Omaha daily bee., 1902-11-17
MINING IN The BLACK HILLS
j. L. McKenna Discovers a Solid Seven Foot
Vein Of Quartz.
SEVERAL OTHER RICH FINDS MADE
Figures on the Output of the Dis
trict show n Total Of Nearly
One Million Dollars
value.

value.
CUSTER CITY, s. D., Nov. 1e.-Cspecial.)
The Turk group Of mines. situated on
lCrow creek, and belonging to J. L. Nc
lKenna, has received It's annual assessment
work, which has resulted in opening up a
solid vein Of quartz seven feet in width.
This strike was made while drifting from
the shaft, which is down hfty-hve feet. The
ore is a bismuth telluride and carries con-
siderable free gold near the surface. The
vein on which the present strike was made
has always carried rich ore, but It had
lnever been exposed to such an extent as
lin the present opening and It looks as
Though IT would grow wider as greater
tdepth lie attained.
On the Caledonia group of mines. owned
by John Beuter and situated eight miles
west from Custer City, the developments
lrecently made have exposed a strong body
kof ore. This is another OF those Southern
PILLS properties which, although it has pro-
fduced rich ore for years, and has been
Hooked on as a promising proposition, has
had its richness proved only by recent de-
lvelopment. There are seven claims in the
kgroup. but on none OF them have extensive
'NA hAdhNs Ahb y %
lbeing more in the nature Of assessment
than anything else, yet sufficient Of this
has been done to demonstrate that the ore
bodies are very extensive. The rich ore in
this group is in the form OF a banded
quartz, with alternate streaks Of iron OK
ide and more or less decomposed and min
1eralized hornblend.
sample shows High Assay.
The Red Bird group Of claims. situated
on Lame Johnny creek and owned by c.
w. Robbins. James Demereau and A.. T.
Feahy, is another Southern Hills prospect
that is showing UP well. A seven-foot vein
of ore carrying a high percentage of ga
lena mingled with pyrities Of copper, was
cut while running an open cut into the side
OF the Mountain. This quality OF ore shows
clear across the lead, but as yet no test
has been made. A selected sample taken
from the face OF the workings was assayed
and the owners were surprised to learn that
1t went as high as 5000 a ton in gold. How
much OF this kind Of ore there is in the
vein they do not know. They will probably
bulld a cabin and make other arrangements
Tor wintering on the ground. +. N. Davis.
who has a group of claims on the opposite
side OF the mountain from the Red Bird
group, has a body Of similar ore exposed
In the workings on his ground which has
given average assays OF $35 a ton gold.
There is a belt of granite dykes running
Through this section, while the veins for
the most part are walled by a formation of
hornbiend and slate. The veins are vertI-
cal and we'll defined, the main veins running
northeasterly and southwesterly and are
cut by numerous small veins of ore running
at nearly right angles TO the belt and con-
tributing much to the strength and rich
ness OF the main veins.
Pepper Group shows Wealth.
Recent developments on the Pepper group
OF claims, situated about three miles east
from Custer City, disclose the fact that
there is a belt of mines Of great value in
that locality. There are four claims in this
group, running north and south on a high
Idivide. and the veins which they contain
lie between narrow dykes of granite, On
the Pepper claim proper there is an eight
loot vein which crops out the whole length
or the property. Recent work on the ground
shows that the vein carries gold in good
quantities and that the surface rock Yields
free gold in the pan. All OF the other
veins on the Pepper group show good
strong veins of tin ore. or black cassiterite.
and are rich in the black oxide OF tin, but
t"N "hhihb VI III III tue Black HIS re-
ceived a black eye some years ago, and II
will be a long time before the setback II
received at that time will be forgotten and
confidence again restored in the prospects
which this section OF the Black Hills holds
out for tin mining. Custer and Pennington
counties. despite the hard blow which was
given to their tin interests. contain nu-
merous mines of value which will some day
be worked for this metal alone. The Pepper
group is owned by J, A. Collins, Chayles
Harbach. William Tarrant and William
Peterson.
Malone Blue Lead Resumed.
HILL CITY, S. D., Nov. 16.-(Special)-
Work on the Maloney Blue Lead, situated
near Sheridan, was resumed last Friday.
After two years continuous work on this
property operations we're abandoned tenn
porarily last March for reasons known only
10 the board OF directors. This is one of
the best developed mines in the Southern
Hills and has upon IL a vast amount of
work which discloses an extensive ore body
carrying nickel, copper and gold. There is
one tunnel on the ground 1885 feet in
length which was driven as a working tun-
mel and from which the ground has been
opened at a vertical depth Of over 600 feet.
Al 1910 feet from the mouth OF this tunnel
the vein which is exposed In the surface
workings Of the ground was encountered
and cut by the tunnel. At this place the
vein has a width of us feet between the
walls and the ore carries 50 in gold, Ia
per cent nickel and . per cent copper. At
this point a drift was started which fol-
lows the course of the vein, and when work
ceased last March had been driven 229 feet,
and assays OF the ore taken from the face
of the workings show that Il is getting
richer in copper. This drift will be con-
tinued for a distance of about 700 feet fur
Their. at which point II is believed that the
working Will be beneath the point on the
vein from which the rich copper ore was
taken from near the surface. and when that
position is gained a shaft will be sunk TO
water level, which will be reached at a
depth OF 100 feet. Some OF the richest cop
per ore in the Black Hills has been taken
from the surface workings OF this mine
and there Is a vast quantity OF 1t exposed
in open cuts and shallow shafts on the
mountain above the tunnel. but the man
agement believes that at the depth which
the tunnel gives this ore will increase in
richness and be found in greater quantities.
The mines are equipped with air compress
sor plants. power drills. etc, while the ac-
commodations for the men cannot be ex-
eeIIed nv any ramn in the Hills