Arizona daily citizen., 1901-08-07
The Altar Copper Mines,
(From the Jerome Mining Ncws.l

visit to the properties OF the Altar Min
| ing Company in Altar District, Sonora
| Mexico, so many inquiries have heei
directed to them concerning the result
| OF their Investigations that they hay,
decided to give out for publication ;
statement of fwhat they saw and learned
| for the information of those who pur
chased the first issue of stock, as well "a
the public generally. Accordingly they
have authorized the following, with tn,
assurance that special care has been oh
served to avoid exaggeration i'll every
detail, and give only the exact facts
This assurance coming from these well
known gentlemen is quite sufficient tc
satisfy those acquainted with their char
acters and high standing IL this com.
munity. For the benefit % otheis, how.
ever. 1t may be added that they are
both old residents of Jerome. and men
i'm whom their friends and acquaintance
have found reason to place implicit CON
fidence. Mr. Mitchell, who is a metal
Iurgist of many years experience. is the
present superintendent ofthc United Yer
de Copper Company's smciter. MI
Cordincr ~ a member ofthe firm of IIoov-
er a. Cordincr, proprietors ofthe Fashion
practical cxperien mining;
The properties the Altar Copper
Mining Compa,,, consists oft wo groups
comprising iss pcrtc0eucias, or about
345 acres. ali under patent from the
Mexican government. The Montana
Verdi gronp which contains G2 pertenen-
cias. or about I So acres, is situated three
miles from the Altar river. and about 40
miles north westerly from Santa Ana, a
town on the Sonora railway 90 miles
south of Nogales. II is easily accessible
from Santa Ana by splendid wagon
road, and the cost of freighting to and
from that point Is only $40 per ton III
Mexican money, or SO in gold. The
Town of Altar, the seat of the district, is
% miles distant in south-westeriy di-
rection from the group. by an equally
good road. J he altitude at tho Mon
tana Verdi is about 1000 feet above sea
level. Along the Altar river, within a
few miles of the property, arc number
of productive ranches, and couple OF
flour mills. The face of the country on,
and in the vicinity OF, the group may be
said to he mountainous. though the
mountains are not high or steep, and
resemble more rolling hills. There is M.
abundance of timber suitable for both
fuel and mine timbcrine within easy dis
tanee and accessible by wagon. The Al
tar river is a perennial stream, having "A
good flow of never failing water, more
than sufficient to supply the ranches
along the banks. ltswaterscan be very
easily made available for Use upon the
Montana Verdi. by the construction OF "A
ditch to tap the stream a short distance
above the mine, and the company is now
negotiating with tieowncr OF large wat
er rights in the river. for the purchase OF
a right to divert sufficient water TO sup
ply .he property in this manner for MI
time to come.
r he group an n whole is not especially
rough, being rather undulating, but the
surface over nearly the entire area, is
mach broken by almost innurnerab'e
rock groupings and prominences of all
shapes and sizes. These c,opeiaes do
not appearto be in ledge formation. but
masses and bouiders without any regu-
larsty whatever in the manner OF their
emplacement. Everywhere they show
vivid green in color, and examination
shows them to be largely earbonates of
copper. oxides of copper and oxides of
iron, of all kinds and grades, the carbon
ates predominating. In the dcpressions
between these masses of groupings, the
surface is earth which has evidently
been formed to considerable extent
from the decomposition of the rock crop
pings. Judging from its appearance, and
is strewn over with small pieces OF float
ofthe same general character 40 the rock.
This earth or dirt. however, is very SUI
pcrfcial, and it is only necessary to dig
a short distance before rock closely re
sembling the surface Groupings Is en-
Assays OF this surface rock
made after returning to Jerome show
that it will rim Oh an average SIX per
cent copper, and Mr.. Mitchell is of the
opinion that there IS enough of it in
sight to fully Justify the installation at
once of a I00-ton blast furnace on the
property and the commencement Of
smelling operations on substantial
scale. The cost of freighting to and
from Santa Ana would be more than ov-
ercome by the cheapness of both labor
and fuel. The established wages OF drill.
men is So per day in Mexican money, or
81 dav in gold. Outside men receive
$1.75 per day. s7l5 cents in gold. Hard
wood for steam can be bought for $3.50
per cord in gold.
Tkc work already done upon the pro-
perty is not extensive. A vertical shaft
has been sunk to a depth OF 65 feet. An
examination of the walls of this shaft
shows an exceedingly irregular forma-
ton and multiform characters of rock,
varying from rich sulphides of copper
near the surface to blue slate impreg-
mated to some extent withquartz streak
cd with sulphides at the bottom. Assays
of the ore taken from the upper part of
the shaft run from to 10 per cent cop
per, II is the intention of the company
TO continue the shaft to a depth of 100
feet, and then drift through the ore
body. A large force OF men IS now Mt
work.
II is impossible for any person to look !
over this group, to walk over and among |
the masses of mineralized rock and note |
that characteristic greenish appearance |
rveryw here in evidence, without forming |
the positive conviction that underneath !
his feet lies hidden an immense body of
copper ore, greater perhaps. il the indi- |
cations count for anything, than has
ever vet been uncovered. He cannot be |
brought to the belief that this copper ore |
came from any other source or direction |
than below, nor that the visible copper |
in the ore was deposited upon the crest |
of the hill where the ore occurs. by the |
action of any surface stream. But |
though he will conclude his inspection OF
the Montana Verdi with the. firm convic.
ton that n little development work will
what appears now SO evi-