width
doO feet into the earth and then rum
ming level from this, say 300 feet. to
another shaft the same depth and
width as the first, and then taking
ea1iples Of the ore or rock from all
pats Of this block one would have a
good idea of the yielding qualities of
that particular block. This block
would be 100000 cubic feet, or about
10000 tons, and dthe assays from the
four, sides, The two shafts. the tunnel
and the surfaos would be the gold in
sight The center OF the block. which
caunot be reachH until actual opera.
tions are begun, might yield much
more than the sssays indicated, and,
on the other hand. 1t might be found
worthless or barren rock. In cases
where the block Of 1oox2oox2o feet
would be deemed Insufficient for de-
tcrmining the value of the mine, an
other block Of similsr size may be
laid out below or beyond the first. and
by this series of blocking the value of
the mine as Q gold producer is esta-
mated. It 10 a well-known fact that
gold is often deposited in shoots that
run in oblique and .tortuous direc-
tions from the surface. and one must
be posted on the geology Of the coun-
try to arrive at correct estimate of
the value Of the land that has been
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 a,
lepth of 100 feet or more has been
reached. The next shaft 200 feet fur
ther away may have to be sunk stnl
further before the valuable rock is
reached, and this would indicate tls1.t
ther shoot runs diagonally from the
surface. This is only one of the many
phenome ma in the matter of gold vrins
that present themselves to the miner,
and no set rule can be followed in or
fer TO locse the valuable ore or TO