The Arizona sentinel., 1902-05-14
LA FORTTNA NINE.

Tn the early days of gold discovery Of Califor- n;a, lStS, when the nsSAS reached tEC gold miners Of Sonora. there was g general exodus of the Ahle-bodied men who were able to get away northwest to the new Fl Dorado in California. and the state of Sonora contributed many men 10 the mining population. They took the old road which was known as the -caminO real '' from Estancia and Altar nOrthweStward nearly parallel to the gulf. following the mountain ridge known as the Gia range just nor. h of our present boundary. The road led to Yuma and in passing the Gila range C e went within q few feet or wards Of a very modest outcroD of quartz which no one seemed to consider Of sui hcient value to merit any attention That hum De and insignificant QuartZ outcrOp k today tkc oltcrop of the great Fortuna mine.
 Ii iS situated on the westward Slt pc and nearly nj the base Of tn" range of mounti inS called on some Of the old maps the Gila range. This Gtel.dS nori hweStCTIV and reaches nearly to thp Gila river az the point nov known a> RiaiStlen The railway in it's course to Yuma DaSsnS around the northwest pOiat of this range Where the rocks are exposed at that Doint tbc-- are mostly of homogeneous granite. of gray color and veal hernd out at the surfaces which how yer. are much pitted as if hT Gncomposi- lion of some soft substance. B1i beyond these low-lying hills of granite there are big oucroDS of rock which to the experienced eye indicate Siratified formations. They are indeed strait lied. for the bulk Of the range SOulhward and SOutheaStward is composed of regular Stlatifed Eminated. hard gDeiSSic rock. I use the word 'gneisSic~ Tn very general and comprehensive sense. for you can describe these rocks vii 1nuch more accuracy if you locaiiza them a. mira states and hornhendic SlateS with irfar pOldtionS of quartZite beds, especially in the upper part Of the series. with green StaipS SllD posed to be stains of copper and decompoSition of copper ore which they probably arc al though there are pecGliaritieS of color and some yellow colorS. which indicate 10 me the presence of some other mineral possibly tel hnriun, which by its decomposition has given these cOlOrS. The fact remains however thut the bullion from the upper part of the vein cor tGinS more copper than it DOW contains in the lower levels of the mine The vorkincS which have been carried on here have developed q condition oi things which could not be foretold rom an inspection Of the oItcrop. The vein or lcue appears to be chimney. not d cOntino- 0uS ore body. nor a continuous vein with an ore body or chimney or chute upon il. As re- marked the outcropping points indicate that tlis ore body.
 The vein iS remarkable first in this limited out crop; second. in it's continuity in depth its con tlnued satisfactory richness. and the promise ii gives of enrichment by further veins dipping into it on the fOO;-wall sides
 Some facts in regard to the product or yield: The ore paid from the surface. The produc. or ore extracted up tO the time has been about so tons per day. which k sent to the 20-Stanlp mill each stamp of which cruSheS about tons in every twenty-fOur hours. The extraction K chiefly and largely by power drills. A force ot SO men Is employed by this mine and mill The greater part of the labor underground and mining lS done by compressed air. The lode. I was told, was 6 to l5 feet wide. This large space permits the use of pOTcr drills to great advantage. In the material hoiStcd there arc fragments of the wall rocks. some of which ar;, thrown out, but many pieces pass through the mlll- They would prefer to reject most of this wall rock. but it would take more time and ex- TAnSe than ' docs Go mill it. and there k a chance of SuEno of it containing gold. From sheSe go tonSea rock crushed daily the average product iS perhaps SIS OOO worth of gold per month Some monthS they. have produced as high as Se0 900.
 In the reEson of the Fortuna mine the forma- tons appear to be wholly of mica slate and hornblende slate. with some arenaceouS layers; Ike old nTIcdceouS SandStOneS and uuartziteS. The mine K surrounded by black hornblendic SouthweStward at an angle of about 45 degrees and these states are very evenly laIainated, ridge after ridrn