Arizona republican., 1902-04-07
IN THE CHIRICAHAUS
Description of the Hilltop Silver Lead
 Group of Claims.

The editor of the Range News paid visit a few days ago to the Hilltop silver-lead mines. in the Chiricahua mountains. He writes most interest ingly of that section and of the Hilltop mine says:
 The Hilltop silver-lead group con- sists of six claims, the Surprise, Hid den Treasure, Hilltop, Galena Queen. Outlook and Victor. These claims lie along the crest of the Chiricahua noun tains, forming strip of ground 7,5O0 feet long. The Hilltop and Hidden Treasure lie parallel with each other An enormous quartz vein or dihe eX- tends along the whole group from end to end parallel with the range. On the Hilltop and Hidden Treasure the vein is interrupted and swings at right angles to the east across the mountain, thence running south on the eastern rim of the mountain to the end line of the Victor. This being caused by a fault, whereby the ground was pushed ob1iquely upward and westward 100 feet or more. The ore is found in chutes mostly in decomposed limestone, but sometimes in the quartz. The ore bod ies in the limestone are apparently re- placements of the lime by the ore. The ore bodies are found all along the fault line. These claims run along a deep Assure in the limestone. From the main vein numerous cross Assures eX- tend into the limestone. There are also Assures parallel with the main Assure indicating that they will connect with depth.
 The Hands brothers have been at work for four years developing this group, about 1000 feet of work having been done. Two hundred tons of fine ore lie on the various dumps. On the Hilltop, near the crest of mountains to the west side, is an incline thirty-five feet deep all in ore. Three carloads Of ore were shipped from this place and an assay of the third sorting went 25 per cent in lead and 614 ounces in silver On the east side of the mountain, about 100 feet away from this incline, is fifty-foot shaft on a ledge t1fteen feet wide, all ili ore. A little to the north of this another ledge fifteen feet wide was recently discovered. This Is near the angle where the ledge swings to the south after crossing the moun- tain. Sixty feet from the fifty-foot shaft is perpendicular shaft of thirty feet showing ore all the way down. It connects with d seventy-foOt tunnel. In the tunnel another ledge twenty feet wide was cut. Near the mouth of this tunnel the surface was stripped for thirty feet, showing ore eVerywheIe .. Below this is a large tunnel 200 feet long. One hundred feet from the mouth q ten-foot ledge was cut which did not appear on the surface. Fifteen feet beyond the ledge a two-foot hole was sunk in which almost pure galena was found. From there the tunnel swings to the east. Al! along the west side of the tunnel ore stains are visible This tunnel will cut the ore bodies mentioned above, and in this tunna the main development work will De done in the future. A wing will b. sunk and the tunnel pushed on. Tn, quartz vein in which all these ledge. are found is about 300 feet wide be tween the hanging wall and foot wall indica ting that with depth the who,, dike or vein will become a bed of min eral. Following the quartz dike soutl in which mineral could be found al most anywhere we struck a pick int the ground, we come to the Outlook On the same dika we descended forty-foot incline shaft on a ledge O ore four feet wide extending from tu to bottom, showing red oxide of cop per- Assays from this ledge run A. per cent copper. 52 ounces in silver wit q trace of gold. Further south on th Victor, along the same dike, We de soended into another incline thirty fee in depth which contained a fine ledg of almost solid galena assaying c high as 80 per cent lead. The outcro continued on the Victor. but little de velopment work has been done on tn
 claim On the west side of the mour tain, on the Hidden Treasure, is a tur