Mohave County miner., 1901-04-20


child Of their hope, now entering in
the full strength of certainty upon
wider and greater era of development.
Having disproved by practical demon
stration of theories of those who de.
rided and would have sfled, in their
birth the great mining industries in.
augurated here in early days, the men
who never wavered in their faith in
Butte are now confronted with a vista
of the camps future greatness which
shades even their most sanguine
dreams.
The area of the mines to be numbered
among the great producers of Butte is
not marked by the surface boundaries
of the present producers, but reaches
north, south. east aud west, and EN-
braces a vast territory, as yet, better
known through underground indica.
tions in the producing mines than
from surface indications upon the I'M
developed properties. Take the east
ern extension of the well defined cop
per belt. After leaving the Anaconda
hill wide strip of valley intervenes
before reaching the mountains, where
groupings again occur, aud the valley
is covered to depth of four hundred
feet with wash. Underneath the wash
are not less than eight copper. bearing
veins, pointing straight from the mines
in Butte to the mountains on the east,
in which they again appear on the sur
face, though denuded at the surface,
to great extent, of copper, through
the precipitation of the metal. When
we speak of eight copper veins cross
ing the fat we do So adviSedly, bearing
in mind the sworn evidence to that
effect Of expert geologists. That this
great storehouse of mineral will be
opened up and added to the Butte
metal supply there can be no possible
question. Even now capitalists who
have heretofore made success of
mining in Silver Bow county have Sc
| cured large tracts of this territory aud
rapid and systematic development
work is in progress.
Beyond the fat, is the foothills ad-
jacent to the mountains Mr.. Heinze
has exploited largely and is shipping
ore regularly, we are informed, from
/ the Homestake mine, while other prop
critics of his are making such showing
as warrants the belief that within no
long period the necessities of com
merce will demand the building of au
| important city along the base of the
foothills. Further back in the noun.
tsins, yet upon the belt, individuals of
lesser means are doing what they can
to develop and render marketable their
claims, and many of these latter hold.
ings are now being examined by ex-
perts employed by mining companies,
with the view of securing options upon
them
When the drifts upon the ore levels
have crossed the fiat, tapped at con.
venient places by ventilating shafts,
and are extended into the mountains,
the very bowels of those grim barriers
to weak effort will be at the command
of commerce. To estimate the magni
tude of the result is beyond the com.
| pass of computation, for a field of such
inexhaustible resource will have been
opened up as no mining enterprise of
either ancient or modern times has
ever exposed
Extending south from the present
working mines numerous veins are
known to exist in fact, excavation at
almost any point in the southern fiat
discloses leads, and many of them at
slight depth have produced profitable
commercial ore. As on the east side,
the wash on the south side is of great
depth, but the best judgment of all
who have made study Of Butte's en-
vironment is in accord upon the theory
that the copper belt has its bedding in
solidified and richer there than upon
its outer rims.
Good copper ore has been mined six
miles west of Butte, and the interven-
ing territory, while producing from
shallow workings silver as the prepon.
derating mineral, gives good indica-
tions that at sufficient depth silver
will give place to copper aud the true
belt will be found continuous, and to
conform to its characterization as
A. bIs.h,l oa,.o.