The Arizona sentinel., 1902-03-26
LA FORTUNA MINE.

In the early days Of gold discovery cf Califor- Iia. 1S4s. when the news reached the gold miners of sonora there was general exodus of the Sble-bodied men who were nble to get away northwest to the new Fl Dorado in California. md the state of Sonora contributed many men 10 the mining population. They tool; the old road. which was known as the ''camino real % from ESsdncia and Altar northweStward. nearly parallel to the gulf following the mountain ridge known as the Gla range. just north of our present boundary. The road led to Yuma and in passing the Gila range tl e went within q few feet or yards of a very modest cutcrop Of quartz which TO one seemed to consider of sui nciert value to merit any attention. That hum be and insignificant quartz outcrOp is today the outcrop of the great Fortuna mine.
 l. iS Situa ted on the westward slope and nearly at the base of tho range of mountains called on some of the old maps the Gila range. This trends northwesteriy and reaches nearly 10 th. Gila river at the point now known as Blaisdell The railway in it's course to Yuma passes around the northwest point of this range. Where the rocks a:e exposed at that point they are mostly of homo2eneOuS granic of gray color and weathered out ar the surfaces. which hoS yer. are much pitted if by decomposi- ton of some soft substance But beyond thcse lOwlying hills Of granite there are big outcrops Cf rock which to the experienced eye indicate Str0Cfled formations They arc indeed strait lied. for the bulk of the range Southward and sOutheaStward is composed of regular sjratified laminated. hard SneisSic rock. use the word ''gnelSSic in very general and comprehensive sense, for you can describe these rocks with much more accuracy if you localiZc them as mica states and hOrnblendic SlateS. with inter lOlatiOus of quGrtZite beds, especially in the upper part or the series, with green stains sup posed to be stains of copper and Accommodation of copper ore, which they probably are al though there arc peculiaritieS of color, and some yellow colorS, which indicate to me the presence of some other mineral. possibly tel lurium. which by its decomposition has given these colorS The fact remains. however, that the bullion from the upper part of the vein con tainS more copper than it now contains in the lower levels of the mine. The workings which have been carried on here have developed q conCl ion or things which could rot be foretold from an inspection of the oUtcrop The vein or lode appears to be chimney not q contino- ouS ore body. nor continuous vein with an ore lodg or chimney or chute upon it. As re- llarSed the outcropping points indicate that this ore body.
 The vein is remarkable first in this limited out crop; second, in its continuity in depth it's con- tlnued satisfactory richness, and the promise it gives of enrichment by further veins dipping into it on the foot-wall sides.
 Some facts in regard to the product or yield: The orc paid from the surface The product or ore extracted up to the time has been about 80 tons per day, which is sent to the 20-stamp mill each stamp of which cruShes about tons in every twenty-four hours. The extraction is calefy and largely by power drills. A force or SO men k employed by this mine and mill The greater part of the labor underground and T1iuing is done by compressed air. The lode. was told was to 15 feet wide. This large space permits the use of power drills to great advantage. In the material hoisted there are fragments Of the wall rocks. some of which are thrown out. but many pieces pass through the lnill. They would prefer to reject most of this wall rock. but it would take more tine and ex- penSe than 1t does to mill it. and there is a chance of some of it containing gold. From these 80 tons of rock crushed daily the average product is perhaps S4S.095 worth of gold per month. Some months they have produced as high as S9O. .000.
 In the region of the Fortuna minc the forma- IlOlS HODpaT to be wholly of mica Sl1tn and hornblende slate, with some arenaceouS layers Ike old micaceouS SandstoneS and quartziteS. The mine is surrounded by black hornblendic states and mica states. dipping southward and onthYeStward at an angle of about 45 degrees. and these states are very evenly laminated. ridge after ridge.