Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1901-04-24
Experts Method of Estimating the
Worth Of sore In Sight"
Always an Element OF Uncertainty
Even Under the Most Adven-
tageous lnvestigntio 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 long time yielded 40 per
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 a diyi-
dend of ten per cent. or $Iss,000, and
that would leave about $5G0,000 out of
the years deposits to be used toward
the further development of the prop
erty and locating new ore beds.
The phrase ''ore in sight" is one
that is we'll understood by people who
are interested in the mining business,
but is misunderstood by the average
layman. The ore is not ain sight" on
the surface. but it's existence is es-
tablished by a series Of operations
which are in many instances exceed
dng1y difficult, expensive and labori-
Gus.
Speaking on this subject, DR.. A. r.
Ledoux said: There is no way to de-
termine the existence of gold ore, its
quantity, quality, or anything about
itunlcss one gets on three sides of the
deposit. npd even then there is an elc-
ment of uncertainty about it. Ore in
sight Is what has been found after
blocking cut a 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
100 feet into the earth and then run
ming level from this, say ECO feet. to
another SHIFT the same depth and
Width es the first. and then taking
samplee Of the ore or rock from all
parts Of this block one would have
good idea of the yielding qualities of
that particular block. This block
would be 100000 cubic feet. or about
10000 tons. and the assays from the
four sides. the two shafts. the tunnel
and The surface would he the gold in
sight The center of the beck, which
cannot be reached until actual opera
tons are begun. might We'd much
more than the ASSAYS INDICATED. and.
on the other hand t mipht be found
worthless or barren rock In cases
where the block of 1n0x200x20 feei
would be deemed insufficient for de-
termining the value of the mine. an
other block of similar size may be
laid out below or beyond the first, and
by this series of blocking the value OF
the mine as a god producer is esti-
mated It is a well-known fact that
gold is ofrcn deposited IN shoots that
run in oblique and tortuous direc-
tions from the surface, and one must
be posted on the reo'o~r of the coun-
try to arrive nj correct estimate OF
the value of the land that has been
blocked out \ shaft for instance
may run for 100 feet through rich ere
and another parallel shaft 2G0 feet
away may not strike any ore until
depth of 100 feet or more has been
reached. The next shaft 200 feet fur
Their away may have to he sunk still
further before the valuable rock is
reached, and this would indicate that
the shoot runs diagonally from the
surface. This is only one of The many
phenomena in the ma utter of gold veins
that present themselves TO the miner.
and no set rue can be followed in or
der to locate the valuable ore or to
determine its extent. But the term
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 assayed on three sides"